A unified, standardized contract for all migrant workers in Jordan’s garment sector was developed in 2015 and agreed upon by two apparel employer associations and Jordan’s garment union. The contract is helping to end the practice of contract substitution. Also, the contract gives migrant workers a clearer understanding of their working conditions and offers a certain amount of salary irrespective of nationality.
The Employment Agency Regulations (RACT) of 2006, as amended in 2014, regulates private recruiters in Mexico.
The Indian ICICI Bank offers hybrid solutions with remittance kiosks and ATMs in migrant areas and dormitories. Kiosks in Singapore and Bahrain can be used to transfer funds to India on the same day. ICICI sees mobile banking as a powerful medium for further financial inclusion.
The Vietnam Association of Manpower Supply (VAMAS) Code of Conduct (COC-VN) was adopted in 2010, and 108 recruitment agencies signed up to commit to its principles and guidelines relating to various aspects of the recruitment process (fees, contracts, pre-departure training, dispute settlement, etc.).
Part VII of Kenya’s Labour Institutions Act of 2007 has provisions to regulate the activities of private employment agencies that engage in internal and cross-border recruitment. These include registration requirements, obligations on agency directors, competency requirements for employment officers, recruitment-related offences and appeals procedures.
Private intermediaries are prohibited by law from requiring fees from migrant workers. The U.S. Department of Labor prohibits employers from accepting or requesting money from migrants for recruitment costs (H-2A: 20 C.F.R. § 655.135(j). H-2B: 20 C.F.R. 503.16(o)), and also requires employers to contractually forbid their labor recruiters from seeking or accepting payments from prospective employees (20 C.F.R. § 655.135(k)).
The Government of Spain's Royal Decree 1620/20111 of 14 November regulates the special relationship that characterizes service within the family household.
The Royal Decree updates the rules governing the labour relationships of domestic employees and sets out to improve working conditions in the sector by bringing them as far as possible into line with those of other workers, while making due allowance where appropriate for such differences as may exist.
Although domestic workers are explicitly excluded from protections under the Labour Law in GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries, in June 2015 a separate law regulating the domestic work sector was adopted by Kuwait’s national assembly, providing some labour rights to this vulnerable group of workers – including a minimum wage. The lack of a credible mechanism to enforce this law remains a shortcoming however.
Employment Protection for Foreign Nationals Act (Live-in Caregivers and Others), 2009,163 (Bill 210) prohibits a recruiter from charging a foreign national who is employed as a live-in caregiver a fee, directly or indirectly, for any service, good or benefit provided to the foreign national. Bill 210 also prohibits an employer from directly or indirectly recovering or attempting to recover any cost incurred by the employer in the course of arranging to employ the foreign national.
The Bangladesh Bank, national commercial banks, and public commercial banks have created a number of investment products aimed specifically at migrants and their families. These products include bonds, deposit pension schemes (DPS), fixed deposits, savings accounts, investment loans, and investments in capital markets through, for instance, the Non-Resident Investor’s Taka Account (NITA).