Legislative Assembly | Job agency fees must be transparent and no more than half monthly salary

Lawmaker and President of the Third Standing Committee of the AL, Vong Hin Fai

The government has proposed to limit the fees charged to foreign workers by job agencies to no more than 50% of the labor’s monthly salary, with the proposal currently under discussion at the Third Standing Committee of the Legislative Assembly (AL).

The Committee is now discussing the fourth draft of the related bill, submitted by the government via the Labour Affairs Bureau.

The bill seeks to govern the conduct of employment agencies. Job agencies failing to abide to these conditions may be punished with a fine, suspension or termination of operation.

According to the bill’s current form, service fees charged to employers will not have a ceiling.

At a post-meeting press conference yesterday, the Committee’s president, Vong Hin Fai, said that the AL had provided significant feedback to the governments, which has in turn taken many of their considerations into account.

The discussion yesterday centered on several matters, with service fees being one. Chargeable services have been clearly set out in the bill. Such services are job referral services and all supportive services related to employment. They include running procedures on behalf of employers or employees, assisting the employees to commute to the workplace for the first time, as well as the employees’ return to their home country when the employment ends.

The bill also outlines provisions on refund or discount of service fees collected by job agencies. The Committee had questions about the amount being refunded or discounted if the employment is terminated during the probationary period.

The government has preferred not to stipulate the amount, adding that there would be exceptions, although these have not been disclosed by the Committee.

Service fees, on the other hand, may be charged to either employers or employees, whoever requested the services.

The bill under discussion will also require job agencies to explicitly list their service fees in a transparent manner.

Severe or repeated violations may incur punishments included an order to cease operating. In order to better protect the public, the bill has also stipulated that the names of these agencies be announced in the Official Gazette.

Announcement in the Official Gazette would not interfere with the enactment of such punishments, which would come into effect only once issued.

Entities to be governed by the future law are those private entities that operate job agency business, whether held by natural persons or natural-legal persons.

Job fairs or career activities held by a registered tertiary education institution will not be covered by the bill. This exception also exists in the Law 32/94/M, which governs similar areas.

Lawmaker Vong stressed that such activities organized by tertiary education institutions are normally not for profit, therefore this exception applies.

Vong also said that the government is inclined to have the legislation take effect 180 days after its approval at the AL.