Bill eyes cap on recruitment fees

Due to the skyrocketing fees charged by local recruiters to foreign workers for jobs in the CNMI, lawmakers are seeking to cap the fee to an amount equivalent to a one month salary in a bid to stop the practice of milking hapless nonresidents who want to get employed on the island.

The measure, sponsored by Rep. Karl T. Reyes, will also seek stiffer penalties against violators with a fine of not more than $50,000 and/or imprisonment of up to three years.

According to its proponent, House Bill 11-503 is part of the efforts of the Department of Labor and Immigration to reform local labor policies and curb abuses against nonresident workers on the island.

Mr. Reyes said this will put in place regulations to discourage recruiters to charge astronomical fees that reach between $1,000 t $2,000 or equivalent of a three-month wage of a nonresident worker employed through this scheme.

“In many cases these people have to borrow money from their employer to pay back loans they took out in their countries to pay their recruiters. Sometimes, they use their salaries, their land and properties as collateral with very high fees,” he told in an interview.

DOLI has sought enactment of such legislation to ensure that “we will not be forcing these workers to remit most of their salaries back to the recruiters,” added the representative.

There is no information on how many nonresidents employed in the CNMI have been recruited under this scheme, although Mr. Reyes believed this has been going on for the past several years.

According to findings of the Legislature, many of them are severely in debt to recruiters in their desire to work in the CNMI, forcing them to extend their employment contracts and sometimes working illegally in a second job just to be able to pay them back.

By capping the recruitment fee, any “excessive” amount will be unlawful, while ensuring that nonresident workers keep most of the money they have earned.

But the proposed law will not be applicable in foreign countries where they come from, said Mr. Reyes. “If they pay back home, it’s not our problem. But once they are here and they are paying their recruiters some fees, it will be valid,” he added.

To implement the proposal, DOLI will require recruitment agencies to register at the department and disclose the amount of fees they charge as well as information on nonresidents they place in local companies.