(source: Internet)

With the aim to raise the quality and brand names of labour export businesses and better protect the interests of labourers working under contracts abroad, VAMAS worked with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in monitoring and assessing the implementation of the Code of Conduct (COC-VN) for companies operating in sending workers abroad. This is part of the project named Tripartite Action to Enhance the Contribution of Labour Migration to Growth and Development in ASEAN.

VAMAS President Nguyen Luong Trao said that 2017 was the fifth consecutive year implementing the COC-VN. Though the number of monitored and assessed companies made up only 34 percent of the total companies licensed to export workers, they accounted for nearly 70 percent of the total number of workers sent abroad in the year.

After implementing the code in 2017, 106 companies received rankings, with two getting a six-star rating, 53 rated five-star, 46 getting four-star and five rated three-star.

ILO Vietnam Director Chang-Hee Lee said that overseas workers have made great contributions to the nation’s economic development. However, they face a lot of risks due to a lack of information about their host countries.

Notably, Vietnamese workers have to pay higher fees than those in other labour exporting countries. Despite the high fees, many workers cannot find a suitable job, he added.

The ILO recommended Vietnamese businesses cut down types of fees toward the goal of no labour export expenses, and implement the new COC. The ILO also committed to assisting businesses in improving transparency in the spending of collected fees.

Commenting on this issue, Nguyen Luong Trao said that fee comparison between countries should be considered in different angles. In fact, the fees differ from country to country and depend on numerous factors such as labourers’ educational levels, their professional skills and health. Based on these factors, the exporters will negotiate with employers to decide appropriate fees.

According to him, to meet partners’ requirements, Vietnamese enterprises should improve the quality of labourers, and equip them with suitable and necessary skills.

Labourers can find better jobs if equipped with professional skills, Trao stated, adding that the labour export fees in each market depend on the number of orders and labourers’ qualifications.

He stressed the need for an overall solution to the selection of labour export companies, especially in terms of law observation.

VAMAS will continue encouraging more labour export companies to follow the COC to enhance the quality and trademark of Vietnamese enterprises for fairer and more transparent recruitment of labourers, thus helping protect labourers from risks.

“The only way for businesses to develop is to abide by the Code of Conduct. Businesses violating the COC will be ineligible to operate and labourers will also leave these enterprises. A new feature of the COC is that it includes regulations of the ILO’s new conventions on gender equality and women empowerment, thus creating favourable conditions for female workers and preventing forced labour,” Trao stressed.