Working abroad should always be a beneficial experience for both the employee and employer.”
Working abroad can be an exciting and rewarding experience. It may be an opportunity to improve your economic situation, gain valuable work experience, and travel to new and interesting places. However, accepting a job offer without making adequate preparations and taking precautions can put a migrant worker in a vulnerable position, and optimistic migrant workers may find themselves in the hands of unscrupulous employers or human traffickers.
Human traffickers can be very good at identifying and recruiting potential victims. They can make a job offer appear very enticing and realistic.
Before you leave home:
- Ensure the job offer is genuine
Check to see that the recruitment agency is registered with the local Chamber of Commerce and, if possible, contact the company offering the job on a landline to confirm that they are recruiting, and that the conditions of employment are those promised by the recruitment agency. Offers from third parties, disreputable recruitment agencies, or people who approach you on the street should be treated with caution. You may also contact the local embassy of the country of destination to confirm that the company is reputable, and is permitted by law to employ foreign nationals in the manner promised. Beware of job offers that sound too good to be true and/or which offer to cover all of your expenses,including airfare and accommodation, up-front.
- Obtain the correct working permit for the country of destination
Ensure that you are travelling with the correct and legal documentation to work in the country of destination. Most countries will require you to apply for a working visa if you intend to work in the country. The application for the visa must be filled out and signed by you, the employee, and not by the agency. Be suspicious if the recruitment agency attempts to convince you that a visitor’s or tourist visa is sufficient for you to work legally in the country in which you wish to find employment. This is very rarely the case. If you are unsure, you can contact the Embassy of the country to which you hope to travel to and/or check the website of the foreign government, which may provide travel information to prospective migrant workers.
- Sign a contract before you leave home
The contract should be in a language you can read, and stipulate your wages and deductions, your duties, working hours and breaks, benefits, leave, and procedures for resignation or termination. Be careful of accepting offers where you are required to pay back money to the employer if you do not fulfil the full term of the contract. The contract should clearly stipulate any amount paid for up-front by the prospective employer (for example, the cost of your airfare) and the conditions under which you will be required to repay this sum. Have an independent attorney examine the contract before you sign. Both you and the employer must sign the contract, and you should each be in possession of a copy of the contract.
- Have contacts for people/organisations that can provide assistance
Before leaving home, make sure you have the contact details for your country’s Embassy or High Commission or Consulate-General in the country in which you wish to find employment. It is also advisable to notify your embassy that you are in the country and give them your address and contact details. Have a list of emergency contact details in the country you are going to: e.g. migrant worker organizations, churches and shelters, the police, friends and family in the destination country. It is also advisable to agree on a contact schedule with family and/or friends at home before leaving for a new destination. Should something go awry, and you fail to contact them at the agreed time, they will be able to contact the relevant authorities for help.
- Know your rights as an employee of the country you are going to
Migrant workers are entitled to the same rights as all workers, and should be treated with respect and dignity. Before you work abroad, know your rights, and how to protect them. Be sure to investigate the minimum wages and other conditions of employment in the country to which you’re travelling.
- Once you arrive in your country of destination
Do not give your passport away to anyone(see remarks on certain countries of the Arabian Peninsula below):
Do not give your passport over to anyone except immigration officials or if requested to do so for reasons of identification e.g. Police or Hotel check-in reception. It is illegal for an employer to ask to hold onto your passport for any reason and you should never agree to do so, regardless of whether this is stipulated in an employment contract.
The problem that is being experienced by South African citizens in some countries of the Arabian Peninsula goes back a long time and is rooted in the system of sponsorship as practised by these countries vis-à-vis foreigners. It is important to note that sponsorship imposes a number of serious obligations on the sponsor. He/she typically has to provide accommodation, transport, basic sustenance, minimum medical care and repatriation.
Added to that, he/she has a traditional obligation to the private debt that his/her sponsored worker may incur. It is the latter circ*mstance that, more than anything else, prompts the sponsor to retain her/his employee’s passport.
Diplomatic and consular missions of many countries have, over the years, sought to address this particular complaint with the governments of the countries involved, to little avail. However, until the sponsorship system is not radically altered, the passport issue under discussion will remain. Besides establishing a preferential position of trust with his/her employer, there is not much an employee can do in the circ*mstances.
A South African or any foreigner may object to his sponsor/employer holding on to his passport, but with a proper understanding of the implications for his employment. As a last resort, he/she may have recourse to the courts, if he feels strongly enough about it.
The Department does not condone the practice, but recognises that it reflects the peculiarities of the expatriate labour system in that particular part of the world.
Intervention, legal or otherwise, must be weighed against the benefit and importance of the individual employee’s labour contract. It is reasonable to assume that the decision ultimately rests with that employee.
In the final instance the South African Government confirms that the South Africa passport is the property of the Republic and is made available to a citizen for purposes of travel.
- Make contact
Once you have arrived in your country of destination, contact your local embassy and report that you are in the country. Also contact friends and family at home and let them know that you are safe and give them your contact details. If you find yourself in trouble, make contact with the police or your local embassy.
