Compensation recommended for laid-off overseas workers

KATHMANDU, Jan 29: A high-level government panel has recommended to the government to provide compensation to overseas workers who lose their jobs before the expiration of their contract.



The committee led by Sthaneshwar Devkota, executive director of Foreign Employment Promotion Board, presented the recommendations at the board’s meeting on Wednesday attended by officials at the Ministry of Labor and Transport Management (MoLTM) and manpower agencies. [break]



Youbaraj Pandey, secretary at the MoLTM, told myrepublica.com that the committee has recommended providing 40 percent of the total investment made by workers for the overseas jobs in compensation for those who lose their jobs within six months of recruitment.



Likewise, to those who lose their jobs within a year of recruitment should be provided 25 percent of the investment made for acquiring the job in compensation, as per the recommendations.



However, workers who lose their jobs after a year in work will not be compensated assuming that they could have recovered their investment.



“We will implement the decision after necessary preparation,” Pandey added.



The compensation amount will be borne equally by the government and the concerned manpower agencies.



But only those recruited in foreign jobs through due legal process will be eligible for compensation, Pandey said.



Pandey said workers who recently lost their jobs in Malaysia, are also entitled to compensation. A total of 84 Nepali workers were laid off by Malaysia’s Johar based Ever Green Heavy Industrial Corporation last month citing losses due to global financial crisis.



He informed that the government will utilize the overseas workers welfare fund that is being raised through a levy of Rs 500 each from workers before they leave for foreign employment. The fund already has Rs 110 million.



Meanwhile the government and manpower agencies have agreed to strictly provide 10 percent of the total overseas jobs as reservations for dalit, conflict victims, underprivileged and members of minority groups.



Meanwhile, the government has allocated a budget of Rs 24.5 million for the current fiscal year to newly-formed the Foreign Employment Promotion Board which has been set up to deal with foreign employment-related issues.

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