Businesses that hire overseas workers will be required to make a financial deposit as a guarantee to ensure the repatriation of foreigners whose work permits have expired.
Under Article 143 of the draft Labour Management Law, businesses that hire foreign employees to work in Laos must provide guarantee money equal to the cost of each worker's return airfare.
The committee drafting the law is now distributing copies of the draft to the parties concerned, including the representatives of employers and employees. Their comments are sought before the draft is given to the cabinet and National Assembly for consideration and approval this year.
Policymakers say companies that hire an overseas workforce comprising 1 to 50 people will be required to pay a guarantee amounting to the full cost of the workers' return airfare to the central or provincial Labour Management Department. The money will be held and later used to pay for the workers' flights home.
Businesses hiring 51 to 150 overseas workers will be required to deposit a guarantee amounting to 80 percent of the cost of each person's return airfare, while those employing 151 to 300 foreign workers will be required to deposit 70 percent of the cost of return flights.
The more overseas workers a company hires, the smaller the deposit will be, as labour management officials want to help businesses reduce their operating costs.
The number of overseas workers employed in Laos has increased over the past five years thanks to robust economic growth and growing business opportunities. However, many of these workers do not have work permits and others are still in the country even though their work permit has expired.
The government is developing tougher measures to prevent a further influx of foreign workers as their presence is making it hard for Lao nationals to find work or do business.
Labour management policymakers admitted they often ran into difficulties when trying to repatriate illegal foreign workers. When workers are told to leave the country they always say they can't afford the airfare and need to work to earn more money, and so the problem of illegal immigrants is perpetuated.
The government's ruling is that the proportion of overseas manual workers hired by a company must not exceed 10 percent of the total workforce, while highly skilled experts can comprise 20 percent of the workforce. This measure has been set in force to ensure there are sufficient jobs for Lao people. However, if necessary, the government will allow more overseas workers to be hired, to satisfy the needs of foreign investors.
Most of the foreign workers employed in Laos come from Vietnam and China. Some of them have set up business here and hope to stay in Laos after realising that the country has plenty of business opportunities.
They also face less competition here as Lao people are reluctant to set up their own company and prefer to work for other employers, especially the government.
