Labour Ministry working to protect workers from employment agencies

Labour Minister Chalermchai Srion said yesterday that he would also create a database containing the names of job seekers and give foreign employers direct access in order to reduce costs and stop workers from being cheated.

The soft loan would be sought from stateowned banks, which would help establish and operate the database, he added.

The ministry will also push for governmenttogovernment or governmenttoprivatecompany employment contracts in order to cut down costs and risks as well as guarantee job security.

One of the ministry's primary objectives is to cut each worker's average cost by Bt15,000, which is possible if the employment process can be cut short. He did not give details about how much this would cost on average.

The objective is to also set up a standard rate and ensure that employment agencies charge no more than four months of salary for the entire service. Chalermchai set next month as a deadline for the reduction in the service cost.

The ministry and employment agencies are scheduled to meet today to discuss the new policies. "If they do not cooperate, the ministry may need to regulate the costs using legal measures, which is our last resort," he said.

When Chalermchai visited Udon Thani yesterday to announce his policy, he discovered that 205 complaints had been filed against employment agencies and 158 of them were on trial.

In Udon Thani, where Chalermchai visited and made public his policy yesterday, there were 205 cases of employment cheats lodged with 158 of them on trials. Most people in this Northeastern province seek jobs in Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Israel and Brunei.

This year a total of 1,448 complaints have been lodged across the country, of which 393 are in court.

While launching his campaign, Chalermchai also dispatched 10 teams comprising ministry officials to take on the cheating employment agencies.