Executive Summary - Global study on recruitment fees and related costs: Second edition

This executive summary synthesizes the key finding of the second edition of the Global Study. It presents the trends concerning recruitment fees and related costs for countries, businesses, trade unions, and other recruitment stakeholders, as well as key promising practices and considerations for the future.

The second edition of the Global Study on recruitment fees and related costs is a review of 110 countries across all five regions to document current regulatory approaches and experience on the recruitment fees and related cost. This global study further reviews international, regional, and bilateral frameworks on recruitment and labour migration and considers business-led, trade union, and multi-stakeholder initiatives regarding recruitment fees and related costs. It documents the progress made, challenges encountered, and regulatory gaps that need to be addressed in the five years since the adoption of the ILO Definition of recruitment fees and related costs. 

This executive summary synthesizes the key finding of the second edition of the Global Study. It presents in a concise and easily digestible manner the regional trends concerning recruitment fees and related cost, noting important similarities in relation to prohibition or regulation of recruitment fees and costs, and sanctions regimes. It also presents the main findings regarding business-led, trade union and multistakeholder initiatives concerning recruitment fees and related costs, while noting promising practices and considerations for the future. 

By examining the global landscape of recruitment practices, the study offers valuable insights into national context-specific regulatory conditions and practical realities that workers, labour recruiters, enterprises, and employers face regarding recruitment fees and costs. It specifically highlights the engagement of the ILO supervisory bodies with the topic of recruitment fees and related costs, showing the multi-faceted and cross-cutting nature of the issue.

Fair recruitment Roadmap: A guide for national action

This roadmap is a practical step-by-step guide to assist national policymakers and recruitment stakeholders, including governments and social partners, in effectively implementing fair recruitment at the national level.

The Resource Centre for Migrant Workers (RCMW) in Tijuana, Mexico

Systematization of the experience of the RCMW. Recommendations to improve their services and to replicate the model in Mexico and Central American countries.

Comparative analysis of the standards and procedures on recruitment and placement of foreign temporary workers: Canada, El Salvador, the United States, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico

Regulating international labour recruitment in the domestic work sector: A review of key issues, challenges and opportunities

Based on a report written by Leanne Melnyk. It addresses the process of international recruitment of workers and highlights both the specific needs and vulnerabilities faced by migrant domestic workers, as well as the main issues and challenges, and innovative practices for better regulation of international recruitment in the domestic work sector.

Labour migration in Latin America and the Caribbean. Diagnosis, strategy and ILO's work in the region (ILO Technical Reports, 2016/2)

Labour migration is a complex phenomenon that presents both challenges and opportunities, and if well managed, can not only sustain but also increase economic growth in destination countries, as well as reduce poverty in countries of origin.

Addressing governance challenges in a changing labour migration landscape

This report aims to contribute to an informed and balanced discussion of migration and labour issues. It examines the role of the ILO and its constituents in achieving fair and effective governance of labour migration that benefits societies of origin and destination, protects the rights of migrant workers and their families, and enhances social cohesion.

World of Work magazine: Migration should be a choice

The 2017 edition of the World of Work magazine highlights themes discussed by the ILO’s 106th International Labour Conference (ILC), including labour migration and fair recruitment.

Eliminating forced labour: Handbook for parliamentarians No. 30

Effective legislation and regulations on recruitment processes, for both national and migrant workers, help to curtail forced labour and trafficking. Beyond adopting or amending legislation on recruitment, parliamentarians can request the adoption of implementing decrees and hold the government accountable for monitoring implementation. Promoting fair recruitment practices, and averting the occurrence or risk of forced labour through the recruitment process, must be a fundamental part of any forced labour prevention strategy. 

This handbook, co-published with the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), aims to help parliamentarians to make their contribution to global efforts to effectively combat the scourge of forced labour.

Ending child labour, forced labour and human trafficking in global supply chains

Promoting fair recruitment is a critical priority in the context of both international and internal migration. As discussed in PART 1, a key finding of recent ILO research is that recruitment abuses – and in particular the payment of illegal recruitment fees and related costs – are one of the main ways in which forced labour and human trafficking enters supply chains.

The adoption of laws and regulations to help ensure that workers and jobseekers are not charged recruitment or related costs, or subjected to other recruitment-related abuses – addressed in the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and international legal standards – is therefore critical to broader efforts against forced labour and human trafficking.