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

Plan de acción de la Procuraduría de los Derechos Humanos (PDH) para el abordaje integral de la migración laboral y contratación equitativa

Este plan de acción identifica elementos para contribuir a la institucionalización y coordinación de intervenciones sobre migración laboral y contratación equitativa desde un enfoque coordinado entre las distintas unidades de la PDH y desde el liderazgo de la Defensoría de Personas Migrantes.

Research and Policy Brief: Avenues for exploited migrant workers to remain in their country of employment to pursue labour remedies

Exploited migrant workers often don't raise complaints because they fear losing their visa or being deported. There is generally no opportunity for migrant workers to pursue wage claims at the end of their stay because they must immediately leave the country.

As a result, abusive employers are never held to account, and the vast majority return home without the wages they are owed. Pursuing claims after they leave is extremely difficult.

Governments must create migration frameworks that reduce the vulnerability of migrant workers who address exploitation, and enable exploited migrants to extend their stay for a short period in the country of employment to remedy wage theft and hold employers accountable for labour violations.

This new Research and Policy Brief sets out best practice models that governments should consider implementing, with discussion of current global examples of promising laws and policies intended to achieve these goals.

This includes current examples of

• visa portability for exploited migrant workers to bring claims and find a new sponsor,

• short term visas with work rights to pursue wage claims at the end of a migrant worker’s stay,

• deferral of removal (with work rights) for undocumented workers who pursue labour claims, and

• visas for victims of trafficking and criminal wage theft and exploitation to pursue civil labour claims.

The Brief is accompanied by a more detailed case study of recent advances in the United States.

CIERTO Mexico - Fair recruitment practice adapted to COVID-19

CIERTO’s recruitment policy is aligned to ILO’s General Principles and Operational Guidelines for Fair Recruitment (GPOG) and puts emphasis on: a) promotion of employer paid recruitment; b) a shared responsibility approach in the labour supply chain to ensure adequate protection of migrant workers; c) Strengthening communities of origin’s knowledge on fair recruitment by developing third-party independent, human rights based monitoring of recruitment within communities of origin. They also train workers on how complaint mechanisms work with their employer, assist them in filing a complaint if necessary, and intervene only when a complaint does not receive a timely resolution. A third-party independent monitoring actor supervises CIERTO’s work in communities of origin (mostly so that no recruitment fees are charged). They also visit employers at destination to ensure that CIERTO’s description of workplace conditions is accurate, and they conduct worker’s surveys upon return to document any potential abuse either by the recruiter (CIERTO) or by the employer.