Why do work permit applicants need good-standing certificates?
Minister of Labour & Immigration, Vincent Wheatley is expected to face a host of questions from members of the legislature when the House of Assembly has its next sitting starting Thursday.
Among them is the question of why employees are being held responsible for an employer’s good standing with the departments of Inland Revenue, Social Security, and National Health Insurance.
According to the order paper for the upcoming sitting, Opposition legislator Julian Fraser said work permit holders are asked to provide certificates of good standing – both for themselves and their employers – if they hope to renew their work permit and extend their time in the territory.
Fraser said he assumes that this is a government policy and wants to know its objective, if it is indeed a government policy.
The Third District Representative is slated to ask the Labour Minister why the issue could not instead be resolved through the use of a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ checkbox that all three agencies can later verify.
“What is the Labour Department expecting to get from these Employer’s Certificates of Good Standing that they cannot find on the Employee’s Certificate of Good Standing?” Fraser is set to ask.
He will also ask whether there is any arrangement with the agencies to expedite the issuing of the certificates and what is the cost to the employee and employer to facilitate such an initiative.
Policy relaxed after compliance failures
After instituting the requirement for work permit applicants to produce certificates of good standing last year, the Labour Minister later announced a relaxation due to a large number of employers failing to qualify for certificates of good standing.
At the time, minister Wheatley said: “It has been brought to my attention that there are many employers who have large outstanding balances and are unable to make a one-time payment to qualify for the certificates.”
“As it is not our intention to turn well-meaning business persons into criminals, taking into consideration that many businesses are still recovering from the devastations of 2017, we have decided to relax the requirements, just a bit, as we still have to collect our dues,” the minister added.
A few months later, he said applications should be made at least a month in advance for the certificates and suggested that the new policy had shown mixed results up to that time.
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awesome question SIr,
the answer is very simple, only an employer can get a good standing certificate for their business and must sign the work permit application so they are asking the EMPLOYER not the employee to prove they are in good standing so they can move forward with the EMPLOYERS employees work permit…..simple!
Except of course that all their business cronies who have never bothered to forward on the money they take from their employees are exempt.
“A large number of employers failing to qualify for certificates of good standing.”
Three questions
What is nothing done when they start to fall behind with payments?
Why are they not prosecuted, because what they are effectively doing is stealing employees money.?
Why are the employees punished when it is clearly the employer at fault.?
You left out the most important question. How these employers get a renewal of business license since they must be compliance to have a renewal of the licenses?
Excellent point , and the only answers is relatives, cronies, donators and friends.
The requirement for these certificates was just another way for the Govt to bring in additional revenue. It just adds to the annual burden of having to renew the work permit.
An archaic system adding burden on the working expat.
It creates a multi level citizen system state, similar to the caste system in India.
Some people are more equal than others. Discrimination? Nah BVI love.
@Doh
Super True!
Just another burden, just like how you are in the country legally but you must leave the country to change employer.
Archaic and perhaps punitive .
Misguided or not wholistic in approach or Genesis .
For example – if a man is asked to leave to process a permit , please tell me , in 2021 AD , what the RASSclot his location affects his ELIGIBILITY to get said job? You telling me that with all the educated BV Islanders , none can figure out if a man should get a job if he is in Purcell , but soon as he reaches Port of Spain the board can meet and eligibility becomes clear ?
A) PUNITIVE AND INSENSITIVE -you have a man leave his ( temporary ) home and family to go out , only to be denied a permit , then to have to pay to another expense enter as a visitors to pack and leave .
B)REVENUE- If the old bull- poop system is designed to collect revenue , here is a thought….. A FEE MATCHING ALL THe AGENCY Fees Which his re entry could support and STILL BE APPLIED to the general coffers / treasury ( whether he flies out or not) .
C)STATUS- if the concern is the accumulation of consecutive years which could lead to be longer status etc .
Here a new thought for ya …. Conditions could simply be imposed so that a person KNOWS that Job changing within 5 years RESETS the clock . People can make decisions for themselves
So I take it the employee will be punished if the employer is not in good standing.
How fair is that?
the employee will not be able to work so the employer will be punished as they will not have any employees and will be made to get in good standing, thats the point of it.
Now the employee is out of work. Of course the employee is punished.
You are assuming then they only have employees on permit as this system is addressed only to them. Work continues once they have workers that does not fall under that category.
because the majority of them making money on the side and dont want to contribute
Ain’t like this addresses the side jobs. It’s off the books most times. And most belongers have side jobs also. Does this address this. Or is this only to penalize the foreigner. Shows biases with this program.
Do the employees still need a personal good standing whey they have a copy of a good standing from the company they work for?
Yes, both the employer and employee have to get certificates. Basically it’s a duplication, but Govt gets double the fees that way!
Hon. Mr. Fraser, please ask the Hon. Minister for Paperwork & Red Tape why the checking on employer compliance cannot be done “in house” with one simple e-mail from Labour to three different addresses at Inland Revenue, NHI, and Social Security –
Instead of waisting HOURS & HOURS chasing around the island standing in interminable lines and dealing with bureaucrats in the departments that like it no better than work permit holders or their employers?
Ask the Hon. Mr. “Red Tape” Wheatley what-if-anything has been done to streamline this bureaucratic BS.
Hon. Mr. Fraser, tell the Hon. Minister it’s just offensive. Do it in-house like a modern manager.
a good hand shake to you
I know many will like it to be a free for all where anyone can come to the BVI and get a work permit regardless but tell me where else or which other country in the Caribbean one can go and demand a work permit?
I’ll give you two reasons.
First reason is to ensure that non-Belongers don’t get too comfy living in BVI. We must remember that we are nothing more than indentured servants to be exploited. Same reason why expat people are sent back and forth to Immigration Department, kept waiting hours for “appointments” with no apology or excuse offered, given contradictory and misleading information, made to make pointless and expensive trips off-island to “make an exit” and generally made to feel like unwelcome second-class humans.
Second reason is money. Money, money, money. Expat has to keep paying because there is so much apparent corruption by well-connected persons that someone has to pay and it can’t be voters. Better the permanently disenfranchised pay because they have no vote.
And remember folks, if you’re an expat and dare to complain, well boats and planes leaving daily…
You can live here 19 years+, bear and raise your kids here and still you are told you don’t belong and should be grateful for your lot.
Politicians love this divide and rule, keep the Belonger and Non-Belonger at loggerheads. If we could all just figure out that this is about wealth/class more than born here/not born here. But the poor Belonger has to hold on to some idea that they are not bottom of society otherwise they might start wondering whether the politicians are serving them (or serving themselves), so that is why we have this hateful divide and rule approach.
Spot on! Wish I could give that 1,000 likes!
I take my hat of to you, right on
in the light of the pandemic,, oh please, by the time i decided to check ssb about if payments were being made, because it was deducted every 2 weeks, they said it had not been paid in 3 years.. and that was 6 years ago..so the big debts they have now is from years of not paying and having no respect for the laws..too many people know too many bigs boys..
To all employers , Thou shall NOT steal especially from your employees who has been helping your business strive.Do unto other as you would like to be done to you.
Why not punish the employer, than the employee, some of these employer are dectucting, NHI, SS, and tax from the employee and are not paying it, why the poor people have to punish because of this, the goverment need to look in to this.
This is a misnomer for the employee to be bearing the brunt of certificate of good standing, the responsibility which the employer is supposed to bear. The employers deduct the monies for tax, NHI and Social Security and refuse to remit it to the appropriate offices or quarters.
They need to be penalized for their inability to do this instead of the employees who have paid already to go and pay again to obtain the certificates .There should be a body that will correct this and make sure that the standard set by ILO is followed.
simply and well put ( respect )
You may be surprised to know that this form of stealing also is applied to local workers. There are evil hypocrites hiding behind religion doing the same and worst to their native fellowman. Its all about money and power. It’s mind boggling how these people can sleep at night. The government is just as bad as they constantly condone this corruption to curry favor for votes at election. If the COI leaves this system in place it would have been a wasted exercise.
The poor go through too much. These leaders are without love & compassion.. Why lord people in power with a little authority are so heartless and oppressive..Why? Good thing u watching lord and u see it all. U will fix it in your own time
The onus should be on the EMPLOYER NOT THE EMPLOYEE!! The employee can receive a pay stub that states the amounts that have been deducted but it is the EMPLOYER who KNOWS if they have paid these fees to the government. Sorry, Hon Wheatley… you got this one back to front !!
When will they start accepting work permit exemption applications again????????????
Yes they are criminals..they take deduct the workers pay and pocket the money…no accountability….but we are sent home
If you have a novice as Minister for the subject what do you expect?