The government of Macau is tightening up on local recruitment agencies and implementing regulation in a market that has, for years, lacked professional guidance and skated on thin legal ice, according to The Macau Business Daily. 

According to the proposals, every employment agency will now have to have at least one trained and certified employment service instructor on staff.

Wong Chi Hong, Director of the Labour Affairs Bureau, commented: “The employment service instructor is something newly added to the draft. In addition, there would be no limit to the amount of fee that the agencies could charge employers. And the agency can charge non-resident workers a fee of up to one month’s salary.”

The draft also suggests increasing the penalty for violations, of between MOP 50,000 (USD 6,150) and MOP 100,000 (USD 12,300), for recruitment agencies that operate without a licence.

The Social Affairs Coordination Standing Committee held a meeting yesterday to discuss revising the regulations on licensing and operation of employment agencies.

Mr Wong, who is the coordinator of the committee, said that the revision of the regulation is urgent and that a consensus had been reached to pass the proposal to the executive committee of the Social Affairs Coordination Standing Committee before 30 January next year.

Mr. Wong added that he hoped legislation could start as soon as possible.

A representative of the labour sector, Lei Chan U, said that introducing an employment service instructor would help enhance the services of recruitment agencies and increase the transparency of their operations.

He added that the draft also included stipulations that recruitment agencies cannot offer their services to tourists in Macau or help non-resident workers switch jobs. He said such rules would help protect the rights of local residents and suggested enforcement of the law have be harsher and relevant fine be increased.