Implementation and enforcement
This analysis seeks to understand the extent to which governments implement and enforce their laws governing the recruitment of migrant workers. It examines intra-government cooperation, the effectiveness of labour inspectorates and whether they are adequately staffed and skilled, and tasked to identify fraudulent or abusive recruitment practices, the effectiveness of the criminal justice system in dealing with serious violations relating to the recruitment process, and the state’s anti-corruption measures.
Intra-government cooperation (5.1)
Guideline 9.1 of the ILO General Principles and Operational Guidelines on Fair Recruitment (ILO GPOG) recommends that states “ensure that ministries and departments, agencies and other public institutions that oversee recruitment and business practices cooperate closely”. In origin states, this normally requires particularly close collaboration between the labour and foreign ministries, while in destination countries, the mandate for governance of fair recruitment is often shared across labour and interior ministries.
Law enforcement and justice ministries should be involved in both origin and destination states, in order to provide access to justice and criminal investigation where necessary. In some countries, there are divisions of responsibility between national and regional governments.
This indicator examines the impact of the most critical forms of intra-government cooperation in each migration corridor.
Effective labour inspectorate (5.2)
The issue of recruitment is often neglected by labour inspectorates, in favour of a focus on employment issues.
ILO GPOG Guideline 5.1 expects states to maintain an “effective and sufficiently resourced labour inspectorate [which is] empowered and trained to investigate and intervene at all stages of the recruitment process for all workers and all enterprises, and to monitor and evaluate the operations of all labour recruiters.”
This indicator examines how effectively labour inspectorates in origin and destination states regulate the conduct of the various actors involved in transnational recruitment, including through imposing administrative sanctions or instigating criminal prosecutions.
Criminal investigation bodies (5.3)
ILO GPOG Guideline 2.1 says that governments should "investigate [and] punish ... abuses [by all kinds of labour recruiters and other enterprises, including employers, private employment agencies]".
This indicator looks at whether criminal investigative and prosecuting bodies are trained and resourced to investigate and prosecute criminal activity related to fraudulent and abusive recruitment, how common such actions are in practice, and whether they have had a deterrent effect that has translated into enhanced protection for migrant workers.
Anti-corruption measures (5.4)
This indicator examines whether there are effective measures in place to address public sector corruption in the transnational recruitment process particularly among officials tasked with protecting migrant workers, as well as acts of corruption by recruiters and employers.
More on this policy area in related corridors
