(CNS): The Cayman Islands Government is introducing new rules under immigration legislation that will require employers to advertise vacancies when they apply for a temporary work permit. Of the more than 34,000 foreign nationals on permits or government contracts, over 6,500 of them hold temporary work permits, for which bosses were not required to advertise the vacancy. But Cabinet has approved a change to the regulations so all vacancies must be posted on the JobsCayman website before a temporary permit application is made.

The new rule, which rolls out on 31 March, requires all local job vacancies, whether full-time or part-time, to be advertised on the WORC portal for 14 days, in the same way as a full-time year-long permit. If a Caymanian applies for the job but is unsuccessful and a temporary work permit is submitted, employers will have to provide names, qualifications, work experience and background of all the applicants, the reasons the chosen applicant was hired and details of why the Caymanian job seeker was not.

Officials said the change aligns the job registration process and increases the visibility of opportunities for local job seekers. Labour Minister Chris Saunders said he hoped the new rules would encourage job-seeking Caymanians as well as employers to register on the portal, now that all available jobs must be posted before any type of work permit is issued.

“We also hope that all employers will use the portal as a first line of resource when looking for employees,” Saunders said. “This PACT Government is committed to making the necessary policy changes for Caymanians to be considered first for employment opportunities and this is another step forward in achieving this goal.”

Last year WORC reviewed and made decisions on 55,000 applications, and of those 21,040 (almost 39%) were to approve temporary work permits. The numbers indicate the long-held belief that employers use temporary permits to import labour instead of taking the time to find a suitable job seeker locally. 

Acting Interim WORC Director Jeremy Scott said the new requirement means more jobs will be posted on the portal and WORC will be better able to assess the job market and forecast what skills job seekers need to close gaps in particular employment categories.

“Having this data will be vital to building a strong and capable Caymanian workforce. Therefore, we encourage all Caymanians seeking employment to register on the JobsCayman portal,” he said.

The new advertising requirement does not apply to temporary permits for people coming for thirty days or less, such as legal counsel acting in specific cases, visiting medical practitioners or other healthcare specialists, consultants, overseas vendors or those coming on specific short-term assignments.

The regulations also provide for the WORC director to grant a TWP waiver under very exceptional circumstances where there is clear evidence that it is urgently required or where the employer is seeking to employ a babysitter, nanny, specialist caregiver, caretaker, private chef, butler or any other worker in a personal capacity.

If an employer seeking a temporary work permit withholds information from WORC about a Caymanian or someone with a Residency and Employment Rights Certificate (RERC) applying for that position or if the employer provides inaccurate or incomplete information in an attempt to deceive the WORC director, either by act or omission, it is considered an offence and they would be liable on conviction to a fine of $5,000.

Employers not familiar with the JobsCayman portal can find guides to assist them in registering and posting a job ad on the WORC website. Both stages require backend authorisation by WORC administrators, so employers should allow two to five business days for this process.

Caymanian job seekers are encouraged to register and can ask to be a Job Seeker Extended Plus client, whereby a WORC Employment Services Officer can assist them in their search.

All jobs that are currently being advertised on the portal by visiting WORC’s website and selecting the Job Search tab on the home page menu bar. Using keywords for a particular type of employment provides a quick listing of available jobs by categories. Clicking the “perform search” button opens thousands of jobs being advertised.