The recent call by Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labor VSA Richinel Brug on local businesses to stop hiring undocumented workers (see last Tuesday’s newspaper) was met with a degree of scepticism among entrepreneurs. One – predictable – comment heard is that qualified and suitable legal residents simply aren’t available.
Because of the cumbersome procedures to acquire employment permits for expatriates, those in immediate need of labour almost get forced into illegal practices, the argument goes. Having to advertise the vacancy and then await possible local candidates to interview can be a time-consuming process.
Perhaps, but it also involves exploiting vulnerable persons due to their lack of immigration status. Many earn substandard wages and in certain cases neither taxes nor social premiums, including for health coverage, are paid on their behalf, despite deducting such from the salary.
One thing that could perhaps help is an incentive like temporarily exempting businesses from those same taxes and social premiums for newly-hired locals. Curaçao is doing something similar (see today’s related story) when employing young adults ages 18-29. This, despite the country’s Council of Advice – as reported in last Tuesday’s edition too – calling the law legally vulnerable, financially unsound and potentially discriminatory.
The latter should not be an issue if the idea is to promote choosing residents over outsiders on St. Maarten’s own job market. Such a fiscal break would provide at least a bit of stimulus to do so.
