By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A top official yesterday said the Department of Labour had “significantly limited the tricks” used by employers to deny Bahamians jobs in preference to foreigners, slamming some tourism and financial services work permit applications as “ridiculous”.

Robert Farquharson, the director of labour, indicated the Government will implement more rigorous enforcement to ensure it strikes the correct balance between reducing the 15.7 per cent unemployment rate and ensuring Bahamian companies have the skilled personnel necessary to thrive.

Addressing the National Conclave of Bahamas Chambers of Commerce, Mr Farquharson hit out at financial services recruitment advertisements that required applicants to speak multiple languages.

And he also criticised a “leading hotel’s” application for Labour Certificates that would support work permit applications for foreign accountants, who would be paid $150,000 annually, when there were “at least” 80-100 unemployed Bahamian accountants with the same qualifications who were available to do the job.

“One of the other tricks we see, particularly in the financial services sector, is that they want someone who speaks Portuguese, Spanish, French and German,” Mr Farquharson said. “For one job.”

Blasting such requirements as “ridiculous”, Mr Farquharson promised that the Department of Labour would send its inspection unit into financial services business demanding such qualifications to “find out who can speak what”.

There has long been suspicion in some quarters that Bahamas-based financial services businesses set such high language bars as a way to either deter, or prevent, Bahamians from landing upper echelon positions.

However, Mr Farquharson’s comments may send a potential chill down the spines of many in the financial services industry, who will again start fretting over whether they will be able to access specialist talent essential to sustaining their business.

The timing is also far from brilliant, given the ongoing industry consolidation that is being driven by factors largely external to the Bahamas, but which can be exacerbated by government policies and pronouncements.

Turning to the “leading hotel”, which he did not name, Mr Farquharson said the accounting job qualifications involved a Bachelor’s Degree and five years’ industry experience.

“How many Bahamians are qualified, and you want to bring in a foreigner and pay the foreigner $150,000 a year?” Mr Farquharson asked rhetorically.

“That’s a problem for staff at the Department of Labour. We have at least 80-100 qualified Bahamian accountants in this country who are unemployed. We can’t tell you who to hire, but we can give you 20 Bahamian accountants [for interview] with a Bachelor’s Degree and five years’ industry experience.

“We want to make sure your business is on track to function efficiently and effectively, but at the same time Bahamians must come first in the Bahamas.”

Mr Farquharson said the Government’s policy was that Bahamians must be “considered” for all job openings if they were suitably qualified and available.

Acknowledging that there were specialist areas where foreign labour was required, he said this would be facilitated with Certificates of Labour and work permits.

However, companies importing foreign workers had to appoint a Bahamian to understudy them, and provide appropriate training, so that when the work permit term expired there was knowledge transfer and the latter was ready to take over.

“It’s critically important for the Government of the Bahamas to reduce unemployment,” Mr Farquharson said.

While the Department of Labour had “a number of examples” where Bahamians had successfully replaced foreign workers, Mr Farquharson said companies had sometimes employed “tricks” to retain overseas staff.

He identified one example as firms identifying Bahamian understudies to take over, only to make them redundant before the work permit expired.

The company then turned round, just before the permit was due for renewal, and said it either needed to retain or hire a new expatriate as it was facing the same situation.

Warning that the Department’s inspection unit was focusing on such issues, Mr Farquharson said: “We have limited these tricks significantly.”

He added that Labour officials were visiting Bahamian ‘understudies’ on their job sites on a quarterly basis, in a bid to find out how their training was going and to determine whether the employer was abiding by the terms for granting the work permit.

Explaining why some Bahamian companies experienced delays in obtaining Certificates of Labour, Mr Farquharson said some failed to answer ‘question five’ on the application form, which required them to identify a Bahamian understudy.

“Fake or inaccurate information” would also prevent a Labour Certificate application from being processed, he added, along with details that suggested an employer would violate Bahamian law.

“Believe it or not, people put in applications [with] a $100 per week wage, when the minimum wage is $150 per week,” Mr Farquharson said.

He pointed out that some laws, such as the Engineers Act, required Bahamian professional organisations to certify that no locals were available before work permits/Labour Certificates would be granted.

Mr Farquharson said some applications used fancy language to disguise the job’s true nature.

‘Concrete specialist’ was often used on applications for persons mixing mortar, while ‘superintendents’ were often simply contractors.

“Why would you want to hire someone from Canada or Britain with five years’ experience in construction work?” Mr Rolle asked. “Do you know how many Bahamians have five years of construction work?”