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WES Standards for International Recruitment
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Traditionally the international recruitment market has been plagued with difficulties because of a complete lack of applicable standards in all international situations. The status quo presently is that any person can set themselves up as a 'recruitment agent' and then advertise for applicants to seek employment in a specific market such as 'Teaching in Korea'.
FOR EXAMPLE: If an agent advertises within New Zealand there are no applicable laws that check the employment promises made, target the correctness of the services provided, and provide back up and responsibility if a complaint occurs. Any person from any country can effectively enter a country and commence advertising with a typical 'Hotmail' email address and no name or physical address. All activities and organization can be done via the Internet or by phone communication without the applicant ever being aware of the background of the agent or their skill in operating the service.
Many people worldwide do respond to such situations and in many cases are provided with inaccurate or minimal information regarding employment offers. Many times the agent will be operating on a home computer, without company registration and not be declaring income and tax information for the fee they receive from Korea. In affect, they are simply gathering and forwarding names to another agent in Korea. Then, if a problem occurs later there will almost certainly be no trail of recorded procedures.
It is vital that some standards are administered and adhered to. So, with this in mind, the management of World English Service Ltd have drafted the WES Standards for International Recruitment, which we see as needed within the industry.
We are also working within our own internal company policies and professional guidelines and therefore understand that we are responsible for meeting our own set of standards.
It is our company's intention to lobby government offices and university managements around the world, thus, alerting them to think carefully about guidelines, policies and procedures they presently have in place for the advertising of international recruitment within their own systems, and for evaluating and responding to the need for applying responsible standards and protocols.
Institutions such as universities do need to help in the establishment of such standards so that any graduates interested in working in Korea are provided with a list of professionally recommended companies who operate using these standards, rather than allowing random advertising by people who have no business status or suitable background in recruiting.
We have established these standards in the hope that professional recruitment agents will see the benefit of becoming a signatory to the standards.
Protocols and Standards for International Recruitment
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(WES 2003 Standards for International Recruitment)
These standards cover the activities of any person or company operating and/or publicly advertising within a country with the intention of offering work or income contracts to a citizen of that country, with the requirement that upon acceptance, they will be located in another country and therefore working under the immigration and employment laws of that foreign country.
- That any agent operating and advertising within a country is required to be either a director, a legally employed staff member, or a commissioned agent of a correctly registered company deemed legally liable under that countries laws for income tax declaration for business recruitment activities.
- That by the acceptance of a monetary gain for placing a person into a foreign country for employment, any person advertising, promoting or carrying out a business in a country as a recruitment agent, is required to correctly declare any income received from their activities to the applicable tax bureau in an annual return for such business activities.
- That any agent must provide full details of the location of their place of business along with applicable phone & fax contact numbers thus enabling any interested applicants to contact them personally if needed. If they are acting as a recruitment agent inside a country other than their own country of residence, then their company's description, contact addresses, phone numbers and email addresses for their own residency country should be declared on all advertising.
- That any agents must voluntarily adhere to any relevant Fair Trading Act or Consumer's Act applicable to the country they are advertising and trading in, and correctly portray their services to all interested parties and be accountable for the service they are offering.
- If any 'Finder's fee' or financial benefit is offered or paid to a person or company for providing the name and personal details of another person, who then in turn gains employment in a foreign country through that connection, then the person receiving the 'Finder's fee' will become equally responsible for the advice and services they have provided to the person gaining employment in a foreign country.
- That all applicable Terms and Conditions for employment in a foreign country be set out in a formal document provided by the recruiter to the applicant. This document will cover the duties and responsibilities of all parties (recruiter, employee and employer).
- That all agents publicly advertise endorsement that they are adhering to the 'WES 2003 Protocols and Standards for International Recruitment' and that a copy of these standards be placed on any website or publication for the agent, and that any person inquiring or applying to gain employment in another country will receive a copy of both the company's own Terms and Conditions and the International Standards.
- That no agency application costs or fees other than essential reimbursement costs to facilitate employment organization such as postage and courier and visa processing costs will be charged to any person enquiring, applying or registering to gain employment in a foreign country unless specifically set out and publicized by that agent as a requirement of gaining employment through them.
- That all agents involved in international recruitment will make available to applicants, up to date advice on immigration and employment labor laws specific to the countries they are sending foreign staff to, and direct the applicant to embassy websites or immigration and visa brochures and governmental publications that will assist their understanding of the regulations applicable to their gaining employment in a specific foreign country.
- That any person representing employment opportunities in a foreign country will provide comprehensive facts and statistics, demographic data and relevant cultural and living information to all interested applicants. This should include things such as living costs, housing, religions, transport, safety issues, food and matters relating to adjusting to living in this foreign country.
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