According to reports we have received, expatriate workers are now being allowed to cancel their own permits and applications from new employers submitted, such applications being granted more often than not.

The employee in question may adopt the ruse of leaving the country for a brief period whilst the new application process is completed but, if a fairly lengthy period “in exile” is required when a permit is reconsidered after expulsion under the rollover policy, why should a similar period not be imposed in the case of a shorter term cancellation and re-application?

What seems to be happening is that workers are using the good offices of their original employer merely to get a work permit and, once they are here, they then immediately shop around for another job.

Under the current system, the original employer – who is the one having invested time and money in recruiting the worker in the first place – has no right at all to be heard in the matter. 

Instead, the system seems to be accommodating this practice to an unacceptable extent.

In fact, the entire body of work permit rules and regulations is less than employer-friendly as currently administered.

We have commented extensively on the issue of the rollover policy and the negative impact it has on the lives of those employees subject to the rule.

We have also pointed out the detrimental effect on employers, notwithstanding those in the business community who apparently perceive such employees as property and the rollover requirement as an opportunity to trade in an old model for a new and improved version.

But this hopping from job to job by skilled people also creates extra costs for employers, not only in dollars and cents to bring them here, but also in the time it takes to recruit such employees.

Caymanians are affected because there is inadequate time to train Caymanians, in that qualified replacements must be found almost immediately, thereby pushing Caymanians further away from being able to learn on the job.

There should be an agreement or contract between the employer, employee and the government that the work permit holder will continue working for the specific employer, not for the highest bidder.

When an employee on a work permit wants to move out of their category or, for that matter, if they want to get any other job, they should be made to leave the islands for the same length of time as that required under the rollover policy and start the application process all over again.

There should also be an appeal process whereby employers should be able to have a say when he/she objects to any employee job-hopping.

If the employee wishes to move because of problems in the workplace that may be relevant to the Labour Law, then there should be a hearing. An appeal process will also tell job-hoppers that they, too, are subject to scrutiny.

There are hundreds of cases where the employers’ rights are not even addressed in the current system. 

As we have stated before, whilst it is not fair for employees to be at the mercy of employers, it is equally unfair for employers to be at the mercy of employees.