Ministry: ‘Modernizing Work Permit Policies’

September 25, 2012

Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Patrice Minors announced today [Sept 25] that the Ministry is “actively engaged in modernizing work permit policies.”

Minister Minors said: “Work on drafting a revised Work Permit Policy has been in progress during the course of the summer and next month I will convene a Review Committee comprised of stakeholder organizations to review the proposals and consider counter proposals. Once the consultation with stakeholders has concluded, I anticipate that the 2012 Work Permit Policies will be implemented in the very near future.”

Stakeholder groups invited to participate on the Review Committee include the Bermuda Employers Council, Trade Union Congress, Bermuda Hotel Association as well as representatives from International Business organizations.

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Comments (39)

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  1. Razor says:

    Royal Gazette” (July 2, 2012) “Government plans to draft new work permit policies by the end of July.”

    Only 2 months late, well wait they are “still engaging”. So I give it another 3 or 4 months to rewrite a plan that will be IB unfriendly, that will still have term limits and no human rights for guest workers. Can’t wait!

    • eye on you says:

      This should have been done as soon as Mr Burch exited the building.

      • Cleancut says:

        Don’t worry, Col. Burch will return.

        He has a lot of debts to settle.

        Top of his list is Paula!!!!

  2. Come Correct says:

    You mean the first lot wasn’t good enough?

    • LOL (original TM*) says:

      They are doing this due to OBA saying that they would suspend term limits for two year while reviewing the term limits and modifying the policy. Funny where the PLP take council from…………….

      LOL

    • I Love Haters says:

      Shut the f$k up I haven’t seen or heard anything from you and the rest of the Clan OBA fools. You will not win. The real funny thing is I have a friend that works for one of the OBA MP. Told me she acts like she supports the OBA, so her boss don’t pass her walking papers, in truth she supports the PLP, Kool aid drinkers, N word, the blind, the sheep and all the other names you call us.

      The OBA will not win because in reality you are the UBP. Every person in Bermuda knows you only change the name to win BLACK VOTES. All you do is complain and complain. Every Country in the World has suffered due to the economy. Stop the BS Cox or the Cog as you and the rest of the — call her with disrespect will run circles around your new Back Puppet! Craig is being used and that’s another thing all we Kool Aid drinkers know.

      Black Bermudians will decide who wins the next election, so were all a bunch of black flip flops, you already know and hate that.

      You all just vote one way, $hit if another white party is born you will all flip flop again in 10 hours.

      SO COME CORRECT WITH THAT A$$ hol#.

      • swing voter says:

        you speak like the election has already been decided (it has). As for ‘Black Bermudians will decide who wins the next election” well you’re absolutely right. The majority of us are suffering

      • Zombie Apocalypse says:

        Hi Betty. Classy language.

      • Formidable Deviant says:

        You are a horrible person. If you represent your party in any capacity other than someone they are ashamed of, it speaks volumes to where this country is going under the current administration. Thug rule right?

      • Bedhead says:

        WOW such venom, what a shining example of the PLP!

      • street wise says:

        You talk about “haters”… check yourself, dude! It’s people like you that are HOLDING BACK THIS ISLAND! But your time is limited….

        SMH.

      • Surf's up! says:

        WHOA…I’m going to go out on a limb and say you might be a little racist. You are a very angry person and should seek some help!!

      • 1998 50 million SURPLUS! 2012 1.5 billion in debt! Figure it out! Stop voting cuz of the color of skin! We are in a SH** Hole because of this government! STOP blaming the WHITE Bermudians for slavery it was the whole world! Further more ya always talkin about we put u in slavery go back deeper! Who slaved who first!?

        • Come Correct says:

          Lol they’ll never look at it like that. He/She can rant and call me n a-hole all they want but there is one thing that is certain, after the election, if the plp lose, I will laugh, if the plp win, I will leave and laugh at the sh!tty situation you’re left with. Its impossible to make an entire nation rich, but its really easy to plunge one into poverty. We really can’t handle another four years of this.

      • eye on you says:

        what did the UBP do that was so bad…a booming economy, education system that was better, business that was better, lower crime, almost 0 poverty, 0 employment? Sounds like you are the real hater and name caller here!!! So what did your precious PLP do for this country – not their friends and family – in the last 14 years? I await your response…should be short as the list of PLP improvement isn’t long.

  3. cox Must go says:

    Patrice,

    you are truely hopless.

    please call it a day and go back to the private sector and your high paying job, you can keep your Senators salay after Mike Dunkley takes constituency 10 from you.

    i bet these new policies do not stand strong for us bermudians

    PLP really needs some new faces you lot are tired and all out of ideas.

  4. Solidarity says:

    Will this policy address attitudes, rudeness, and unqualified/uneducated staff?

  5. Mad Dawg says:

    Oh great. They wait until they have persuaded IB to look elsewhere. They wait until there are thousands of Bermudians unemployed. They wait until there are thousands of empty properties. Then, a month ir two before the election, they promise to ‘modernise’ the dept Immigration, whatever the hell that means.

    Clueless.

    • swing voter says:

      yeah it is a bit of a joke isn’t it…but their support base won’t understand nor appreciate what happened with IB nor do they understand how the trickle down of IB money affects them. They only know that ‘I get paid by gov’ment and de union fights for me so umma support dem 4eva’

  6. sad says:

    What a big joke WHATS TAKING THEM SO LONG.. I Totaly agree with you Solidarity.

  7. Lorie says:

    I really hope that THIS time (not sure how many times this review/implementation/update etc has happened!) it is done with the involvement of well-versed individuals who know and understand the many secret ways in which would-be employers shun Bermudians and completely discourage them from even trying. Truthfully, there are bigger problems that meet the eye in this “game.”

    • street wise says:

      Why do would-be employers shun Bermudians…?? I don’t understand….

      • Lorie says:

        They shun Bermudians (not all) because they cannot treat them like slaves–paying them less than a liveable wage, expecting them to work 18 hr days (without though of their families or health), ty cannot manipulate them and fire them for no reason, they cannot hold a work permit over their head, they cannot reap huge profits while paying their staff pennies, etc etc.
        There is good reason why the youth are disillusioned–their parents are disillusioned! Bermuda is becoming a land of virtuals. With cheap imported (Filipino,etc.) labour and very wealthy imported and local labour. Sadly some of these BErmudians who are now in power and have earned wealth are acting like the slavemasters of the past.

  8. Sandgrownan says:

    It means nothing unless the rhetoric changes. There’s nothing wrong with permit processing, but the public policy statements by the idiots send an entirely different message.

    I know they have to appeal to hte mouthbreathers, but really, they need to look at the bigger picture. Saying “we are open for business” is an empty slogan without real, positive tangible steps to help overseas investors and employers coming to Bermuda.

    • street wise says:

      Someone commented on another forum that s/he had recently waited 19 weeks to get a WP approved! Well that’s an improvement over waiting 6 months. I guess.

  9. Nothing will Change says:

    Minister Minors and Dr. Ming are an infinite improvement over Col. — and Jabba the Hut…however nothing will change. The political atmosphere is such that the PLP is terrified of alienating what few misguided supporters they still have by implementing any creative policies that would encourage NEW business to relocate to Bermuda.

    • Victor says:

      Actually, it’s far worse than that – yes Minister Minors and her faction lack the sheer disdain and contempt to the “hands that feed us” shown by the Col and his gang; instead they are genuinely ignorant and clueless, incapable of even successfully running an ice cream stand on a hot summer day at Horseshoe Bay. Yes, the sad truth is she would manage to somehow find a way to screw it up…as we have seen time and time again.

    • OMG says:

      Are you serious Dr. Ming is weak, and Jabba the Hut I guess your talking about your mother. The last CIO of Immigration was Ms. Azhar and she was a Mike Tyson. Don’t speak bad about Azhar, she could run circles around Ming in her sleep. That department needs a strong CIO not a nice church pastor.

      • swing voter says:

        yeah, she’s a poppet. At least Azhar was an independant thinker. Ming would do anything for a postition and a paycheck. Whatever ‘policy’ the govt come up with, Ming will run with it without question….as would several senior civil servants

    • street wise says:

      No large business is gonna relocate here while the plp is in power. Nothing is gonna change unless something changes. Get it?

      When the OBA become our new Government, billions of dollars will be unlocked and invested here. All these international investors are waiting for, like we are ALL waiting for, is a multi-racial Government that will be welcoming to IB, honest, competent and transparent. Ideals the plp do not have!

      Once the OBA becomes the Government, many new jobs will open up…. and things will slowly get back to normal. You’ve had your 14 year innings, plp, and now it’s our turn….

  10. Bermudian says:

    Wow…someone is p’d off! It is comments from nimrods like “I love haters” that makes us look bad. You need to come correct with your a$$ and realize that when you comment about PLP…black votes will win this election…you’re only confirming what some might believe about PLP supporters and that is that they do not vote for what’s best for Bermuda, but only because it is a black party. And yes, it has been denied but we all (most of us) live in reality and when it comes down to it those so called die hard supporters would never vote PLP if it had a white leader. Your vote is all about colour and nothing more.

    SO COME CORRECT WITH THAT.

  11. Future says:

    Why is overseas experience more valuable more valuable here than any where else in the world.

    I bet the majority of the work permits are for executive positions and managers.

    While Bermudians are advertised Potwasher and waiter positions. What happened to the days when foreigners came here specifically here to train Bermudians to fulfill the positions.

    I bet the ratio between ex-pat salaries and local salaries will shock and amaze us all.

    • Bullseye says:

      These overseas companies create jobs, and when they choose to move here it does generate jobs for Bermudians and then their expenditure trickles down through the rest of the economy. The job creators get the big pay.

      “What happened to the days when foreigners came here specifically here to train Bermudians to fulfill the positions.”

      When did this happen? Business do not make money within an endless cycle of training. They have trainee positions and they have scholarship awards and such, but they are not here just to train people for the betterment of the people. The business would actually suffer. Someone actually has to do the job, and they should have the right to have the best possible person for that job. Otherwise there is no job and no trainee.

      Right now companies are submitting to the BMA to delist, and shipping companies are having to sign non-disclosure agreements just to quote a foreign company in assisting them leaving the island. There is a silent exodus going on and the Govt. would have you believe that it is not going on and the economy is recovering, and none of this is their fault. Well that is some bad tasting baloney.

      • SNP says:

        You are one of the few on this page that make sense.

        Re training of staff, as you said if companies come here to train staff…..to work in their establishment…..then who does the job….. :(

    • doomed says:

      Thank you!! There are thousands of bermudians out of work on the island but still thousands of expats here and more coming in. If qualified bermudians get first shot at these jobs but still unemployed how is getting rid of term limits going to help? Is the argument that no term limits will intice new business to come, and they will hire bermudians(where these other companies aren’t)?

      Everyone likes to talk about empty houses and empty apartments, no one mentions the housing allowance expats have that serve to artifically inflate rent for everyone else. Does no one want to draw the parallels to cayman and how many of their population was forced to leave because they couldn’t afford to live there anymore?

      What would the opposition do? Let all the guest workers stay indefinitely? how is that going to produce more bermudian jobs? if the talent base isn’t here, i don’t see how letting foreigners stay longer is going to help.

      While i’m on the subject of the opposition – i hear a lot of UBP, or whatever they are called these days, supporters rail on about change and how different they will be if they win the election. Strangely enough, i haven’t heard any specifics from the party itself though. What is it they actually stand for? Its hard to take people at their who have no track record of actually governing based on their retoric. Sure, they might talk a good game – but without concrete plans and suggestions its just that, talk. Careful what you wish for.

      • Bullseye says:

        Your second line confirms that you really have no idea what is going on.

        Someone has to get into Government and stop the bleeding and take some responsibility.

        At least give them one term to see what is going on behind closed doors up on the hill. Then you can vote them out after the PLP has regrouped, but a shake-up is needed.

        The last thing that is needed is to give the PLP a pat on the back saying “Good job! I’ll have more of the same!”

      • simpleman says:

        Most of the expats that come in bring training to Bermudians if they are willing to accept it, but there’s the rub. A lot will not accept that the rest of the world might know something. Too bad, this Island could be the best there is if they would gather the information the rest of the world offers as it passes through. A change of attitudes is the only hope.

  12. i gotta be me says:

    It’s time for a change. A change of national attitude. All the foreigners that come here are a boost to the economy. When the come thru commerce (IB) they also boost tourism (because families like to visit). Thru their payroll taxes, these foreigners pay for our public education although you won’t hear that discussed. Why do the PLP and their followers see immigration as a threat? The advantages should be obvious. We should embrace foreigners not persecute them because they are better qualified and better workers.

  13. Y-Gurl says:

    The people who work there (in Goverment) are not capable of managing my sock drawer, to late for reform ,the latest casualties of a Incompetent Goverment is Schroders and JP Morgan getting set to leave Bermuda, thanks PLP for your many years of in attention to what Bermuda needs to survive.