The move has come at the time when the government has not been able to get desired result despite repeated attempts to bring foreign workers under the domestic labour law. The department provided 90 days of time, on Sunday. As per the Labour Act 1992, it is mandatory for the foreigners working in Nepal to get work permit.
Krishna Hari Pushkar Karna, director general of the department said that those receiving the permit within the given time would be not be taken action and imposed fine in work permit fee. “After 90 days, we will carry out monitoring in the organisations employing foreigners and those found working illegally will be taken action as per the labour law which has a provision to even deport from Nepal,” he added.
As per the existing provision, those who fail to get work permit can be fined up to Rs 20,000 and could also be repatriated. Though there is no exact data on how many foreigners are working in Nepal without valid work permit, the department estimates there are 540,000 foreigners (including 500,000 Indians) such foreigners, according the department. Of the total Indians working in Nepal, some 400,000 are in informal sector.
Work permit is not required for diplomatic staff enjoying diplomatic privilege and immunities. So far, around 10,000 foreigners have obtained work permit to work in diplomatic missions, banks, the telecom and the education sectors, among others.
For last three years, the government has been working over a plan to make foreigners working in Nepal to take work permit as there has been trend of visiting Nepal on tourist visa and staying back to work. It is also loss of estimated Rs 4 billions annually in income tax and work permit fees to the government, according to the department officials. The department charges Rs 10,000 a year for work permit from foreigners and Rs 5,000 for Indian nationals coming to Nepal for employment.
In a bid to make it strict for working illegally in the country, the Ministry of Labour and Employment has also introduced a guideline. It says that it is mandatory for foreigners visiting Nepal for paid or unpaid jobs to apply for the permit within one months by self or through the employing organisation.
According to the guideline, no matter whether the sector is formal, informal sector or self employment, foreign workers have to get the permit from the department. The department can also reject the application for the work permit, in cases such as if there is enough work force in local market for the type of jobs to which the work permit is applied and no of security clearance from the Home Ministry.
The government grants permission to employers to engage a non-Nepali at work for a maximum period of five years and in a specialised kind of skilled technical post, for a period of up to seven years, if Nepalis are hard to find for the specific job, according to the guideline. Foreigners have been working in many sectors including NGOs, INGOs, hotels, restaurants, banks, airlines, construction companies and the telecommunication and hydropower sectors.
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