{"id":23068,"date":"2026-08-17T14:21:33","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T08:36:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eng.dragonmedia.com.np\/?p=23068"},"modified":"2026-08-17T14:21:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T08:36:33","slug":"foreign-employment-a-new-framework-for-regulating-manpower-agencies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eng.dragonmedia.com.np\/?p=23068","title":{"rendered":"Foreign Employment: A New Framework for Regulating Manpower Agencies<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"

Avinash Sharma<\/strong><\/p>\n

The decision by the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies to suspend manpower services indefinitely after accusing the government of ignoring its demands has once again brought long-standing problems in Nepal\u2019s foreign employment sector to the surface. However, the issue cannot be reduced merely to a dispute between the government and recruitment agencies over service charges, labour approvals or administrative procedures. At its core are the employment prospects of millions of Nepalis, household finances, debt burdens, recruitment costs, and the legal and human security of workers after they reach destination countries.<\/p>\n

Foreign employment has become an important part of Nepal\u2019s economy and social structure. In such circumstances, manpower agencies cannot be left to operate solely as profit-oriented businesses, nor can the problem be solved by treating every agency as a potential fraudster. The state\u2019s responsibility is to create a system that provides legitimate businesses with a workable environment, protects workers\u2019 rights and strictly controls abusive practices. The commercial viability of recruitment agencies and the protection of migrant workers are not contradictory objectives. Sound policy should bring both within a transparent and accountable regulatory framework.<\/p>\n

Nepal already requires foreign employment agencies to meet licensing, deposit, bank guarantee, renewal and administrative requirements. Existing rules also require disclosure of job details, salary, working hours, accommodation, food, insurance, medical facilities, air tickets and the costs to be paid by workers. Legal provisions exist to take action against agencies that overcharge workers, submit false information or violate the law. The central problem, therefore, is not the absence of regulation but the gap between what is recorded on paper and what happens in actual transactions.<\/p>\n

Informal brokers, cash payments, receipts issued for amounts lower than those actually collected, recruitment for jobs or salaries different from those originally promised, inadequate verification of foreign employers, questionable demand letters and contract substitution after workers arrive abroad remain major risks. Regulation should therefore no longer focus only on how much financial security an agency has deposited or how many workers it sends abroad each year. The more important question is how safely and transparently those workers are recruited and placed.<\/p>\n

Recruitment fees remain one of the most contested issues in the sector. Agencies argue that the fee structure prescribed by the government does not reflect their actual operating costs. On the other hand, if workers have to borrow large sums simply to obtain overseas employment, they begin their migration journey already burdened by financial vulnerability. A system that sets unrealistically low fees on paper but cannot be implemented in practice is also poor regulation because it can encourage hidden cash transactions, under-invoicing and informal payments. Yet allowing agencies to collect unlimited amounts in the name of operating costs would be even more unacceptable.<\/p>\n

Nepal\u2019s long-term objective should be to move as far as possible toward an employer-pays recruitment model. This will require effective bilateral labour agreements with destination countries, stronger verification of foreign employers and closer supervision of cross-border recruitment chains. Where workers are legally required to pay certain costs, those charges should be clearly defined, limited, based on genuine expenses and fully documented.<\/p>\n

One of the most important reforms should be the reduction of cash transactions. Every payment made by a worker should pass only through the official bank account of the recruitment agency, with an electronic receipt automatically generated and the transaction immediately reflected in the government system. Such a mechanism could significantly reduce fee disputes, under-invoicing, informal collection and fraud.<\/p>\n

Nepal should now move toward a \u201cone worker, one digital record\u201d system. A single digital profile should contain information on the foreign employer, approved demand, recruitment agency, job title, salary, working hours, overtime pay, accommodation, food, insurance, medical examination, orientation, ticket, visa, labour approval, payments and final employment contract. Workers should be able to access this information directly through their mobile phones and clearly see which company they are joining, what job they will perform, how much they will earn and how much the process is costing them.<\/p>\n

Equally important is a mechanism that allows the contract approved in Nepal to be compared with the one actually implemented in the destination country. If salary, job description, employer or other conditions are changed after arrival, the worker should be able to report the change immediately through a mobile platform, embassy or labour counsellor. Such a system could substantially reduce the practice of showing one contract in Nepal and imposing different terms abroad.<\/p>\n

Recruitment agencies should also be classified according to performance. Public evaluation could be based on the number of salary disputes involving workers they have sent, complaints filed, complaints proven, cases requiring rescue, frequency of employer changes, speed of grievance resolution and compliance with recruitment fee regulations. Agencies with strong performance records could receive faster and simpler administrative processing, while those repeatedly linked to serious complaints could be placed under enhanced scrutiny.<\/p>\n

The government should not treat every manpower company with the same level of suspicion. A risk-based approach is more effective: lower-risk agencies with good records should receive administrative facilitation, while high-risk agencies should face stricter monitoring.<\/p>\n

Protection against fraud must begin from the moment a citizen decides to seek foreign employment. Workers should be able to easily verify whether a manpower company is licensed, whether its licence has been renewed, whether its operations have been suspended, whether the approved job demand is genuine, and whether the salary and benefits advertised match the actual employment contract.<\/p>\n

Practices such as asking workers to deposit money into personal bank accounts, refusing to issue receipts, obtaining signatures on blank documents, presenting employment conditions different from those advertised, demanding excessive advance payments or retaining passports indefinitely should be clearly communicated to the public as warning signs. Before paying any amount, workers must know exactly why they are paying it and under which category.<\/p>\n

Before departure, every worker should be able to answer four basic questions clearly: Which company am I going to work for? What job will I do? How much will I earn? Under what terms and benefits will I work? If these basic questions remain unclear, labour approval should not proceed to the final stage.<\/p>\n

Nepal\u2019s foreign employment policy has traditionally focused heavily on the process of sending workers abroad. Yet many of the most serious risks begin only after they reach the destination country. Non-payment of wages, passport confiscation, contract substitution, changes in the nature of work, company closure, accidents, violence and forced labour can all occur after departure.<\/p>\n

For this reason, Nepali embassies, labour counsellors, the Department of Foreign Employment, the Foreign Employment Board and manpower companies should be connected through a real-time information-sharing mechanism. If repeated complaints are received against a particular foreign employer, that employer should automatically be reviewed before additional Nepali workers are approved for recruitment. A common database of problematic employers should be maintained and immediately accessible to relevant government agencies and recruitment companies.<\/p>\n

The rescue system should also move from a reactive approach to an early-warning model. If repeated complaints emerge from a specific company, sector or destination regarding unpaid wages, contract violations or mistreatment, the government should treat such information as a risk indicator before the problem escalates.<\/p>\n

Recruitment agencies have the right to present their demands, negotiate with the government and organize peaceful protests. The government, for its part, should not attempt to manage the sector solely through orders and penalties without understanding legitimate operational difficulties faced by businesses. But it is equally unacceptable for workers to bear the cost of disputes between the government and recruitment agencies.<\/p>\n

Foreign employment is not an ordinary commercial transaction. A worker\u2019s visa may expire today, a flight may be scheduled for tomorrow, or an employer may cancel a job if the worker fails to arrive within a specified deadline. Even during strikes or protests, therefore, a minimum service continuity mechanism should be maintained for workers who already have visas, confirmed air tickets, final-stage labour approvals or deadlines approaching expiry.<\/p>\n

Nepal does not need a policy aimed at eliminating manpower agencies. It needs a responsible recruitment industry. Legitimate agencies need stable rules, a reasonable business environment and efficient government services. Workers need transparent costs, genuine jobs, enforceable contracts and protection after arrival abroad. The government needs complete records, traceable transactions and the capacity to take effective action when violations occur.<\/p>\n

The interests of all three sides converge at one point: transparency.<\/p>\n

The manpower business must evolve from a licence-renewal-based industry into a professional service built on accountability. Every payment should be traceable, every job demand verifiable, every contract comparable and every complaint trackable.<\/p>\n

A citizen leaving Nepal for foreign employment is not merely exporting labour. That person carries a significant part of his or her life, the economic future of a family and a measure of trust in the state.<\/p>\n

The success of Nepal\u2019s foreign employment policy should therefore not be measured by how many hundreds of thousands of workers are sent abroad each year.<\/p>\n

The real standard should be whether they leave safely, how transparently they are recruited, whether they receive the jobs and conditions promised in their contracts, and how quickly the state stands with them when they face difficulties.<\/p>\n

That is where a safer, more orderly and more dignified foreign employment system must begin.<\/p>\n

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