Archive for the ‘Work’ Category

The Cayman Island Government is to slash recruitment in a bid to minimise the effect of the global economic slowdown on the economy.

The government has asked its chief officers to refrain from hiring new staff and reduce their approved expenditure by 6 percent for the 2008/09 fiscal year. The move comes as a result of forecasts that government income for the year will be CI$15 million less than budgeted.

The directive applies to all public bodies and government-owned companies, but will not apply to essential personnel such as police and medical staff.

Kurt Tibbetts, Leader of Government Business, stated last week that the Government of the Cayman Islands remains committed to term limits for foreign workers. Speaking in the Legislative Assembly he said ‘The Government, after the most careful consideration, has concluded that the choice for Cayman is stark: either we retain a system designed to reduce the number of people who are able to stay here indefinitely and become part of the permanent population with all the attendant rights and privileges that must go hand in hand with long term tenure, or we concede that in ten years or less, the control of the destiny of these beloved Islands will be vested in persons who were not born here. For this Government and we believe for the vast majority of Caymanians, the latter result is wholly undesirable and unacceptable.’

Government data indicates that since the introduction of the policy the ‘brain drain’ predicted by many has not materialised. In fact the number of qualified professionals such as accountants and lawyers has increased significantly.

Chief Immigration Officer Franz Manderson has reminded employers that work permit renewal applications must be submitted before current work permits expire. He stated that a growing number of renewal applications are being submitted late, contrary to the requirements of the Immigration Law (2007 Revision).

Under the legislation employees can carry on working after their current permit expires provided a renewal application has been made before its expiration. If an application is made after the expiration date, the employee must stop working until a new permit is issued.

The Cayman Islands Department of Immigration have a new website and logo. The site offers comprehensive information about visas, work permits, permanent residence and Caymanian status.

Leader of Government Business Kurt Tibbetts has announced that changes to the Immigration Law next year will lead to a decrease in the time it takes to process work permits. Under the new system, expected to be introduced in the first quarter of 2008, certain categories of work permits will be processed by administrative staff rather than being approved by the Work Permit Board.

Acting Chief Secretary Donovan Ebanks revealed last week that in the last 17 months the government has issued over 41,000 work permits. The breakdown for the period between April 2006 and August 2007 was 10,367 annual permits, 20,729 temporary permits, and 10,521 renewals. He was responding to a question from Leader of the Opposition McKeeva Bush in the Legislative Assembly.

The government is to set up a set up a review team that will investigate the possibility of applying term limits for foreigners working in government departments. Foreigners working for the government are currently exempt from Cayman’s 7 year limit for work permits.

Minister of Tourism Charles Clifford has announced that the Department of Tourism is to launch a tourism apprenticeship programme. Run in conjunction with the University College of the Cayman Islands it will be primarily aimed at high school students, but will be open to others. The educational aspect will be funded by the government, with the private sector employing enrolled students on a part-time basis.

Expatriate workers will soon have to carry government-issued identity cards. The scheme was introduced several years ago but was shelved in the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan in 2004. New cards are currently being sent out to workers who have successfully applied for a work permit recently.

Chief Immigration Officer Franz Manderson has revealed that 62 foreign workers taking the Department of Immigration’s new English language test have failed. Since it was introduced on November 20 2006, 829 persons taking the test have been successful. Those failing the test cannot commence employment and have to leave the Cayman Islands as soon as possible.