Maldives Introduces Hefty Penalties for Employers Violating Foreign Worker Rights

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has ratified an amendment to the Employment Act that imposes a fine of 50,000 Rufiyaa per employee on employers who neglect foreign workers after bringing them to the Maldives.

The bill was passed by the People's Majlis on the 19th of last month.

The important amendments to the Employment Act, which empower authorities to take strict measures against those who neglect foreign workers, outline the circumstances that would be considered negligence and the actions to be taken in such cases.

According to the amendment, information about employers who neglect foreign workers after bringing them to the Maldives can be made public, and they can be fined 50,000 Rufiyaa for each neglected employee.

The situations considered as acts of negligence include:

• Non-payment of wages

• Failure to provide basic necessities as required by law

• Employing foreign workers in jobs other than those they were brought for (however, other work within the scope of the employment agreement is not considered a different job)

• Exploiting foreign workers or forcing them to engage in illegal activities

  
  

For each of these violations, the Ministry has the power to impose a fine of up to 100,000 Rufiyaa on the employer.

Additionally, employers who repeatedly commit acts of negligence may have their services related to foreign workers suspended for a specified period, in addition to fines. The details of these measures will be specified in regulations made under the law.

Other amendments include removing the previous quota of 100,000 workers from a single country. Instead, the number will be determined by regulations made under the law.

The regulations may specify the number of foreign workers that can be brought in a year, the sectors they can work in, and the maximum number from a single country. These limits can be set differently for various industries, types of work, and skill levels.

The amendment also states that the foreign worker quota fee and work permit fee can be increased by up to 30% every three years.