Stringent New Requirements For Employing Foreigners Amended

Following extensive lobbying and criticism from the business community, on October 23, 2015 the Ministry of Manpower enacted Regulation No. 35 of 2015 regarding Procedures for the Utilization of Foreign Workers, which amends the stringent requirements for the employment of foreigners under Regulation No. 16 of 2015, which came into force only four months earlier. The key amendments that largely revert the requirements for employing foreigners to the status quo prior to the enactment of Regulation No. 16 of 2015, with some modifications, include:

• Removing the requirement to employ a minimum of 10 local employees for every foreign employee employed. The Ministry of Manpower has confirmed that the ratio between local employees and foreign employees has reverted to the prior position of 1:1, and that this requirement applies only to foreign employees holding long-term work permits.