| Azaraimy HH |
THE Labour Department, Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) held a roadshow to brief the business community in the Tutong District on the new application process for attaining foreign workers licence (LPA) in the country.
The briefing was held at Main Hall, Tutong District Community Hall Complex in Pekan Tutong. The event was chaired by Assistant Commissioner of Labour, Aemy Azlena binti Haji Azahari.
The briefing was presented by officials from the Labour Department, and Local Employment and Workforce Development Agency (APTK) and from the Employees Trust Fund (TAP).
The event began with a recitation of Surah Al-Fatihah, followed by a briefing from Hajah Norajimah binti Haji Ali, Assistant Commissioner of Labour, where she detailed the procedures for obtaining LPA.
It continued with a briefing from Asiah binti Ibrahim, Labour Department Finance Officer who talked about the procedures for foreign workers’ recruitment deposit payment, focusing on the use of the new deposit payment method through the Takaful/Insurance Guarantee for Foreign Workers (JITPA) in order to obtain the LPA.
The briefing also included sharing of information on e-Amanah by a TAP officer and on the mandatory registration by an APTK officer.
The roadshow aimed to provide detailed information to stakeholders that comprised employers and the public on the new process for recruiting foreign workers and procedures for applying for a foreign workers licence.
Senior officers from Labour Department, APTK and TAP during the roadshow. – PHOTOS: AZARAIMY HH
A section of attendees.
The LPA is a new process introduced by the Labour Department and is a requirement for recruiting foreign workers to work in private sectors. In short, the previous separate processes of acquiring foreign workers licence (labour quota) and the process of obtaining work pass recommendation (BUR500/555) have become one process. The LPA was first implemented on October 1, 2016.
The LPA was made with the aim to provide efficient and high-quality services to the public and to ease employers in dealing with the procedures at the Labour Department.
The new process supports the nation’s hope to create a pro-business environment, and towards a more organised and safer management of foreign workers in the country for the higher purpose of safeguarding national interests.
It is also designed in a way that it prioritises or encourages recruitment of the local workforce.
The application of LPA requires applicants to first obtain the following documents before submitting their application for the LPA: (i) register and advertise job vacancies at APTK; (ii) attaching a list of local employees approved by TAP through e-Amanah; (iii) submitting supports or valida-tion from other government agencies if there is a need for it.
In the new LPA process, among the important improvements made are – the processes of recreating foreign workers at the Labour Department are shortened from 12 steps to seven steps; the Clients Charter (TPOR) for the whole process of recruiting foreign workers at the Labour Department was shortened from 41 working days to just nine working days.
This change includes the issuance of LPA where it only takes seven working days; a follow-up inspection from the Labour Department will be made after the LPA is issued (three to six months after it is issued), where previously it was made before the application was approved, however, the construction sector will be exempted from this.
The new LPA process is being implemented in stages, which are: First Phase (new application starting October 1); Second Phase (additional application starting January 1, 2017) and Third Phase (renewal of application and contract changes starting April 1, 2017).
This process also hopes to provide ample time for existing employers who already have foreign worker’s recruitment licences to register at APTK and TAP where it is a requirement prior to applying for the LPA.
For further enquiries on the matter, stakeholders may visit the Labour Department’s website at www.labour.gov.bn; Facebook; Jabatan Buruh, Negara Brunei Darussalam; Instagram; labour.brunei; or visit directly at Luang Legar, ground floor, Labour Department Building, Jalan Dewan Majlis, Bandar Seri Begawan or other Labour Department branches in the respective districts.
The post Labour Department introduces new LPA application process appeared first on Borneo Bulletin Online.