Macau | Fees applied by employment agencies to job seekers cannot exceed 50 pct of salary base

Macau (MNA) – A law proposal ruling on the activities performed by employment agencies established in the Macau SAR suggest that workers requesting employment placement services from such agencies can be charged a fee of no more than 50 per cent of their base salary, which can be charged only once and 60 days after the beginning of the work relationship.

According to information provided on Thursday during a press conference in the MSAR Government headquarters, should the work contract be annulled before the expiration of the 60-day period the fee should be returned or reduced to an amount not less than 50 per cent.

In addition, the employment agencies should return or reduce to an amount not less than 50 per cent to the employer when the non-resident, ‘for personal reasons,’ is not authorised to stay in the city as a worker, according to information provided in the press release distributed during the press conference.

Improvements in the sanction and supervision regime have also been suggested by the MSAR Government, with the law proposal ‘clearly’ forbidding that employment agencies provide job offer services to non-residents who remain the MSAR, charge users amounts other than the stipulated fees introduced above, or persuade users to accept or practice illegal work.

The proposal further introduces an advisor regime in the employment service, recommending that each employment agency and its branches, if any, have at least one advisor in the employment service.

Applicants for a licence to operate an employment agency in the city must be in possession of an advisor permit, thus defined as a compulsory requisite.