Implementing organizations:
IOM - International Organization for Migration
Partnerships: IOE – International Organization of Employers; American Bar Association (ABA), Section of International Law; BSR: Business for Social Responsibility; Government of Alberta (Canada), and; tft – Forests.
Type of Call for Action
This Call for Action invites governments, employers, recruiters and other like-minded partners to engage in a framework for ethical recruitment that is intended to benefit all stakeholders in the labour migration process. This will in turn create an accreditation mechanism aimed at protecting job seekers, recognizing ethical recruiters and identifying potential risks associated with the labour migration process.
Target Group
The target group for this Call for Action are governments, employers, recruiters and other partners who are engaged in the labour migration process and are committed to ethical recruitment.
GFMD Thematic Areas
Labour Migration and Mobility
Tags
Labour-Market Matching; Legal Framework on Migration; Migration Management; Protection, Empowerment and Rights of Migrants; Public Sector and Public-Private Partnership; Recruitment
Links to GFMD
The inter-linked issues of protection and labour migration and mobility have consistently been on the agenda of the GFMD since its inception. From Brussels GFMD 2007 to Sweden GFMD 2014, governments, civil society and international organizations have reiterated the importance of fair and ethical recruitment as an indispensable element in lowering the economic and social costs of labour migration while maximizing its potential benefits. GFMD stakeholders also recognized that ethical recruitment could help avoid or limit brain-drain and brain-waste problems, as well as combat labour exploitation and human trafficking. These discussions have resulted in the development of good recruitment and employment practices in partnership with recruitment agents, employers, civil society and other intermediaries. A number of policies and practices have been documented and shared in the framework of GFMD Roundtables and the GFMD Platform for Partnerships.
The International Recruitment Integrity System (IRIS) is a voluntary and value-based accreditation and monitoring process for international labour recruitment, being developed by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the International Organization of Employers (IOE), in order to increase the integrity and transparency of the international recruitment industry and maximize the gains of labour migration. The IRIS responds to an international call for innovative yet complementary approaches to existing frameworks and activities for trans-border labour recruitment.
There are 4 aspects to the IRIS initiative:
- IRIS aims to create a public-private alliance of like-minded governments, employers, recruiters and other partners committed to ethical recruitment.
- IRIS will develop a voluntary accreditation framework so that its members can be recognized as bona fide fair recruiters and distinguish themselves from unscrupulous intermediaries. Accreditation will be based on adherence to common principles for ethical recruitment and a code of conduct which will include:
- No fee charging to job seekers
- No retention of workers’ passports or identity documents
- A requirement for transparency in their labour supply chain
- Job seekers will have better information regarding ethical recruitment though an information portal and publicly available roster of accredited IRIS members internationally
- IRIS will administer a complaints and referral mechanism to assist victims of unethical or illegal recruiters to file grievances with the appropriate authorities
Mr. Federico Soda
Head, Labour Migration and Human Development
International Organization for Migration
Tel.: +41 22 717 95 60
Email: fsoda@iom.int
For more information: http://iris.iom.int