Beware ‘Canadian’ farmworker scam, Thai workers warned

By The Nation

 

DOE director-general Phetcharat Sinuay

 

The Department of Employment (DOE) is warning Thais who wish to work in the agricultural sector in Canada to beware of fraud on social networking sites.

 

Canada no longer accepts foreign unskilled workers, the department warns, and people risk being duped of job application fees, or even subject to harm in the foreign country, after being lured by empty promises.

 

DOE director-general Phetcharat Sinuay said her office had detected a Facebook page, which claimed to be based in Toronto, inviting Thai agricultural workers who were working in Israel to instead move to secure permanent jobs at a company in Canada.

 

The page required interested workers to fill out a form linked to the page, and to wait for a reply. Viewers were also given the option to call for more information to a phone number starting with 050 (a number code for VoIP phone communication).

 

Phetcharat said that Canada long ago stopped accepting foreign unskilled workers, and had cancelled visas for most foreigners wishing to do farm work other than for a small number of previously admitted worm collectors.

 

People should not fall for claims offering assistance to get permanent farm jobs in Canada.

 

Phetcharat also warned Thais working on Israeli farms not to fall for promised unskilled farm jobs in Canada, as they could end up losing money and suffering in the foreign land.

 

“If you wish to work abroad, think carefully in all aspects including whether it is worthwhile, and [ensure you] go to work there legally,” she said.

People should check for information concerning the recruiting company before making a decision, she said, urging people to call the DOE at 02-245-6763 or at its provincial offices.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30360116

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-12-10

Even after many years here I still can't my head around this 'paying for a job.'

Al Jazeera did a very good doco on this a few months back with Indonesians being affected. https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/witness/2018/05/migrant-dreams-canada-broken-promises-180501081841729.html

 

5 minutes ago, overherebc said:

Even after many years here I still can't my head around this 'paying for a job.'

What's it got to do with 'here'? It happens all over the world.

3 minutes ago, Psimbo said:

What's it got to do with 'here'? It happens all over the world.

ok I can't get my head around anyone paying to get a job anywhere in the world, but the story is Thai related.

12 hours ago, overherebc said:

ok I can't get my head around anyone paying to get a job anywhere in the world, but the story is Thai related.

Thais pay to get jobs in Thailand so the concept may not be foriegn to them.

People "pay" to find jobs all over the world.

There are recruitment agencies (legit ones) that scour the internet and keep databases of job openings. Instead of the job seeker going to 10 different places only to find they have no openings or they don't have the qualifications, they can go to a recruitment agency who can search 50 (500/5,000 or whatever) companies in a couple minutes and arrange job interviews (and may even assist with CV preparation).

However, some of those recruitment agencies are less than honest in their dealings. Older TV members may recall there used to be a notorious scammer in Pattaya who ran recruitment scams (in Canada, hmmmmm............) and had gained a reputation in Pattaya as well. So much so that some people set up a website to list all the scams he'd been involved in (and tried to keep track of his location). (Apparently he is still active and still running scams. Drummond as done a few articles about him.)

In India (and Nepal), recruitment agencies charge outrageous fees, often equal to what the worker might make in a year and then fudge the paperwork so that the company doing the hiring ends up with unsuitable people. The recruiters are often hired by companies to provide workers so the agencies end up charging the workers for jobs they are already being paid to fill.

When I was in Afghanistan, a lot of companies used recruitment agencies to find "cheap" staff that would be willing to work there. We had people from the Philippines, India, Nepal, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Bosnia and Thailand (probably a few more countries as well) working on different camps. 

Even large, established companies in the "West" use recruitment agencies to find staff as it is easier than having to maintain large HR staffs that would have to sift through thousands of CVs and conduct hundreds of interviews to try and find a couple of suitable hires.

By hiring a recruiting agency, they can write the cost off as a business expense and have someone else do all the drudgery.
 

1 hour ago, Kerryd said:

Even large, established companies in the "West" use recruitment agencies to find staff as it is easier than having to maintain large HR staffs that would have to sift through thousands of CVs and conduct hundreds of interviews to try and find a couple of suitable hires.

By hiring a recruiting agency, they can write the cost off as a business expense and have someone else do all the drudgery.

As with your first paragraph this is very normal and ongoing and very rarely do applicants have to pay the agency which is what @overherebc commented on.

I spent about 10 years doing contract work, all provided by agencies, not once did I ever pay a fee to the agency.

What's a worm collector or is this some kind of ladyboy analogy???? 

10 hours ago, sammieuk1 said:

What's a worm collector or is this some kind of ladyboy analogy???? 

Farming worms is a commercial enterprise. They are sold to bait shops and other enterprises (like ones that deal with composting or gardening).

Much the same way that all those "bugs" you see for sale on various vendor's carts are raised (supposedly) on farms under (supposedly) hygienic conditions. 

10 hours ago, sammieuk1 said:

What's a worm collector or is this some kind of ladyboy analogy???? 

Worms are used for fishing amongst other endeavours. Worm collectors are those lowly paid people who do the back breaking work of going out into a field in the wee hours of the morning to collect the worms. This work is commonly taken on by Asians in other, more wealthy countries.

Edited December 12, 20187 yr by neeray
duplicate word

The sad fact is that if Thai bosses paid a livable salary to the workforce they would not seek work away from their children.

How can anyone save for their future when they are paid 300 baht or less per day.

 

They are deliberately undermined by poor education standards designed to keep them down.

 

The cost of living and everyday expenses are rising rapidly but salaries have not moved up, some have even gone down.

 

Ask yourself if you would sweat your furry bits off in blazing sunshine on a construction site for 300 baht?

i think you would not, but many here are forced to do that because they have no other choice, they remain there because of a work ethic, self respect and lack of sound education.

All well and good but what about Thai workers rights, scammed and cheated by Thai employees within Thailand?

 

Below minimum wages paid.

Age discrimination.

Sick leave pay.

Taxed on salaries.

Excessive working hours without O/T.

Working conditions

 

Maybe a closer look into the domestic work place should be more important?

 

 

The sad fact is that if Thai bosses paid a livable salary to the workforce they would not seek work away from their children.

How can anyone save for their future when they are paid 300 baht or less per day.

 

They are deliberately undermined by poor education standards designed to keep them down.

 

The cost of living and everyday expenses are rising rapidly but salaries have not moved up, some have even gone down.

 

Ask yourself if you would sweat your furry bits off in blazing sunshine on a construction site for 300 baht?

i think you would not, but many here are forced to do that because they have no other choice, they remain there because of a work ethic, self respect and lack of sound education.