Recruitment agency for work abroad: how to check it: what to do under Georgian law

What to do

1. Legality: an intermediary may operate only after registering its activity in the economic activity register and obtaining a certificate (Law of Georgia on Labour Migration, Art. 7); the certificate is issued by the Ministry of IDPs from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia; it may not be transferred to another company (Law on Labour Migration, Art. 3). No certificate: do not sign and do not pay. Working without registration or a certificate carries a fine of GEL 3,000 for the agency, and a larger fine for a repeat offence (Law on Labour Migration, Art. 15).
2. Money: demanding any fee from the worker under a job-placement agreement is prohibited (Law on Labour Migration, Art. 11). An advance payment “for the vacancy”, “visa support” or “processing” under a job-placement agreement is the main red flag.
3. Contracts: a job-placement agreement must be in writing and in Georgian (Law on Labour Migration, Art. 11). It must set out the agency’s obligations: to ensure an employment contract with the foreign employer and to provide objective information about the job (Law on Labour Migration, Art. 11). An employment contract with a foreign employer concluded in Georgia may only be fixed-term, in writing, in Georgian and in the language of the country of work (Law on Labour Migration, Art. 12). Before departure, check the position, salary, work address, term and accommodation.
4. Agency obligations: the agency must verify information about the foreign employer and, before departure, inform the worker about the rules for entry and stay and about consular contacts (Law on Labour Migration, Art. 9). The agency keeps contracts and documents for 5 years; they can be requested in a dispute (Law on Labour Migration, Art. 9).
5. Where to complain: control and fines for violations of the Law on Labour Migration are handled by the Labour Inspection Service (Law on Labour Migration, Art. 14). If a passport is confiscated, a “debt for the trip” is imposed, or the worker is assigned a different job than agreed, this may be recruitment, hiring or transport of a person by deception or by exploiting vulnerability for the purpose of exploitation, which is human trafficking, a criminal offence (Criminal Code of Georgia, Art. 143¹). Report it to the police and the prosecutor’s office.
6. Where to apply: Ministry of IDPs from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia (certificate); Labour Inspection Service; police and prosecutor’s office; Consulate of Georgia in the country of work.
7. Evidence: the agency’s certificate, the job-placement agreement, the draft employment contract, correspondence, payment receipts.
8. Traps: paying the agency “for employment” in cash or to a personal card; leaving without a signed employment contract in a language you understand, relying only on verbal promises; handing your passport to the agency or the employer; travelling on a tourist visa “with later processing”.

Be sure to check

• verifying the agency’s registration and certificate
• ban on charging the worker any fee
• mandatory written contracts and their content
• signs of fraud and trafficking, and where to complain