ZAP
Immigrants at the door of AIMA, in Porto
Companies offer training, accommodation and employment contracts to immigrants, the government provides a visa. But now, the bosses want a minimum period of work at the company. The objective is to prevent “escape” to other countries.
The Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA) works together with the government to grant immigrants who are working in a particular company a visa to stay in the country within a period of 30 days.
Companies must, however, guarantee migrants a employment contract, as well as training and accommodation. This was stipulated in the cooperation protocol presented by the Government to employer confederations in early December, recalls .
Now, the Portuguese Business Confederation (CIP) advocates that a minimum period of stay for foreign workers be guaranteed in the country in order to prevent these professionals from migrating to other geographies in Europe. The proposal will be discussed in January with the Ministry of the Presidency.
“This visa will not only be valid for Portugal, it is valid for the Schengen areaof which we are part. It doesn’t make sense for Portuguese companies to pay for training, travel to Portugal and accommodation costs and then Portugal is an open door to Europe at the expense of the investment of Portuguese companies”, explains the president of CIP to DN, Armindo Monteiro.
“We need to find solutions that do not violate community rules on the movement of people and that accommodate this circumstance so that companies are not investing and then run the risk of losing workers“, he says.
What is proposed is the stipulation of a minimum period of immigrant workexplained in the employment contract. If he fails to comply, the government would have to compensate the companies for the money spent on training, accommodation, among others.
“We prefer, naturally, to go through the contractual route, and find mechanisms in the law that allow us to guarantee this framework. We do not want to transfer this responsibility that should be between the company and the worker to the State, but we need a compromise and a balance. Companies cannot bear all the responsibilitiesthere needs to be a guarantee in case things go wrong”, says the president of the CIP.
