I decided to use the services of one of the firms offering employment abroad. Your newspaper reported that such firms must have a license. Please tell me where I can get information about this license, which is usually indicated in the firm's advertising? After all, it is possible that they could write any numbers there...
Nikolai FEDCHUK, Zhytomyr Region
Although when publishing advertisements of intermediary firms for employment of Ukrainian citizens abroad, newspaper and magazine editors are required to check that they have a license, it is indeed possible that the numbers indicated may be made up. Therefore, those wishing to use the services of employment firms not only can – but must – find out whether the firm they are interested in was actually issued a license to engage in this employment activity. We discussed this in more detail in the article “Mechanism for Obtaining a License for Mediation in Employment and Work Abroad” in «Zagranitsa» No. 07(419).
You can inquire about the authenticity of the license number given in the advertisement at the place where this license is issued (and revoked – in case of violation of license conditions) – at the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy of Ukraine. Postal address: 01023, Kyiv-23, 8/10 Esplanadna Street; tel.: (044) 220-43-69. You can also note the ministry's public reception phone numbers: (044) 226-24-45, 220-54-48.
We think a couple more of our tips, which we have mentioned before, will not be superfluous. When you are about to hand over your money to someone, do not forget to get a receipt or invoice from them – indicating the firm's name, license number, owner's (manager's) name, and legal and actual address of the firm. The same responsible approach should be taken to concluding a contract. Before paying money, you need to make sure that the contract stipulates: what responsibility the firm assumes, what services it undertakes to provide, how it will compensate (fully or partially, within what timeframe, under what conditions) if a particular clause of the contract is not fulfilled. The contract is drawn up in at least two copies. Moreover, at least one copy must be in the client's hands. If you realize that you have been deceived (are being deceived), you should go to the police.
By the way, many fly-by-night firms – those that collect money from citizens and then disappear – somehow try to rent an office in close proximity to police stations, executive or judicial authorities (in the backyards of the city hall, in the premises of the district administration, in the courthouse basement). Whether this happens by chance or is a calculation that our client is the most trusting client in the world... In short, they act according to all the rules of psychology.
Also try to find out whether a particular firm has actually sent anyone abroad – and whether it actually helped them find work there. If it is impossible to find such people and contact them, your chances are zero.
And finally, avoid full prepayment. If it has come to the point that you are actually going – that is, you have a ticket in hand – it would be good to make sure that you owe the firm something, so that there is some guarantee that someone will actually meet you at the airport or train station and find you a job within a few days. The fact is that, not counting compensation for document processing costs, visa processing costs, and telephone calls abroad, the client must pay the intermediary a fee (usually one or two monthly salaries). If you have paid this money here in Ukraine, and also paid for round-trip plane tickets (usually the return ticket is purchased in advance, back in Kyiv), then what is the point of bothering with your employment at all?
Now you know who can handle your employment abroad, and who you should avoid at all costs.
_