15 Working without a valid visa It is the obligation of the employer to renew the visa. However, some employers force the worker to continue working even after visa expiry. Courts were seen to be taking a view that the worker is not eligible to claim wages for the period they wereworking without a valid visa. Many employers also forced the workers to pay the visa/ID card (issuance as well as renewal) charges. This amount is sometimes deducted from the salary in installments. In many cases, the visa/ID card of the employee is not renewed if they are not ready to bear the expenses or the sponsor has fines due to be paid to the authorities. Hence, the employee whose visa has expired and has not been paid for months not only loses this wage but also becomes an undocumented migrant worker. In the countries of destination which have implemented the Wage Protection Scheme (WPS), the workers are expected to have a relief if the WPS is strictly monitored and enforced. There have been instances where the employers have changed the visa of the worker from one company to another under his ownership. The workers are under the mistaken impression that there is no problem as the owner is the same. As there is a change in the commercial registration (CR) number of the company, the worker will not be able to claim the statutory dues from the earlier company after one year from the date of transfer to the new CR. 17 No Objection Certificate for change of job/sponsor 16 Change of visa to another company under the same employer It is mandatory in some countries to obtain a no objection certificate (NOC) from the employer if one wishes to switch jobs. Demanding huge amounts and/or not paying back wages in return for the issuance of the NOC is a very common practice in some countries.

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