Time’s ripe to demand hiring of Dominican workers: Employers

Santo Domingo.- Dominican Republic Employers Confederation (COPARDOM) president Jaime Gonzalez on Thursday said time’s ripe for authorities and the private sector involved in the production and enforcement of immigration policies demand the hiring of Dominican workers or at least documented aliens.

Gonzalez’s statement comes in the heels of mounting demand by various sectors to enforce the Labor Law’s regulation limiting the number of foreign laborers in a company’s workforce to 20%.

"We must discuss and agree to dismantle the irregular hiring of foreign workers, and at the same time identify which procedures could be carried out to achieve this purpose, since at present there productive sectors, such as construction and agriculture where the prevalence of undocumented foreign workers is very high," he said.

Gonzalez said that only an orderly and guided process to replace undocumented foreign labor can lay the groundwork to enforce the Labor Code’s regulations.

"Government authorities should start dismantling the hiring of undocumented aliens favoring Dominicans and foreigners with a regular immigration status, allowing us to positively influence the performance of the Dominican social security system and the labor market," the business leader said.