The Worker Welfare Officer is an essential role supporting The Ethical Recruitment Agency’s mission to help workers benefit from working abroad while staying free from exploitation. This role is responsible for regularly contacting TERA’s Indian workers before departure and while abroad in the Gulf; recording their responses; being an emergency point of contact for workers abroad, and working independently from the recruitment team. This role has the responsibility to ensure workers are treated in accordance with applicable laws, TERA’s Code of Conduct and basic human rights standards. The ideal candidate needs to speak English, Hindi, Awadhi and any other local languages are welcome. This position is for 6 months with a possibility of extension upon good performance. You can live wherever you like (remote position).

TERA encourages applicants from a variety of backgrounds including displaced persons and persons with disabilities.

Job Description

Seefar is a social enterprise with a vision for a world where vulnerable people have more opportunities to advance themselves.

Seefar launched The Ethical Recruitment Agency (TERA) with the aim of creating safe opportunities for low- and semi-skilled Indian workers to work in the Gulf without exploitation or debt. TERA’s mission is to help people benefit from working abroad while protecting them from exploitation. For more information about us, please visit https://ethicalrecruitmentagency.com/.

TERA recently opened an office in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh and is seeking a Worker Welfare Officer to ensure that we are carefully monitoring our workers and keeping them safe. The Worker Welfare Officer will remotely (via phone and communication apps) engage with Indian workers placed for work in the Gulf in the construction, cleaning, hospitality and domestic work sectors. This is a full-time consultancy position for six months, renewable subject to funding and performance.

You will help record and address workers’ welfare data and requests; communicate TERA’s support and redress systems; highlight incidents for TERA’s staff to respond to, and ensure accountability of TERA’s staff by independently verifying that ethical practice has been followed. You must be able to speak English, Hindi, Awadhi and any other local languages are welcome. You have a demonstrated interest in research, monitoring & evaluation, migration and human rights – and you are keen to ensure Indians of all backgrounds stay safe while working abroad. You are passionate about migrant worker welfare and are willing to commit to our Ethical Principles (see below). This role demands someone who is smart, self-motivated, who has a strong work ethic and is experienced in remote working, with a lot of autonomy.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The following are the primary responsibilities of the role, with estimated allocations of time and attention.

Deliver: Worker Welfare Monitoring

About 70% of time and effort:

• Fully understand TERA’s worker welfare processes and standards, including our no-fee policies, grievance and complaint mechanisms, principles and Code of Conduct;
• On a weekly basis, monitoring TERA’s workers through phone surveys to ensure that they are safe and our Code of Conduct is respected. This includes ensuring that workers:
  • have not been charged any fees during the recruitment process;
  • are received safely in the destination country and connected with their employer;
  • have safe, clean, sanitary and healthy living and working conditions;
  • are paid in the full amount, on-time;
  • have access to documents, freedom of movement and other human rights;
  • are treated with respect and dignity;
• are free of choice during employment and return/repatriation.
• Guide and inform the workers on the available mechanisms and their rights.
• Receive and swiftly address any workers grievances/complaints using TERA remedy mechanisms and communicate it to TERA Team.
• Keep data updated and resolve data quality problems.
• Apply and improve monitoring processes;
• Other tasks as directed.

Support: TERA Leadership

About 20% of time and effort:

• Maintain effective communication channel with your supervisor;
• Under the direction of your supervisor, maintain effective communication channels with employer partners;
• Maintain a log of frequently raised worker complaints and grievances and communicate the same with TERA management;
• Working with TERA’s leadership to make the recruitment and departure process more ethical and efficient based on needs identified through the monitoring process;
• Develop and improve monitoring processes to detect unethical practices better;

Support: Program Development

About 10% of time and effort:

• Complying with donor reporting requirements.
• Represent and demonstrate the Enterprise’s values and Code of Conduct

TERA’s Ethical Code of Conduct

TERA is committed to the highest standards of health, safety, security and worker welfare. This means that we support, protect and promote the dignity and rights of each of our workers.

These commitments are reflected in our ten organisational principles, which are always integrated into our commercial and personnel contracts. These principles are the foundation of our Code of Conduct.

The General Manager of TERA is responsible for ensuring strict adherence with all TERA Principles, policies and our Code of Conduct. Questions, concerns and feedback should be directed to alex@ethicalrecruitmentagency.com

1. Adherence to the Law and Business Integrity: TERA is committed to operating in full compliance with the laws, rules and regulations of the countries we operate in. Our policies meet or exceed the legal requirements in the countries we operate to the highest standards of integrity. We have zero-tolerance for any and all forms of bribery, corruption, kickbacks, extortion and embezzlement.
2. Free Choice of Employment: TERA is committed to ensuring that workers are never subject to any form of forced, compulsory, bonded, indentured, prison or child labour.
3. No Recruitment Fees and Debt-free Employment Opportunities: TERA follows the “employer pays” recruitment model and we do not charge workers recruitment or placement fees.
4. Transparent Recruitment Process and Clear Employment Contracts: TERA is committed to ensuring workers fully understand the terms and conditions of their employment and are provided with written contracts in a language they understand.
5. Adequate Training and Orientation for Work and Life Abroad: TERA is committed to ensuring are fully informed of their human and labour rights and entitlements before they travel abroad and are adequately trained for their new jobs.
6. Full Access to Identity Documents and Freedom of Movement: TERA is committed to ensuring no workers’ passports or identity documents are retained by TERA or our employer partners. Workers are guaranteed provision for return home on contract completion and in exceptional situations.
7. Decent and Safe Working and Living Conditions. TERA is committed to ensuring workers are provided with clean, secure, safe, and healthy working and living environments. We only partner with employers committed to providing safe and decent conditions of work, free from harassment, any form of intimidation or inhuman treatment.
8. Fair, Regular, Direct and Prompt Payment of Wages: TERA is committed to working with employers that pay fair wages regularly, directly and on time. We have effective systems and procedures to monitor our workers while they are abroad to ensure payments are delivered as agreed.
9. Effective Access to Remedy. TERA is committed to ensuring workers have access to grievance procedures without risk of reprisal, and safe return is guaranteed.
10. Inclusive Policies and Procedures. TERA is committed to ensuring no discrimination occurs on the basis of nationality, gender, sexual orientation, pregnancy status, family status, ethnicity, social status, political affiliation, race, or religion.

An Excellent Candidate

To excel in this role, you will have the following experience and capacities:

• At least 1-2 years of experience in worker welfare-related jobs;
• Highly motivated recent graduated in social work, worker welfare, communication or international relations;
• A commitment to migrant worker welfare;
• Strong communication skills, including listening skills;
• Excellent research and/or survey-related skills;
• Comfort using Google Apps (Forms, Spreadsheets), communication apps like BOTIM or WhatsApp, and other similar technology;
• Excellent written and verbal communication in English; as well as in other local languages such as Hindi and Awadhi in order to communicate with workers by phone;
• Exceptional organisational skills and a track record of on-time delivery;
• Prior experience living or working in a Gulf country preferred but not required;
• Strong autonomy and reliability in remote working.