Bust job sharks

THE Department of Labour wishes to warn the public to be on the alert for bogus “placement agents” or so-called companies that claim to offer employment to job seekers and later claim a fee for their placement

The department points out that  bogus placement agents claim to represent companies but when their credentials are checked, the companies report that they do not know them.

The department says the scam  appears to be spreading, with scammers taking advantage of the biting  unemployment in the country.

Thembinkosi Mkalipi, chief director, collective bargaining, at the  Department of Labour, says that no  prospective employer can demand payment for a job offered.

Nowhere in the Basic Conditions of Employment Act is provision made for a job seeker having to pay before being offered a job.

Mkalipi advises members of the public who encounter a request for money in exchange for a job to contact their closest Labour Centre office and lodge a complaint.

The department has an infrastructure network of 421 service  points nationwide. These include 126 labour centres, 31 satellite offices, 19  mobile offices, 153 visiting points and  45 Thusong service centres.

It uses this infrastructure to deliver on its core business of providing such public employment services as inspection and enforcement.