Under that policy requirement — which proved be very contentious for its many delays and bottlenecks — expat employees were required to submit good standing certificates of the employer’s company before the Labour Department accepts any work permit renewal applications.

Speaking in the House of Assembly last week — months after deciding to relax the policy — the minister explained that persons who did not receive good standing certificates do not simply stay home until they got the required documentation.

Instead, they still showed up for work.

“But they don’t have their documents, which means you are working illegally because you don’t have the good standing [certificates] to give you the work permit that you need,” Wheatley said in the House of Assembly on August 26.

“Unintentionally, we created a bunch of illegal workers at the same time [with the good standing policy change]. That was not an intended consequence,” he added.

The minister explained that the issue is one that needs to be looked at and revised at some point in the House of Assembly.

“We can’t create situations that create criminals or non-law-abiding citizens,” the minister added.

As things stand now, employers need to only acquire a valid receipt as evidence that they applied for a Certificate of Good Standing. As for employees, they also now only require a valid receipt proving they applied for certificates of earnings.

Each party — the company and its employee seeking the renewal — must get these receipts from the Inland Revenue Department, the Social Security Board, and the National Health Insurance.