Computer Society urges SL to ensure safeguards for IT professionals

The Computer Society of Sri Lanka (CSSL) has urged the Government to ensure many safeguards to protect local IT professionals from a possible influx of foreign workers in the sector under proposed new trade and services agreements with many countries. Among them are proper verification of a foreign national’s qualification, pre-determined visas and taxing such workers similar to PAYE by local workers.

In a statement which lists a proposal to ensure a properly regulated environment for IT professionals, the CSSL said it was established in 1976 representing Information Communications Technology (ICT) Professionals in Sri Lanka to promote ICT (Information and Communication Technology) and professionalism among those engaged in this field.

Noting that agreements that the government plans to sign with many countries including India have been a discussion point for everyone involved in this industry.

“After industry as well as CSSL member consultation, we have prepared the following as our high level proposals or regulatory changes to govern the ICT Professional environment in Sri Lanka in the context of Bi-Lateral Agreements,” it said in a statement to the media, urging the government to take these proposals positively and work with relevant government agencies to initiate regulatory changes as well as take these points for consideration during bilateral agreement discussions.

The following has been proposed by the CSSL: * Foreigners who come to Sri Lanka to work in the IT industry need to be checked for their qualifications and experience. CSSL is the body that does that at the moment. We urge the government to enact the Incorporation of CSSL under an Act of Parliament before ETCA is signed so that any foreign national coming to Sri Lanka is checked professionally in terms of skills, certifications, and qualifications. * Foreign workers must get CSSL membership, which will be one document required to issue a visa. When giving CSSL membership, we will verify the quality of the qualification, and the working experience. CSSL already does that for its membership. * To issue a working visa for a foreign national, he or she needs to have an offer letter from a company incorporated in Sri Lanka. The visa must be connected to that company (based on the offer letter) and in the event the person leaves that company, the person must not be allowed to remain in Sri Lanka thereafter, and has to go back to the person's own country. * A working visa has to always be bound to a company incorporated in Sri Lanka i.e. the visa should be company specific. * Before foreign nationals are recruited, a company must have tried that recruitment locally. Together with the offer letter, evidence has to be submitted to Immigration and Emigration department such as local job advertisements and details/con- tacts of interviewees/process. This has to be legally enacted. We would not object to bringing in foreign experts, if that skill or knowledge was not available in Sri Lanka. Checking skills of persons in the IT industry is a capability that CSSL has with the SFIA framework (Skills for the Information Age). Checking if the skills in demand is not found locally and whether the person who is coming from overseas has that skill is an important cross validation. * The Sri Lankan employee percentage in any company should be maintained at high levels and to achieve this a minimum level of Sri Lankan employment in any company has to be defined and regulated. We welcome the creation of new companies with foreign investment. However, we stress that locals should also directly benefit in terms of new employment opportunities * The salary paid to an foreign national has to be declared to the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) for which PAYE tax must be paid, and also declared to CSSL's proposed accreditation body so that salary standards are maintained in Sri Lanka. For this purpose, CSSL will run an annual salary survey. Where a trend of decreasing salary levels is identified, CSSL will work with the relevant company to rectify the situation. * A penalty should be introduced if a company declares a higher salary in the offer letter but in reality pays a lower salary. The IRD should be empowered to regulate this. * Manpower companies from foreign countries should not be allowed to enter into Sri Lanka through ETCA or BOI processes. This is proposed with the hope of preventing misuse and abuse of the ETCA. * Visa validity period should be pre-defined to a reasonable duration, extendable with valid reasons for another pre-defined period. * After completing the pre-defined duration and extended pre-defined period of working in Sri Lanka, the foreign national has to have a break of a certain peri- od before another working visa is offered in Sri Lanka. This break period also should be regulated with laws. * Tourist visa holders should not be allowed to work in Sri Lanka. Immigration Department will have to ensure compliance. * A foreign company that comes to Sri Lanka under ETCA should have a certain number of employees in their payroll in their own country. This is to avoid freelancers coming in high numbers to Sri Lanka, and killing the local freelance/start-up economy. * Dependent visas must be offered to the immediate family only and they should be prohibited from seeking jobs here. They are most welcome to join their immediate family here but should not be abusing the visa. It is however possible that the family may also find employment in accordance with ETCA * Companies that set up Research and Development (R&D) units in Sri Lanka should be supported with special tax benefits to attract them.