Government so far has turned down only about 15 percent of applications for exemptions to new work permit term limits set to bite next year.

Regulations, passed in April 2001, brought in six-year limits for many categories of jobs although the policy allowed companies to apply for three-year extensions for ?key employees?.

This week companies will be warned about employees approaching their term limit and will be given the chance to make applications to put them in the key employee category.

Labour, Home Affairs and Public Safety Minister Randy Horton told some companies had already applied for exemptions and had them granted.

Mr. Horton said: ?Probably the majority are granted, no question. We have probably turned down around 15 per cent.?

But he warned Government would be keeping a very close eye on applications and businesses were being careful not to push claims that didn?t stand up to scrutiny.

?Because we have rejected (applications) we have found people are very careful about requesting. In other words, people are really not requesting, unless they know. We are going to vet very, very closely.?

Asked what sort of people had been given extensions Mr. Horton listed CEOs, chefs and accountants although at least one chef has been rejected after it was discovered he was only a short order cook with a low level of expertise.

Mr. Horton said there had been no uproar from employers on term limits because they knew the policy was coming and there had been meetings on the topic.

Government was unable to say exactly how many key employee exemptions had been granted as some had been incorporated into applications submitted by companies applying for Good Corporate Citizen status, others have also been submitted when the application has been renewed.

A company with Good Corporate Citizen status has demonstrated its commitment to the development and promotion of Bermudians.

Mr. Horton added: ?I have been working with the business community over the past three years to identify job categories which are eligible to be considered key or where there is a world-wide shortage.

?Later this week, all employers who employ persons on work permits will receive a letter from the Department of Immigration reminding them of the impending date of implementation of the term limits and inviting them to make application for a waiver of term limits for their key employees.

?Once Immigration has received the responses from each employer and considered their applications, we will be able to determine the total numbers.?

The reasons for granting or rejecting key employee waivers hinge on:

(1) whether the waiver would become an impediment for Bermudians who aspire to a particular position

(2) whether there are already Bermudians available who can currently or in future fill the position

(3) whether the company demonstrates that it recruits, develops and promotes Bermudians

(4) whether the employee is, in fact, key to the company.

Currently 40 companies have Good Corporate Citizen status while another 30 applications have been received. The process involves giving Government an organisational chart which identifies the Bermudians and the work permit holders, a description of the company?s efforts in attracting and recruiting Bermudians such as participation in career fairs, shadowing and mentoring programmes, lectures at schools and also revealing details about the company?s training policy.

Government has already listed categories of jobs likely to be exempted from the policy because of severe shortages including actuaries, butchers and chartered accountants.

There are currently around 9,500 work permit holders on one to five-year work permits.

Mr. Horton said numbers affected by the term limit were low because there was such a high turn-over of people leaving.

He said: ?I don?t have the figures but we can say it?s not going to be a significant portion, the majority of people go after three years.?

Asked what the point of the policy was given that the vast majority of permit holders leave after three years Mr. Horton said Government did not want to create more long-term residents.

?We are also committed to providing opportunities to Bermudians and ensuring that no glass ceilings are created to impede Bermudians? efforts to reach their full potential.?