Government will stand up for expat workers who feel they are being shortchanged, the Labour Minister has said.

Senator David Burch urged those who feel they are being unfairly treated by employers to contact either the Department of Labour and Training or Immigration.

"I am very concerned by some of the information we receive in terms of remuneration and benefits that are paid to guest workers," the Minister said.

"But clearly there is a responsibility on their (the employee's) part to say 'I am being hard done by', so we are aware of it.

"In specific cases where we have abuse of guest workers, there's one which comes to mind because it is quite recent, we have indicated to that employer that they will not receive any more guest worker permits, due to their attitude towards them and the remuneration paid to them."

Sen. Burch was speaking at a press conference to announce two workshops being held on the Island by the International Labour Organisation in March.

He said: "There has to be a balance and, what we are finding in a very limited way, is some employers are taking advantage of guest workers.

"But on the flip side it's become increasingly difficult to recruit guest workers from certain parts of the world, particularly Asia and parts of Europe."

The Minister gave Bangladesh and Sri Lanka as examples.

"Employers are finding it increasingly more difficult to recruit these nationals to jobs in Bermuda because they can't get the UK Transit Visa."

Sen. Burch said the Ministry of Labour, Home Affairs and Housing had also heard rumours that some African accountants were "not being paid at the same level as Canadians and others".

"Some of this is anecdotal, I have no evidence for it, but what is needed is for the person to stand up and say 'I'm being badly done by'."

He added: "People can supply us with that information anonymously."

The Minister said: "It is a challenge but one we are prepared to try and address. We will not sit idly by and let guest workers who are contributing to our economy be badly done by.

"But certainly it has to be brought to our attention in a more formalised way other than somebody just saying 'do you know...?'."

The Minister said some smaller construction companies were also "abusing the system".

"There have been two this week we know of and the hammer has been brought down on them quite severely," he said.