New work permit policies are to be implemented before the end of the year, Economy Minister Patrice Minors said yesterday.A stakeholder group will submit a second draft of the policies within the next week, Mrs Minors told a press conference. "I expect that the new policy will be implemented soon thereafter."A Government spokesperson later said that the policies will be in place before the end of the year.Mrs Minors said the 2012 Work Permit policies “contain a number of policies that are favourable to the interest of local and international business partners”.“The community can expect a balanced policy, one that is designed to create mutually beneficially conditions for the establishment of new businesses in Bermuda and one that also makes it easy for businesses that have moved to other jurisdictions to return,” she said.“The new policy recognises that we live in a global marketplace and positions Bermuda to compete more effectively.”The new work permit policies are already several months late.At the end of June, Mrs Minors promised the policies would be ready by the end of July.“We will not delay, as I have instituted an aggressive timeline and expect to have a 2012 Work Permit Policies document in my hand by the end of July,” the Minister told the House of Assembly.Last month, Mrs Minors met with representatives from the Association of Bermuda International Companies (ABIC), the Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers (ABIR), the Trade Union Congress, the Bermuda Hotel Association, the Construction Association of Bermuda, the Bermuda Human Resources Association and the Bermuda Employers Council to review current work permit policies.Items that came up for discussion included allowing companies to promote employees without requiring a new work permit; automatically granting companies who set up in Bermuda five work permits for the first year; and establishing ‘Global Work Permits’ allowing companies to transfer staff to Bermuda from other branches.