According to Labour & Home Affairs Minister Randy Horton, although Government has not created a post which specifically addresses such concerns, there are measures in place designed to protect the local workforce.

Acknowledging that the measures are not foolproof, he encouraged Bermudians to report companies which abused Immigration regulations to his Ministry.

"My responsibility is to make sure that situations such as those don't happen," he said. "But we live in the real world, so I know that there are some situations out there where these things take place. We do have our guard up. We do watch.

"We don't have a designated person ? someone who goes out just to look at that ? but we do have an inspectorate, we do have the Chief Immigration Officer; they're responsible for seeing that once a complaint is made, it's followed up.

"But if we don't know about it, then that's another story. So we encourage Bermudians who feel they're not being treated fairly to inform us so we can go out and investigate those companies."

The Minister said he was unaware of the exact nature of most complaints or the numbers involved.

"I wouldn't say we receive many," he said. "I think it might be that there are things happening that people aren't reporting. I would encourage people to do so.

"I know there is this perception out there that the law isn't being followed, but in order for us to really get a handle on it, we need people to step up and say, 'This is what is happening'."

The Ministry's challenges run the gamut of Immigration matters, Mr. Horton said. Although companies are required to complete paperwork on hiring information, the problem is to ensure those details are submitted in the spirit of the law.

"The information we take is to ensure that it's not a situation where ? if a Bermudian has applied ? the Bermudian is offered $50,000 and (an expatriate) is offered $80,000. Or, the other way of doing it, is where a company offers a salary which is so low that Bermudians won't apply.

"We have to watch out for that. There are some people who will do that. So we have a huge challenge in this area and the Immigration Department is working very hard to stay on top, to stay as close to it as possible.

"What probably happens too much is where job ads are geared towards particular persons. We become concerned where there is a qualified Bermudian who is interested in it or if it's a job where a Bermudian can be brought up to speed very quickly.

"We are here to protect the Bermudian but again, it's very difficult to prove that somebody has a job geared towards a particular person. If we have a concern about it, however, we'll bring that company in.

"There are situations where we've held up work permits. We've brought in people who, maybe didn't want the Bermudian. But we're not going to give them the work permit for that person until they go out and legitimately look for a Bermudian for the job or at least provide a Bermudian with a genuine opportunity to apply.

"So if a job is advertised in the paper ? even if it is a work permit renewal ? and a Bermudian has the qualifications, then I would encourage them to apply."

If a company is suspected to have breached Immigration rules and the Department is made aware of that possibility, an investigation is immediately carried out, Mr. Horton said. He added that Government would then monitor the company to ensure the whistle-blower was not penalised for sharing that information.

"When we've had a Bermudian come and say, 'I've not been treated fairly' ? whether it be that the salary was less than what the expatriate worker would get or whether in some other way they were disadvantaged ? the first thing we do is put the work permit on hold.

"Secondly, we bring in the employer and we question them in relation to the concerns. They have to show us with good reason why this Bermudian has not been given a job.

"And then we watch very closely. If Jane Brown comes in and says that Company A is doing this and then the company finds out she's the one who blew the whistle, we watch. If she's held back, if she's applying for jobs and not getting them ? not based on her ability or skills ? then we'll have her employers in here."

Twenty-five per cent of Bermuda's 35,000-strong workforce is comprised of guest workers, Mr. Horton said. He described that number as "healthy", but said he would love to see greater Bermudianisation of the hospitality industry.

"I believe it's good to have the diversity," he said. "It's good for our Bermudian people to be working with people who are from other places. I think it's healthy. What's unhealthy is if there's not the correct balance, and I think that's our responsibility, to make sure that Bermudians are not disadvantaged.

"One area I have a big concern about is the hospitality industry ? in particular, the management level ? and the numbers of Bermudians who are not going into it. Now we have the situation where we have a slew of foreign waiters and there's a challenge in getting Bermudians to come in.

"The companies have a responsibility to show how you can go from being a waiter to a manager. They have to demonstrate that in a way that people can see that. And I think that's where the hospitality industry has fallen down in a way."

However, Mr. Horton said, the best way for Bermudians to circumvent any problems was to get a good education and gain work experience abroad.

"I worked in education for years and I always tell people, if you can, when you finish college, when you finish university, get some experience in the wider world and then when you come here they can't even think about saying you haven't had any experience.

"But not everybody wants to work abroad and if Bermudians choose not to do that, I expect for them to be given the opportunity to develop here."