Most of the labor laws deal directly with the hiring of non-citizen labor and indirectly with the working conditions of citizen labor. However, there are minimum wage laws and exemptions to the minimum wage laws that deal directly with labor in general. The following is a list of pertinent labor laws: The Protection of Resident Workers Act, which sets forth the procedures that must be followed before importing non-citizen workers (including prior advertisement of the job in the Marshall Islands and employment of qualified residents);

The Protection of Resident Workers (Amendment) Act of 1990, which among other things requires the repatriation after two years of employment of non-resident workers (other than United States citizens);

The Nonresident Worker (Fee) Act 1987, which requires employers to make quarterly contributions into a training fund for Marshallese in the amount of 25 cents per hour for work done by aliens (other than citizens of the United States and Palau);

The Nonresident Worker's Health Certificate Act, which requires that non-citizen workers and family members entering the Marshall Islands obtain and maintain a certificate of freedom from communicable diseases, including AIDS;

The Minimum Wage Act of 1986 as amended in 1995 which sets the minimum wage at $2.00 per hour, in non-export oriented industries; and

The Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act 1989, which exempts from application of the minimum wage act:

non-citizen employees who are employed by private sector employers that have been authorized by the National Government to invest or to do business in the Marshall Islands , and;

Marshallese trainees and apprentices. For more information on the Marshall Islands Labor Laws, contact the Division of Labor, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, PO Box 1349 , Majuro, MH 96960.