Editorial Note: The Caymanian Journal (TCJ) is an affiliate of Stingray Media. Stingray Media owns eCayHire, which sells the work-permit advertising that the requirement discussed in this report generates. Stingray Media benefits commercially from the print requirement, and its interest lies in the requirement being upheld. TCJ is not a party to any judicial review of the matter, and will not be one.

The government intends to remove the requirement that employers advertise work-permit vacancies in a local newspaper, Michael Myles MP, Minister for Caymanian Employment and Immigration, told Parliament on Thursday, 1 October, three months after Workforce Opportunities and Residency Cayman (WORC) began enforcing it on 1 July. Neither the Chamber of Commerce nor Cayman Marl Road, the online outlet that had threatened a judicial review of the rule, was consulted on the final proposal before the statement, both told TCJ. The research the Minister said informed the decision has not been published.

Under the proposal, employers would continue to post vacancies on the WORC Jobs Portal for at least 21 days before applying, the Ministry's release of 2 October says, but "would no longer be required to advertise vacancies in a local newspaper". The release says Caucus and Cabinet are to consider the proposal this week. In his written statement, published by Parliament, Mr Myles said the government "will implement a modest fee" for publishing an advertisement on the portal, to fund both the portal and "the printed publication of a consolidated list of vacancies" in a local newspaper; the release describes the fee as something Caucus and Cabinet are to decide "whether to contemplate". The government's summary of the sitting says the amendment is expected at Parliament's November meeting.

TCJ sent fourteen questions to the Ministry and WORC on 2 October, covering the research relied on, consultation, legal advice, the fee, the weekly list and the position of employers until the law changes. The Ministry acknowledged the request the same day. A spokesperson advised the Ministry would "work to provide the requested information as soon as reasonably possible". No substantive response had been received by publication.

What the Minister Said

"We have heard from employers about the administrative and financial challenges associated with the current advertising process," Mr Myles told the House, according to the written statement published by Parliament. "We have also heard from job seekers about the importance of ensuring that genuine employment opportunities are accessible." The requirement was being reconsidered "based on the research, evidence and feedback received through our stakeholder engagements", he said.

The statement also records a change of position by employers. "During our initial consultations, employers expressed reluctance to commit advertising funds directly to Government," Mr Myles said. "Following further discussions and continued engagement, employers have now indicated that they would prefer an arrangement where the required advertising contribution is paid directly to Government." He did not name the employers or employer bodies involved, or say when those discussions took place.

"When our Ministry and its departments are guided by research, facts and the experiences of the people we serve, and that evidence demonstrates that a particular provision of legislation is no longer fit for purpose, our responsibility is not simply to acknowledge the problem," he said. "Our responsibility is to come to this Honourable House and change it."

The requirement the Minister proposes to drop sits in section 58(2)(b)(ii) of the Caymanian Protection Act, which since 1 May 2026 has required that a vacancy be "advertised in a local newspaper or other prescribed media for twenty-one days" before an application is submitted. The Act does not say "printed". On 17 September the Ministry told TCJ that no media had been prescribed by regulation under that provision, that WORC relied on the government's Immigration Reform Guide Book for the print-only reading, and that it was "seeking advice on whether a further legal definition is needed to specify that a newspaper must be printed for this context". The written statement is titled as concerning an "Intended Amendment to the Caymanian Protection Act" and says the government "intends to amend the legislation"; the government's summary of the sitting describes the change as an amendment to the regulations.

Who Was Heard

The Chamber of Commerce said its members had raised the cost of the requirement before it took effect. "The issue was among the concerns raised by members during the Chamber's consultation on proposed immigration and labour reforms in late 2025," its Chief Executive Officer, Wil Pineau, told TCJ by email on 4 October. "Members questioned the need for businesses to incur the additional expense of newspaper advertising when vacancies were already required to be posted for 21 days on the WORC Jobs Portal."

Asked whether the Chamber was consulted on the proposal before the Minister's statement, Mr Pineau said the Chamber had been "engaged with Government and WORC on a range of immigration, employment and workforce matters". "However, the Chamber was not formally consulted specifically on the final proposal announced by the Minister to remove the mandatory newspaper advertising requirement before his statement in Parliament," he said.

Sandra Hill, founder and managing director of Cayman Marl Road, told TCJ by email on 2 October: "Neither I nor Cayman Marl Road was consulted by the Ministry prior to the Minister's statement regarding this latest proposal."

TCJ asked the Ministry on 2 October who was consulted before the proposal was settled, by what means and on what dates, and whether the publishers of the Cayman Compass, the Caymanian Times, the Cayman Independent and TCJ were among them.

The Publishers

Three printed titles have carried the advertising since 1 July. On 3 June the Caymanian Times moved to three standalone editions a week, citing "increasing demand" in its notice of 25 May. The Cayman Independent, until then online only, launched a Friday print edition on 10 July after WORC approved it for work-permit notices, an approval the Chamber of Commerce reported on 3 July.

TCJ asked the Caymanian Times on 2 October what it had invested to meet the demand created by the requirement, whether WORC or the Ministry had given any indication the requirement would remain in place, whether it was consulted or given notice, whether it was among the employers or publishers whose position the Minister described, what the change means for its Caymanian staff and whether it will seek reasons or compensation. The Caymanian Times had not responded by publication.

The same questions went to Dart on 2 October. Ben Meade replied on 5 October that the enquiries "should be sent to Compass Media for their consideration" and copied Pilar Bush, the publisher, "who can determine if comment will be provided or who might be the party to respond". No response from Compass Media had been received by publication.

The Cost Case

At the three titles' published rates, the smallest module each sells for a job advertisement costs between CI$135 and CI$225 for the three weeks the law requires, according to the rate cards TCJ read on 18 September. The Caymanian Times has since offered a small-business package of CI$99 for up to three advertisements.

"The cost of an individual advertisement may not appear significant when considered in isolation, but the cumulative cost can become material for businesses that recruit regularly or have multiple vacancies," Mr Pineau said, adding that this was "particularly relevant for small and medium-sized businesses operating in an environment where many other operating costs have also increased". The Chamber regards the removal as "a positive example of Government responding to concerns raised by the business community", he said.

On the fee, the Chamber would "want to understand the proposed amount, how it would be structured and the rationale for the charge before taking a definitive position", Mr Pineau said. If one is introduced, "we would encourage Government to ensure that it is reasonable and does not simply replace one unnecessary recruitment cost with another". Ms Hill said Cayman Marl Road would also want "greater clarity regarding the proposed portal fee, including how it will be calculated, what service it is intended to fund and whether it simply creates another cost for businesses".

Nick Joseph, an immigration lawyer and founder of Reside Cayman, who told TCJ on 10 September that newspaper advertising works for older job seekers, said by email on 7 October that he stood by that position but recognised that the cost to employers of advertising three times had been a burden, often out of proportion to the issue at hand, and that "some accommodation was required". He would have preferred "a 'compromise' position whereby an advert was placed once in the press and simultaneously and for (at least) two weeks, also carried on the portal", and said no fee should be charged for posting a vacancy on the government's portal "provided the position has first (or is contemporaneously) advertised in the printed press". Mr Joseph said he was travelling and not in a position to respond on whether prescribing online media would have met employers' concerns, or on how the newspaper for the weekly list should be chosen.

The release does not state the amount. Section 58(2)(b)(i) of the Act already refers to "the prescribed non-refundable fee to register the vacancy" on the portal. TCJ has asked whether any such fee has been prescribed and whether employers pay anything to post today.

The Weekly List

The written statement says the government is "considering" a transition to "a weekly printed listing of jobs that are being advertised on portal"; the release says the government "will also assume publishing a weekly list of consolidated job vacancies in a local newspaper". Neither says how the newspaper will be chosen, whether the contract will be tendered, or what it will cost.

Ms Hill said Cayman Marl Road was "less convinced that Government should get into the business of compiling and publishing its own weekly newspaper-style vacancy listings". If the government "nevertheless intends to select a private newspaper to carry a weekly vacancy list, the selection process should be transparent, objective and commercially fair", and that it "should avoid creating an arrangement that gives a government-directed commercial advantage to one private media company over another". TCJ has asked the Ministry how the title will be chosen and whether the criteria will be published before any contract is let.

The Judicial Review

Ms Hill told TCJ on 15 September that government had been given notice of an intended judicial review of the print-only reading of "newspaper". Asked on 2 October where that stood, she said: "In light of the Minister's latest proposal, we are reviewing the position and its implementation." If the final policy or regulations resolve the legal issues, "there would obviously be little purpose in pursuing judicial review of a requirement that no longer exists in the form being challenged", she said, but Cayman Marl Road "will reserve our position until the proposed changes are formally implemented".

"From the outset, Cayman Marl Road's concern was that the legislation did not provide a lawful basis for imposing a mandatory print-only advertising requirement," she said. "We therefore welcome the decision to move away from that interpretation."

TCJ asked the Ministry whether the advice it was seeking on 17 September had been received and what it concluded, and whether prescribing online news media by regulation, as an alternative to removing the newspaper requirement altogether, was considered. The Ministry had not answered by publication.

Until the Law Changes

Section 58(2)(b)(ii) remains in force. By 17 September, the Ministry told TCJ, WORC had refused 24 applications since 1 May "for the position not being advertised on the portal", a category that "can also include no newspaper advertisements being submitted", and deferred five "specific to local newspaper only". TCJ has asked whether employers must continue to buy newspaper advertisements until the amendment passes and whether WORC will continue to refuse or defer applications that lack them.

The release says WORC "will continue to support job seekers who may need assistance accessing vacancies online, including through in-person support with visits to the districts".