MANILA, Philippines -- Foreign employers who want to directly hire Filipino workers need to have their applications screened by the labor attaché or the Philippine embassy and approved by the Secretary of Department of Labor and Employment.Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) Memorandum Circular No. 4, which takes effect January 15, also requires employers to provide a performance bond equivalent to the worker’s salary for three months, a $5,000 repatriation bond, and medical insurance. The circular, which details the stricter documentation and processing requirements, allows direct hiring for members of the diplomatic corps and of international organizations, government officials of ministerial level, and employers who are hiring on a one-time or trial basis. It limits the number of direct-hire employees to no more than five.
Labor Secretary Arturo Brion, who is also chairman of the POEA board, said these new guidelines would provide more protection for direct-hire overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
The new rule specifies that employers who do not want to comply with the bonding and insurance requirements, or with the standard employment contract, will not be allowed to hire OFWs directly. They may do so only through licensed placement agencies willing to assume responsibility for the employees, including payment of salaries and other employment benefits.
Brion said OFWs with employment contracts and work visas issued after January 15, 2008 will be covered by the new guidelines.
Direct hires are usually household service workers (HSWs) who tend to be abused by their employers. POEA guidelines on HSWs, requiring them to train in household work and the host country’s language, will still apply to them.
But recruitment agencies are criticizing the circular as another procedural layer that would cost more for employers and hinder the deployment of OFWs.
Emmanuel Geslani, consultant to the recruitment industry and several licensed agencies, said the new guidelines will reduce the chances of OFWs finding employers through their own efforts.
He said foreign employers will be turned off by the bonds required of them.
Previously the contract for direct hires needed only verification from labor attachés. |
