The Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) will get financial benefits, repatriation and termination coverage under the new insurance policy.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, who chairs the governing board of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), said the DOLE Department Order No. 228, Series of 2021, or the Expanded Compulsory Insurance Coverage for Rehires and Direct Hires was being implemented and the pandemic has left “our migrant workers vulnerable to various risks and perils.”
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The mandatory insurance coverage of OFWs will now include rehires or “Balik-Manggagawa” and direct hires and the guidelines are spelt out in POEA Memorandum Circular No. 10 signed by POEA Administrator Bernard Olalia and released last week.
The insurance policy assures coverage in case of death, disability, repatriation, medical emergency, and litigation and provides at least US$15,000 survivor’s benefit in case of accidental death; US$10,000 survivor’s benefit in case of natural death; and US $7,500 disability benefit.
The policy will also cover repatriation, transport of the worker’s personal belongings in the event a person’s employment is terminated by the employer without any valid cause or otherwise.
