The Department of Migrant workers (DMW) has released new rules and regulations on the recruitment and employment of land-based overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), with significant provisions intended to protect their rights and promote their welfare.
In a statement released on Friday, Migrant Workers Secretary Susan Ople said the new rules include a list of 20 “cardinal sins” that may lead to the cancellation of a recruitment agency’s license. The list of serious offenses was created in consultation with various stakeholders.
Among those included in the list are acts of graft and corruption such as attempts to bribe DMW officials and personnel, as well as the recruitment and deployment of minors and underaged workers.
“Dahil mas simple ang rules, mas malinaw din ang dapat gawin at sundin ng bawat licensed recruitment agency. Hindi na kailangang humanap ng padrino sa loob o labas ng department. Iwasan lang yung 20 cardinal sins at ayusin ang pakikitungo sa ating mga manggagawa at sa kanilang mga employers,” Ople said.
“Ito ay alinsunod sa atas ng ating mahal na Pangulo, at patunay ng kanyang malasakit at kalinga sa ating mga OFW,” she added.
Ople noted that the new rules now require licensed recruitment agencies to employ a full-time and trained Welfare Desk Officer, who will monitor and assist in the resolution of workers’ problems and complaints in their job site.
“We aim for a rights-based approach and ease of doing business mindset to labor migration and migration governance. This new set of rights-based rules will ensure better protection and empowerment of our OFWs. Likewise, it will enable the industry to succeed and flourish,” Ople stated.
Moreover, the rules on OFW recruitment seek to regulate the accommodations of recruitment agencies for its workers.
“This is significant because there was no way for the government to know where these accommodations are and how conducive its facilities are for our workers. Under the new rules, they would have to inform us about the location and capacity of these accommodations,” Ople explained.
The new DMW rules impose a simplified and standardized penalty structure for private recruitment agencies for offenses like the involvement in corruption activity and any conduct of illegal recruitment and trafficking in persons.
For serious offenses, the recruitment agency faces cancellation of its license, while less serious offenses will result in suspension of six months to one year. On the other hand, agencies with light offenses will face suspensions of one to six months.
Additionally, the new DMW rules also extended the validity period of provisional licenses from two years to three years, while the validity of a regular license has been extended to six years from the previous four-year period.
Further, the escrow deposit of recruitment agencies has been increased from P1 million to P1.5 million to expand their capability to cover claims of OFWs over employment contract violations. One Person Corporations are now allowed to engage in overseas recruitment and employment.
Meanwhile, the DMW has shortened its process-cycle time from 15 days to seven to 10 days on onsite accreditation and verification in its Migrant Workers Offices overseas.
