Hiring Filipino Workers

FOREWORD

How do I hire Filipino Workers?” is a question that foreign employers invariably ask when they are confronted with the need to hire foreign workers for their business operations.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, or the POEA, answer this question through this small publication, “Hiring Filipino Workers: Employer’s Guide.

The publication attempts to put between two covers the simple, yet systematic, steps foreign employers have to take to bring into their enterprises’ fold and harness the talents, creativity, and skills of the world-class worker whose nationality is Filipino.  It briefly describes the POEA’s operating and support offices that deliver the services, as well as provides detailed information on the processes, the fees, and the requirements for the recruitment and deployment of Filipino workers.

The POEA, as the Philippine government’s primary regulatory body on overseas employment, it is an ISO- certified organization.  This certification is proof of its international standards.  It is also symbolizes the Agency’s commitment to continually improve its processes, systems, and services to satisfy its customers.

We at the POEA are ready to answer questions whose answers are unavailable in this Guide.  We shall appreciate it if readers could get back to us for those questions, more so if they have found this Guide of any help.

It is our hope that this Guide will result to more foreign employers hiring more Filipino workers because I assure you they are the best human resource available in today’s intensely competitive global labor market.

Mabuhay!

Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz
Administrator

THE PHILIPPINE OVERSEAS EMPLOYMENT ADMINISTRATION, or the POEA, is the government’s arm that manages the migration of Filipino workers overseas.  An agency attached to the Department of Labor and Employment, the POEA has four operating offices and a support group that systematically deliver services for the recruitment and deployment of Filipino workers. 

These offices and support group are the following:

Pre-Employment Services Office (PSO)

The PSO handles the registration or accreditation of foreign employers as principals.  It approves job orders, documents new hires or selected workers and retuning workers through the issuance of the E-receipt or Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC) that it issues to all legally recruited Filipino workers.

Licensing and Regulation Office (LRO)

The LRO regulates the operations of private employment and manning agencies; conducts pre-employment orientation seminars spearheads the government’s program against illegal recruitment; and provides airport assistance to departing Filipino workers.

Adjudication Office (AO)

The AO hears and decides cases filed against licensed private employment and manning agencies, foreign employers, and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) violating POEA rules and regulations.  It carries out legal research in aid of policy direction and case dispositions.  It maintains a rosters of OFWs serving penalties for violation of the Code of Conduct for Overseas Workers and a list of suspended, cancelled, banned, or de-listed licensed employment agencies.

Management Services Group (MSG)

    The MSG provides support to the four offices through market research and development, employment standard formulation, policy research, and public information and education activities.  It maintains the POEA’s management information system (MIS) and provides fiscal and administrative services.

THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS

Over the years, the Philippines has deployed more than three million Filipino workers in 190 destinations in  various fields-professional, medical, technical, operations and maintenance, construction, hotel and seafaring sectors.

The recruitment of Filipino workers is done through a systematic recruitment network where foreign principals must course their manpower requirements through POEA-licensed private employment and manning agencies. The Philippine - licensed agency may advertise the job vacancies in local dailies, create a manpower pool, and conduct preliminary screening and interviews of applicants as part of its services for its foreign principal. If the foreign employer is a government entity or a government- owned or controlled company, the latter may opt to course its hiring through the POEA’s Government Placement Branch (GPB).

Private employment agencies are either:

Land-based agencies, which could be any person (natural or juridical) licensed by the POEA to recruit workers for all land-based jobs for and in behalf of its foreign principal; or

 Manning agencies, which could be any person (natural or juridical) licensed by the POEA to recruit seafarers to man/board vessels plying international sea lanes and other related maritime activities.

These licensed employment agencies ensure that only Filipino workers are qualified and medically-fit are deployed.  Hence, Filipino workers are medically examined by government-accredited medical clinics or hospitals and trade-tested or trained by training centers authorized by the government.

HOW TO HIRE FILIPINO WORKERS

1.  A prospective employer interested to hire Filipino workers may choose from the official list of licensed private employment agencies (land-based and sea-based) available at the nearest Philippine Embassies and Consulates  in their country, or at the POEA website, www.poea.gov.ph. This list includes POEA agencies that are Excellence and Top Performer awardees .  These agencies have been conferred these awards in recognition of their outstanding and exemplary performance in the field of overseas employment and for their vital role in uplifting the quality of life of millions of Filipinos by providing them gainful overseas employment.

2.  An employer who has identified a Philippine agent which will source his/her manpower requirement must submit the recruitment documents to the nearest Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) at the Philippine Embassy/Consulate for verification.  This process ascertains the a) existence of the company or project;  and b) the need for Filipino manpower.

For land-based principals, they should submit the following:

·         Special Power of Attorney or Service/Recruitment Agreement

·         Master Employment Contract with the minimum contract provision

·         Manpower Request.

If there is no POLO at the jobsite the employer shall undergo the POEA accreditation process where the local agent submits to the POEA item a, b, and c above as well as the visa or equivalent documents.

For manning principals, they should submit the following:

·         Manning agreement containing, among others, the responsibilities of both principal and manning agency with respect to the employment of seafarers;

·         Special Power of Attorney;

·         List of ships and their particulars including IMO number;

·         Crew complement;

·         Valid business license registration certificate, or equivalent document, or proof of existence of business validated or certified by the issuing authority in the host country; and

·         Other documents which the POEA find necessary A foreign principal who acts as a direct employer of a land-based worker may be registered to more than one (1)  Philippine agency while a foreign principal who is licensed to operate as a foreign placement agency may be registered/ accredited a maximum of two (2) Philippine agencies subject to the conditions prescribed by the POEA.

EXPENSES FOR HIRING FILIPINO WORKERS

Private land-based recruitment agencies change service fees from the employers/principals as payment for services rendered in the recruitment and placement of workers.  The employers also pay the cost of:

·         POEA processing, PhP200.00

·         Worker membership with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), US$25.00

·         Visa Fee

Private land-based recruitment agencies are allowed to collect from its selected/hired workers a placement fee equivalent to one (1) month salary, except in countries where laws prohibit collection of fees from workers.

POEA EXIT CLEARANCE FOR OFWS

The exit clearance come in the form of an E-Receipt (electronic receipt) or an Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC) certifying to the regularity of a workers recruitment and documentation and ensures exemption from travel tax and airport terminal fee.  It is presented at the POEA Labor Assistance Center (LAC) and the Bureau of Immigration (BI) counter at the airports, prior to departure.

The E-Receipt or OEC serves as the worker’s guarantee that he/she is covered by government protection and benefits.

For inquiries or additional information:

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