Philippine Overseas Employment Administration

Tips to OFWs

How to Avoid Illegal Recruitment

Do not apply at recruitment agencies not licensed by POEA.

Do not deal with licensed agencies without job orders.

Do not deal with any person who is not an authorized representative of a licensed agency.

Do not transact business outside the registered address of the agency. If recruitment is conducted in the province, check if the agency has a provincial recruitment authority.

Do not pay more than the allowed placement fee. It should be equivalent to one month salary, exclusive of documentation and processing costs.

Do not pay any placement fee unless you have a valid employment contract and an official receipt.

Do not be enticed by ads or brochures requiring you to reply to a Post Office (P.O.) Box, and to enclose payment for processing of papers.

Do not deal with training centers and travel agencies, which promise overseas employment.

Do not accept a tourist visa.

Do not deal with fixers.

Are you a victim of illegal recruitment?

The following are considered acts of illegal recruitment as defined by RA 8042 and are basis for filing illegal recruitment cases:

Recruiting and charging or accepting fees without proper license or authority to recruit.

Furnishing or publishing any false notice or information or document in relation to recruitment or employment.

Giving any false notice, testimony, information or document or committing any act of misrepresentation for the purpose of securing license or authority under the Philippine Labor Code

Inducing or attempting to induce a worker already employed to quit his employment in order to offer him to another.

Influencing or attempting to influence any person or entity not to employ any worker who has not applied for employment through his agency.

Recruiting workers in jobs harmful to public health or morality or to the dignity of the Republic of the Philippines

Obstructing or attempting to obstruct inspection by the Secretary of Labor and Employment or by his duly authorized representative

Substituting or altering to the prejudice of the worker, employment contracts approved and verified by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) from the time of actual signing thereof by the parties up to and including the period of the expiration of the same without the approval of the DOLE.

Withholding or denying travel documents from applicant workers before departure for monetary or financial considerations other than those authorized under the labor code

Failure to actually deploy worker(s) without valid reasons as determined by the Department of Labor and Employment

Failure to reimburse expenses incurred by the worker in connection with his documentation and processing for purposes of deployment, in cases where the deployment does not actually take place without the worker’s fault.

File your complaints at:
Legal Assistance Division
Anti-Illegal Recruitment Branch, 4th Floor, POEA Building or the nearest POEA/DOLE regional office; NBI, PNP, Police Authorities in your area

Filing Welfare Cases

POEA provides the following assistance concerning welfare of overseas workers and their families:

Counselling on the following:

terms and conditions of employment contract

family relations

policies, laws

general information

Conciliation/Conferences: (for Name Hires processed to POEA and Balik-manggagawa workers

violation of terms and condition of employment contract

claim for medical/death benefits

Request for:

repatriation/for plane ticket or pre-paid ticket advice (PTA)

repatriation of remains/personal belongings

Indorsement to Adjudication Office of requests for watchlisting of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) with warrant of Arrest and Hold Order issued by appropriate agency. (POEA Rules, Book VII, Sec. 4)

Watchlisting of OFWs for monitoring and conciliation

for breach of code of discipline for overseas contract workers (POEA Rules, VII, Rule VI

Obligations of overseas workers

Delisting from roster of watchlisted OFWs:

Request for assistance in maltreatment and detention cases, (withholding of documents), etc.

Referral

free legal aid (Integrated bar of the Phils. (IBP), UP Law Center, Public Attorney’s Office (PAO), Department of Justice, etc., UST, Ateneo, San Beda, Commission on Human Rights, and Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG)

Coordination with appropriate office: OWWA, DFA, NLRC, Labor Posts/Embassies

Indorsement to Pre-Employment Services Office (PSO) of requests for inclusion of principal/employers in the POEA watch list; request for delisting

Issuance of clearances to agencies, OFWs, principals, employers

Penalties:

watchlisting of principals

watchlisting of workers for monitoring and conciliation

suspension of documentary processing of agencies for non cooperation

Where to file:

Assistance and Welfare Division, Welfare Service Branch
2nd Floor, POEA Building
Tel. No. 722-11-96/722-11-82

Who may file :

Worker, family of contract worker, agency, employer

Documents needed:

Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC)

Employment Contract

Death Certificate and Affidavit of Succession of Heirs (in case of death claims)

Medical Report (in cases of medical disability benefit claims)

For cases of non-support:

Marriage Contract and birth certificate of the children

Filing Administrative Cases

AGAINST RECRUITMENT AGENCIES

For violation of recruitment laws, rules and regulations

overcharging of placement fee

pre-mature collection of placement fee

misrepresentation

withholding of travel documents

failure to deploy without valid reason

failure to reimburse documentation expenses when deployment did not take place without the worker’s fault

substitution and alteration of employment contract

Where to get legal assistance:

Legal Assistance Division
POEA head office or any POEA Regional Office

AGAINST A FELLOW WORKER

For offenses while working overseas:

• misappropriation of property or money of fellow worker entrusted for delivery
• creating trouble
• theft/robbery
• possession of deadly weapon
• drunkenness
• drug addiction, etc.

Where to get legal assistance:

Legal Assistance Division
POEA head office

AGAINST FOREIGN EMPLOYERS

• Defaulting on their contractual obligation to the workers
• Violation of rules and regulations on overseas employment
• Grave misconduct

Where to get legal assistance:

Legal Assistance Division
POEA head office

Philippine Embassy or Consulate nearest the jobsite of the worker

AGAINST RECRUITMENT AGENCY AND FOREIGN EMPLOYERS

Money claims arising from employer-employee-relationship such as unpaid wages, breach of contract and illegal dismissal

Where to get legal assistance:

Migrant Worker’s Desk
National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC)
NLRC Regional Offices where the complainant resides

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