Exploitation of nurses in New Zealand continues
MANILA, Philippines - Filipino professionals, particularly nurses planning to migrate and work in New Zealand are warned to carefully study the contracts they are entering into so they would not be added to the increasing number of Filipinos being abused there.
Dennis Maga, project coordinator of Employment Relation Education (ERE) in NZ, said his group has been receiving reports about Filipinos falling victims to recruiters who switch or substitute contracts and charge exorbitant fees.
The New Zealand Nurses Organization has also issued a warning through its website about exploitative employment and immigration practices that many Filipino nurses have experienced.
“Some international agencies charge exorbitant rates to complete the necessary immigration and registration requirements. Other dubious practices by immigration agencies are withholding personal documents including passports; pressuring nurses to sign up for hire purchase agreements soon after arrival; arranging deductions from wages; and fostering excessive dependency of nurses on immigration agents for accommodation and childcare," the NZNO warned.
“Filipino nurses working in aged care facilities are particularly vulnerable. Nurses working in these facilities are more at risk because of the acute nursing shortages, the lack of human resource policies, and because nurses are more likely to work in isolation," the NZNO further said.
Recently, New Zealand Herald reported about the flight of Filipino nurses said to be living in “slave labor" conditions in different rest homes in NZ.
The nurses were allegedly underpaid, had fallen victims to loan sharks and accused of not complying with contracts.
Maga, who is currently connected with NZNO, a 40,000-strong nurses union, said he was requested by the group to investigate the condition of Filipino nurses working in NZ.
“Gusto rin kasi nilang mabigyan ng warning ang ating mga kababayan kung sakaling mag-aapply sila dito sa New Zealand," Maga said in an email to GMANews.TV.
According to him, the New Zealand Council of Trade Union (NZCTU), a trade union with 400,000 members from different affiliated units, had also asked him to do a research and investigate the cases of exploited Filipino migrants.
“At itong issue nga ng Filipino nurses is hotcake here," Maga said.
In the New Zealand Herald report, it said that Filipino nurses were brought in to NZ on student visas by private English language schools and trained solely for aged care instead of doing bridging courses to become registered nurses.
Most of the victims, the report said, are forced to complete their contracts because of a clause imposing a penalty of NZ$2,000 if they pre-terminate.
Maga said many Filipino nurses and caregivers owe their recruiters and employers an average of $7,000 to $8,000.
The report said a Filipino nurse from Wellington borrowed $9,000 from a local agency to pay for the nursing competency assessment required for NZ registration. This includes accommodation for the two-month assessment and a service fee for finding a job.
According to the report, the interest rate was four percent a month, payable out of her wages in her first year at work.
There is also a Filipino nurse who borrowed $5,125 from another recruitment agency in the Philippines and the amount paid back after six months was $9,941.
Another registered nurse in the Philippines paid $15,534 to an agent who placed her into a 12-week aged care education course, which qualified her to work as a caregiver but not as a nurse. The nurse is said to earn $14 an hour at a healthcare home.
The New Zealand Herald also reported about six Filipino professionals (two nurses, two dentists and two accountants) who were brought to NZ by a Filipino recruiter who promised them jobs, but placed in an accommodation that looked like a “dog house" behind the recruiter’s residence in Mt. Wellington.
Maga said his group is now collating all information regarding the situation of Filipinos before elevating the issue to the Department of Labor and the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency.
Other Filipino migrant organizations in New Zealand are helping prepare a list of recruitment agencies reported to be abusing Filipino migrant workers.
Last December, the Labor department has issued a warning to Filipinos seeking jobs in New Zealand against recruiters collecting excessive fees from applicants. – Fidel Jimenez, GMANews.TV
Dennis Maga, project coordinator of Employment Relation Education (ERE) in NZ, said his group has been receiving reports about Filipinos falling victims to recruiters who switch or substitute contracts and charge exorbitant fees.
The New Zealand Nurses Organization has also issued a warning through its website about exploitative employment and immigration practices that many Filipino nurses have experienced.
“Some international agencies charge exorbitant rates to complete the necessary immigration and registration requirements. Other dubious practices by immigration agencies are withholding personal documents including passports; pressuring nurses to sign up for hire purchase agreements soon after arrival; arranging deductions from wages; and fostering excessive dependency of nurses on immigration agents for accommodation and childcare," the NZNO warned.
“Filipino nurses working in aged care facilities are particularly vulnerable. Nurses working in these facilities are more at risk because of the acute nursing shortages, the lack of human resource policies, and because nurses are more likely to work in isolation," the NZNO further said.
Recently, New Zealand Herald reported about the flight of Filipino nurses said to be living in “slave labor" conditions in different rest homes in NZ.
The nurses were allegedly underpaid, had fallen victims to loan sharks and accused of not complying with contracts.
Maga, who is currently connected with NZNO, a 40,000-strong nurses union, said he was requested by the group to investigate the condition of Filipino nurses working in NZ.
“Gusto rin kasi nilang mabigyan ng warning ang ating mga kababayan kung sakaling mag-aapply sila dito sa New Zealand," Maga said in an email to GMANews.TV.
According to him, the New Zealand Council of Trade Union (NZCTU), a trade union with 400,000 members from different affiliated units, had also asked him to do a research and investigate the cases of exploited Filipino migrants.
“At itong issue nga ng Filipino nurses is hotcake here," Maga said.
In the New Zealand Herald report, it said that Filipino nurses were brought in to NZ on student visas by private English language schools and trained solely for aged care instead of doing bridging courses to become registered nurses.
Most of the victims, the report said, are forced to complete their contracts because of a clause imposing a penalty of NZ$2,000 if they pre-terminate.
Maga said many Filipino nurses and caregivers owe their recruiters and employers an average of $7,000 to $8,000.
The report said a Filipino nurse from Wellington borrowed $9,000 from a local agency to pay for the nursing competency assessment required for NZ registration. This includes accommodation for the two-month assessment and a service fee for finding a job.
According to the report, the interest rate was four percent a month, payable out of her wages in her first year at work.
There is also a Filipino nurse who borrowed $5,125 from another recruitment agency in the Philippines and the amount paid back after six months was $9,941.
Another registered nurse in the Philippines paid $15,534 to an agent who placed her into a 12-week aged care education course, which qualified her to work as a caregiver but not as a nurse. The nurse is said to earn $14 an hour at a healthcare home.
The New Zealand Herald also reported about six Filipino professionals (two nurses, two dentists and two accountants) who were brought to NZ by a Filipino recruiter who promised them jobs, but placed in an accommodation that looked like a “dog house" behind the recruiter’s residence in Mt. Wellington.
Maga said his group is now collating all information regarding the situation of Filipinos before elevating the issue to the Department of Labor and the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency.
Other Filipino migrant organizations in New Zealand are helping prepare a list of recruitment agencies reported to be abusing Filipino migrant workers.
Last December, the Labor department has issued a warning to Filipinos seeking jobs in New Zealand against recruiters collecting excessive fees from applicants. – Fidel Jimenez, GMANews.TV
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