Guidelines on direct-hiring of OFWs by Taiwan employers signed
MANILA, Philippines — Direct-hiring of Filipino workers by Taiwanese employers is now possible with the signing of the implementing guidelines of a memorandum of understanding that Philippine and Taiwanese officials have earlier forged.
Officials of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) and the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) signed the implementing guidelines during the recent Philippines-Taiwan Third Joint Labor Conference in Cebu.
The Special Hiring Program for Taiwan (SHPT), as the scheme is called, allows Taiwanese employers to directly hire Filipinos without the intermediation of labor brokers and recruiters in the Philippines or Taiwan. The setup allows local employers to hire Filipinos through the Philippine government rather than private agencies.
MECO officials earlier estimated that workers could save up to NT$100,000 (P144,991) in brokerage expenses through the SHPT and that the program would loosen the grip of brokers on Taiwan’s foreign labor market.
Signing the document were MECO managing director and resident representative Antonio I. Basilio and TECO representative Donald C.T. Lee, with Rosalinda Baldoz, administrator of the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA), and CLA director-general Chen-Min of the Bureau of Employment and Vocational Training, witnesses.
Labor Secretary Marianito Roque underscored during the labor conference the importance of the SHPT as a manifestation of the commitment of Philippines and Taiwan to improve the welfare of OFWs in Taiwan’s labor market.
Political Deputy Minister Pan Shih-Wei of the Council of Labor Affairs of Taiwan (CLA) expressed hope that the implementing guidelines will enhance the promotion of simplified application procedures for SHPT and cut red tape for employers and Filipino workers.
Covered by the special hiring scheme are industrial or factory workers; construction workers; household workers; caregivers; caretakers and institutional nursing workers; and, fishermen.
The guidelines likewise provides that professional and skilled overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) be placed under the facilitative services of MECO.
It will also be the responsibility of MECO as provided in the guidelines to assist in an information dissemination campaign to encourage workers hired under the SHPT who had run away from their legitimate employers to “surrender."
The guidelines also provides that MECO assists workers who have surrendered or are detained in facilitating their immediate repatriation to the Philippines. It provides further that erring employers who retain a worker’s passport in their country will be reported to Taiwan’s Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) and disqualified from further hiring OFWs.
On the matter of dispute settlement, the guidelines provides that cases arising from employer-employee relationships be settled on-site, through the intervention of competent authorities in Taiwan, particularly the Foreign Workers Counseling Center (FWCC) and in coordination with MECO. - GMANews.TV
Officials of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) and the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) signed the implementing guidelines during the recent Philippines-Taiwan Third Joint Labor Conference in Cebu.
The Special Hiring Program for Taiwan (SHPT), as the scheme is called, allows Taiwanese employers to directly hire Filipinos without the intermediation of labor brokers and recruiters in the Philippines or Taiwan. The setup allows local employers to hire Filipinos through the Philippine government rather than private agencies.
MECO officials earlier estimated that workers could save up to NT$100,000 (P144,991) in brokerage expenses through the SHPT and that the program would loosen the grip of brokers on Taiwan’s foreign labor market.
Signing the document were MECO managing director and resident representative Antonio I. Basilio and TECO representative Donald C.T. Lee, with Rosalinda Baldoz, administrator of the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA), and CLA director-general Chen-Min of the Bureau of Employment and Vocational Training, witnesses.
Labor Secretary Marianito Roque underscored during the labor conference the importance of the SHPT as a manifestation of the commitment of Philippines and Taiwan to improve the welfare of OFWs in Taiwan’s labor market.
Political Deputy Minister Pan Shih-Wei of the Council of Labor Affairs of Taiwan (CLA) expressed hope that the implementing guidelines will enhance the promotion of simplified application procedures for SHPT and cut red tape for employers and Filipino workers.
Covered by the special hiring scheme are industrial or factory workers; construction workers; household workers; caregivers; caretakers and institutional nursing workers; and, fishermen.
The guidelines likewise provides that professional and skilled overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) be placed under the facilitative services of MECO.
It will also be the responsibility of MECO as provided in the guidelines to assist in an information dissemination campaign to encourage workers hired under the SHPT who had run away from their legitimate employers to “surrender."
The guidelines also provides that MECO assists workers who have surrendered or are detained in facilitating their immediate repatriation to the Philippines. It provides further that erring employers who retain a worker’s passport in their country will be reported to Taiwan’s Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) and disqualified from further hiring OFWs.
On the matter of dispute settlement, the guidelines provides that cases arising from employer-employee relationships be settled on-site, through the intervention of competent authorities in Taiwan, particularly the Foreign Workers Counseling Center (FWCC) and in coordination with MECO. - GMANews.TV
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