RP, UAE ink pact vs OFW contract substitution

The Labor department has entered into an agreement with the United Arab Emirates for the adoption of standard employment contract that was envisioned to put an end to the rampant cases of substitution of overseas Filipino workers’ contracts.

Labor Secretary Arturo Brion and UAE Labor Minister Dr. Abdulla Al-Kaabi signed the memorandum of understanding during the first joint Philippines and UAE committee meeting.

Both parties agreed on an online employment contract and verification system where standard key provisions on salary, leave benefits, and airline tickets, among others, are stipulated.

The UAE is one of the top five destinations of OFWs. Data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration showed 82, 039 OFWs left for the UAE in 2005, a number 20 percent higher than the previous year's deployment of 68, 386 new hires and re-hires.

Under the arrangement, Brion said the employer and foreign worker would sign the contract electronically once the principal agrees to the terms of the contract.

The system would be linked to the Ministry of Interior and Immigration in UAE, which is responsible for issuance of the worker’s visa.

“The system would eliminate contract substitution and reprocessing of contracts since UAE companies would be required to obtain approval from the Interior Ministry for their labor requirements and individual visas or work permits indicating the name and specific job title of the workers they intend to employ from abroad," Brion said.

The contracts to be approved by the MOL could be viewed online to further ensure that signed contracts could no longer be changed, Brion added.

At the meeting, Minister Al-Kaabi also said that UAE would issue mission visas instead of visit visas to address the problem on visit visa holders seeking jobs in UAE.

Al Kaabi explained that once the new UAE law is passed, employers found hiring workers holding visit visa will be penalized.

Brion warned prospective OFWs against dealing with unscrupulous agencies enticing them to work in UAE with visit visas since these will only put them in a difficult situation.

Instead, he asked the job applicants to deal only with legitimate recruitment agencies and to verify with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) any job offers from UAE.

The UAE labor minister said his office would work closely with POEA on the recruitment process, stressing that recruitment agencies which are merely collecting money from OFWs should not be allowed to participate in the recruitment of OFWs to be deployed to UAE.

He introduced the idea of engaging a big company in the recruitment of foreign workers to be deployed to UAE. The company will be responsible of the foreign workers’ wages and working conditions in UAE.

Brion said Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has committed to provide technical assistance and cooperation in the development of human resources in the country’s healthcare industry.

He said the commitment is a welcome development in the country’s efforts to ensure continuous training of Filipino health professionals especially in enabling them to meet global standards in healthcare. - Marie Neri, GMANews.TV

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