UAE firm to meet RP execs over OFW contract mess
Philippines - A cleaning company based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will meet with Philippine officials over accusations by some Filipino workers that it breached its labor contract obligations.
Online news site Khaleej Times reported that the meeting with officials of the Philippine Consulate General could be held this coming week.
"We are very much willing to settle these things, and the proof of this is our repeated requests for meetings in the past with the Philippine Labor Attache which have not been granted," said Ayoub Asfour of Speed Group of Companies.
Philippine Consul General Benito Valeriano said they are waiting for labor attaché Virginia Calvez to return to Dubai from her vacation in Manila.
Calvez had blacklisted Speed Cleaning Co. and its recruitment agency HIBA International Inc., against bringing in more Filipino workers following the complaints from Filipino workers last year.
Asfour said that if the Consulate General and the Philippine Overseas Labor Office want management to give the workers air tickets and address any complaints, they should not blacklist the company.
He listed several allegations against the workers, including drunkenness, stealing and sleeping on the jobs.
"If they have complaints against us, we also have problems due to their behavior at work," he said.
He said the company has already settled the case of the sick complainant, Raymond Vargas, whose visa was cancelled. "He is scheduled to be home either today or tomorrow," he said.
POLO welfare officer Elmer Joven said management sent two men to the office and handed over Dh2,100 of Vargas' salary and the air ticket to return home.
Vargas and his colleagues who highlighted the "no work, no pay" policy of the company wanted to go home as he was not given cash advance for his medical expenses.
Asfour denied the allegation that the company pays only Dh450 as salary.
He said the minimum monthly salary his company is paying is Dh625 with an automatic annual increment of Dh25 to Dh50.
"Anyone may look at our payrolls for the last one year, not just this month. We are ready to let anyone inspect our records," he said.
But Joven said the salary these cleaners are getting is even lower than what the Philippine government has fixed for domestic helpers, which is US$400 a month.
Asfour said his company pays as per the contracts signed by the workers in the UAE. "I am not aware of their agency's offer of US$277 made in Manila," he said.
He also claimed that the company provides 125 per cent wage as overtime payment for every hour on normal days and 150 per cent during holidays and Fridays.
He denied holding back two months' salary of workers, saying the salaries are paid within 40 days if they are in arrears. - GMANews.TV
Online news site Khaleej Times reported that the meeting with officials of the Philippine Consulate General could be held this coming week.
"We are very much willing to settle these things, and the proof of this is our repeated requests for meetings in the past with the Philippine Labor Attache which have not been granted," said Ayoub Asfour of Speed Group of Companies.
Philippine Consul General Benito Valeriano said they are waiting for labor attaché Virginia Calvez to return to Dubai from her vacation in Manila.
Calvez had blacklisted Speed Cleaning Co. and its recruitment agency HIBA International Inc., against bringing in more Filipino workers following the complaints from Filipino workers last year.
Asfour said that if the Consulate General and the Philippine Overseas Labor Office want management to give the workers air tickets and address any complaints, they should not blacklist the company.
He listed several allegations against the workers, including drunkenness, stealing and sleeping on the jobs.
"If they have complaints against us, we also have problems due to their behavior at work," he said.
He said the company has already settled the case of the sick complainant, Raymond Vargas, whose visa was cancelled. "He is scheduled to be home either today or tomorrow," he said.
POLO welfare officer Elmer Joven said management sent two men to the office and handed over Dh2,100 of Vargas' salary and the air ticket to return home.
Vargas and his colleagues who highlighted the "no work, no pay" policy of the company wanted to go home as he was not given cash advance for his medical expenses.
Asfour denied the allegation that the company pays only Dh450 as salary.
He said the minimum monthly salary his company is paying is Dh625 with an automatic annual increment of Dh25 to Dh50.
"Anyone may look at our payrolls for the last one year, not just this month. We are ready to let anyone inspect our records," he said.
But Joven said the salary these cleaners are getting is even lower than what the Philippine government has fixed for domestic helpers, which is US$400 a month.
Asfour said his company pays as per the contracts signed by the workers in the UAE. "I am not aware of their agency's offer of US$277 made in Manila," he said.
He also claimed that the company provides 125 per cent wage as overtime payment for every hour on normal days and 150 per cent during holidays and Fridays.
He denied holding back two months' salary of workers, saying the salaries are paid within 40 days if they are in arrears. - GMANews.TV
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