POEA warns recruiters anew on failure to protect HSWs

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) yesterday
reiterated that recruitment agencies shall be held accountable for incidents of
abuse, exploitation, or breach of contract committed by household employers
against Filipino household service workers.

Administrator Hans Leo J. Cacdac said the recruiters’ failure to abide by their
responsibility to protect OFWs warrants cancellation or suspension of their
licenses, depending on the gravity and frequency of the offenses.

Cacdac said that Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda DimapilisBaldoz has ordered him to hold recruiters true to their responsibility and accountable to the POEA to ensure that foreign employers faithfully comply with their legal and contractual obligations to our domestic workers.
Baldoz has earlier reminded recruitment agency owners not to lose sight of their duty to protect domestic workers deployed overseas.

"The obligation of a licensed recruitment agency to its hired OFWs does not
end upon their deployment to the worksite. The recruitment agency has the
continuous obligation to ensure protection of workers, especially domestic
workers," Secretary Baldoz said.

Cacdac said such legal and contractual obligations include humane treatment,
payment of salaries and benefits, and notification of the Philippine embassy
about any significant development affecting the condition of domestic workers.
Also, the recruitment agency must assist in the settlement of disputes and
report to the POEA any significant or important situation experienced by a
deployed domestic worker.

Cacdac noted that over the last five years, an increasing number of overseas
domestic workers have filed cases against their recruitment agencies and
employers before the POEA. He also noted an increasing number of cases
that involved the death or physical abuse of female domestic workers.