File complaints, Qatar-based OFWs victimized by labor substitution urged

Overseas Filipino workers in Qatar who were victimized by labor contract substitutions have been urged to file complaints against unscrupulous employers.
 
Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz personally made the appeal at the recent inauguration of the new Philippine Overseas Labor Office – Overseas Workers Welfare Office there Friday, .
 
“We need these people to come out in the open and file the necessary complaints so we can investigate,” she stressed, according to a report on Gulf Times on Sunday.
 
Contract substitution involves unscrupulous employers colluding with some recruitment agencies in the Philippines.
 
The Gulf Times report quoted Ambassador Crescentre Relacion as saying that this involves a job contract signed by the candidate and processed by POLO-OWWA but being swapped for another one in Qatar.
 
Relacion said a candidate has no option but to sign another contract with lower pay and benefits when he or she arrives in Doha.
 
Baldoz said POLO can suspend the documentary processing of foreign agencies involved in anomalies in the recruitment of workers from the Philippines.
 
Meanwhile, labor attaché Leopoldo de Jesus has advised OFWs who have been treated unjustly or unfairly to seek the intervention of POLO-OWWA for assistance.
 
These included those who have been victims of “contract substitution” and “excessive collection” perpetuated by recruitment agencies and some employers.
 
The report said delayed payment of salaries and keeping of passports are among the major issues raised by workers who seek help from de Jesus.
 
De Jesus said the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration already canceled the licenses of some recruitment agencies involved in contract substitution and those who asked for placements fees for housemaids.
 
Awarding good performers
 
Baldoz also said she is considering awarding legitimate recruitment agencies and employers which are performing and doing business excellently.
 
“If they have a record or profile, they can have a special lane making it less difficult for them to do business here at POLO,” she said. “They should be rewarded, but for those who will continue to violate, definitely we have to penalize them,” she said. — Joel Locsin/RSJ, GMA News

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