Labor chief issues guidelines for returning POLO officers, staff

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will be stricter in implementing the guidelines on re-entry and reintegration of Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) officers and staff completing their assignments abroad.
Under Administrative Order No. 634 signed by Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, POLO officers and staff "shall schedule their departure from the Post and ensure they report to the Home Office on the date specified in their recall order."
"All shall also submit their respective terminal report covering their accomplishments during their tenure within two weeks upon the end of their tour of duty," Baldoz said in a statement Monday.
The order also states that all returning POLO officers and staff shall assume their office assignment not later than 30 calendar days upon their arrival from the Post.
"All recalled POLO officers and staff shall render services in the Home Office for a period of two years, except when their early re-deployment is deemed necessary in the exigency of the service," it added.
The guidelines cover regular and designated/cross-posted labor attachés, welfare officers, and administrative staff who have completed their tours of duty.
Baldoz said AO No. 634 aims to establish an effective re-entry and reintegration of POLO officers and staff upon their return from their respective foreign assignments.
It provides that a notice of recall, also called recall order, shall be issued to POLO officers and staff one year prior to the completion of their respective tours of duty.
Baldoz shall sign the recall order for labor attachés and administrative staff, while the OWWA administrator shall sign the order for welfare officers and OWWA administrative staff.
The International Labor Affairs Bureau (ILAB) shall serve these notices.
Three months prior to their recall, regular labor attachés and POLO officers and staff shall indicate to the DOLE Human Resource Development Service, through the ILAB, at least three DOLE offices or agencies where they prefer to be assigned.
However, these offices or agencies are those that are involved in the overseas employment program, namely, Office of the Secretary, ILAB, National Reintegration Center for OFWs, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.
The guidelines added that labor attachés and other POLO officers and staff shall be designated to positions not lower than their corresponding salary grade levels.
Designated/cross-posted labor attaches, welfare officers, and administrative staff from DOLE, OWWA, and attached agencies, on the other hand, shall return to their respective mother agencies/units immediately upon their recall.
Further, the order provides that returning regular labor attaches shall also be ex-officio members of the Technical Working Group of the DOLE Committee on Bilateral Agreement Matters involving their previous assignment. —KBK, GMA News

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