DOLE ready to provide employment to abused maids

MANILA, Philippines - Domestic workers need not put up with abuses and exploitation just to keep their jobs.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said new employment shall be provided to household service workers who have been rescued from their abusive employers.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz also said the DOLE and other concerned agencies are now readying a package of assistance for abused domestic helpers in compliance with the Kasambahay law.

Under the new law, abused and exploited domestic workers shall be immediately rescued by the municipal or city social officer from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in coordination with barangay officials.

“The law also mandates that the DSWD and Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) shall develop a standard operating procedure for the rescue and rehabilitation of abused domestic workers and, in coordination with the DOLE, possible job placement,” Baldoz added.

Meanwhile, the government has deferred the implementation of the unified registration system (URS) of domestic workers pending the signing of the memorandum of understanding by the Social Security System, PhilHealth and the Pag-IBIG Fund.

Baldoz said the memorandum contains the agreements of the three agencies that will govern the URS, which aims to make the registration of the domestic helpers with the SSS, PhilHealth and the Pag-IBIG Fund convenient for employers.

With the URS, employers no longer need to transact with each agency in registering their domestic workers. Once an employer has registered the domestic worker with the SSS, all pertinent information will be shared with the Pag-IBIG and PhilHealth, which will serve as basis for the these agencies in registering the worker.

The DILG, meanwhile, has issued guidelines for the registration of domestic workers in all barangays.

Baldoz said the list coming from every barangay shall be used in establishing local registry of domestic workers as required by the Kasambahay law.

The Kasambahay law aims to ensure better working conditions for the estimated two million domestic workers nationwide. It took effect last June.