16 recruiters face suspension over placement fees

MANILA, Philippines - At least 16 recruitment agencies deploying workers to Hong Kong may be suspended for collecting excessive placement fees, a group said yesterday.

The Society of Hong Kong Accredited Recruiters of the Philippines (SHARP) reported that the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Hong Kong has filed complaints against 16 agencies for violating the government’s no placement fee policy.

SHARP president Alfredo Palmiery said he received information that the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) already received the copies of the complaint against 16 agencies.

“We have learned that these 16 agencies should be facing 30 cases of violations of the policy,” Palmiery said.

Under existing POEA rules, a recruitment agency could lose its license for illegal collection of placement fee.

SHARP earlier declared a moratorium on the deployment of household service workers to Hong Kong since its member agencies could no longer comply with the government’s no placement fee policy.

Instead of collecting placement fees and violating government rules, Palmiery called on other recruitment agencies deploying workers to Hong Kong to just join the moratorium.

“A number of agencies had already been served with orders of preventive suspension or cancellation of license,” Palmiery said.

Palmiery said SHARP is willing to lift the moratorium as soon as majority of Hong Kong employment agencies agree to charging the cost of recruitment to Hong Kong employers and paying a reasonable fee for the services rendered by Philippine recruitment agencies.