Revised POEA rules allow deployment of more HSWs

MANILA, Philippines -  More Filipino household service workers (HSWs) can now work in the Middle East, an official said yesterday.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has revised existing recruitment regulations to allow the hiring of more Filipino HSWs overseas.

POEA officer-in-charge Bernard Olalia said they opted to amend the rules due to the growing demand for HSWs from foreign employers, particularly in the Middle East.

“Upon the request of foreign recruitment agencies, we increased our accreditation so we could deploy more Filipino workers abroad,” Olalia said in an interview.

Olalia noted that many of those deployed abroad each year are domestic workers.

From 1.8 million in 2015, Olalia said, recorded overseas deployment rose to 2.1 million in 2016.

“The biggest chunk of the 2.1 million are domestic helpers followed by health workers then semi-skilled workers,” Olalia noted.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello said the POEA has approved a governing board resolution permitting foreign placement agencies to be accredited with four licensed local recruitment agencies while an employer may be accredited with a maximum of five licensed recruitment agencies.

Bello said a foreign placement agency hiring domestic workers can apply for dual accreditation if it has facilitated employment of at least 100 HSWs.

“For the third accreditation, the foreign placement agency must have newly hired and employed at least 200 domestic workers,” Bello noted.

A foreign placement agency can apply for a fourth accreditation provided it has hired and employed at least 300 HSWs a year after its third accreditation.

Bello said the principal employer shall submit an undertaking that it will comply with all its obligations to other licensed recruitment agencies, including monitoring the status of its hired worker.

Only foreign agencies and employers without pending cases and were not previously suspended can apply for multiple accreditation.

The new policy, Bello said, is meant to maximize the participation of private recruitment agency in the government’s overseas employment program.