Is there anything that you’d like to know about working abroad? Many people do and they’ve asked questions. Here are some answers from the Department of Labor and Employment (www.dole.gov.ph). Check them out, and you might find your own questions answered.
After paying a large sum of money, I found out that the person recruiting me for a job abroad was not authorized by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA). He promised me that I would be deployed even though he has no license. What shall I do?
Report the matter immediately to POEA's Anti-Illegal Recruitment Branch at telephone no. 722-11-92 or the Philippine National Police or NBI. You are not assured of protection once you run into trouble abroad as he has no bonds posted to answer for any eventuality. He may promise you a job but he can only have you deployed by resorting to irregularities that will compromise your welfare. The POEA Legal Assistance Division will help you in filing and prosecuting your case.
Someone is recruiting me to work overseas but I have to leave the country as tourist. Is this a legitimate way to find overseas jobs? What are the other forms and guises of illegal recruitment?
Leaving the country as a tourist but with the intention of working abroad is illegal both in the Philippines and the host country. Other forms of illegal recruitment are as follows:
- Escort services - tourist/workers "escorted" at the country's airports and seaports.
- By correspondence - applicants are encouraged by the recruiter to comply with employment requirements and placement through mail.
- Blind ads - fraudulent and misleading advertisements promising facility of employment
- Au pair - an inter-cultural program wherein a host family sponsors a person to study language and culture for a monthly allowance in exchange for a home to stay.
- Backdoor exit - going out of the country through some airports and seaports in the southern part of the Philippines.
- Camouflaged participation in foreign seminars and sports events - workers leave as participants in seminars or sports events but eventually finding jobs in the host country.
- Traineeship scheme - HRM students leaving in the guise of a traineeship program for hotels abroad but eventually landing jobs in the training establishment.
My recruitment agency wants me to pay 50 thousand pesos as placement fee. Is this legal?
The legal placement fee to be collected by licensed recruitment agencies from applicants for overseas jobs must be equivalent to one month salary of the worker as stipulated in the employment contract. The amount, however, does not include documentation and processing costs.
[Source: www.dole.gov.ph] |
