PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

RULE I

STATEMENT OF POLICY

It is the policy of the Administration:

1. To uphold the dignity and fundamental human rights of Filipino migrant workers and promote full employment and equality of employment opportunities for all;
2. To protect every citizen desiring to work overseas by securing the best possible terms and conditions of employment;
3. To allow the deployment of Filipino migrant workers only in countries where their rights are protected;
4. To provide an effective gender-sensitive mechanism that can adequately protect and safeguard the rights and interest of Filipino migrant workers;
5. To disseminate and allow free flow of information which will properly prepare individuals into making informed and intelligent decisions about overseas employment;
6. To ensure careful selection of Filipino workers for overseas employment in order to protect the good name of the Philippines abroad;
7. To institute a system to guarantee that migrant workers possess the necessary skills, knowledge or experience for their overseas jobs;
8. To recognize the participation of the private sector in the recruitment and placement of overseas workers to serve national development objectives;
9. To deregulate recruitment activities progressively taking into account emerging circumstances, which may affect the welfare of migrant workers;
10. To support programs for the reintegration of returning migrant workers into Philippine society; and
11. To cooperate with duly registered non-government organizations, in a spirit of trust and mutual respect, in protecting and promoting the welfare of Filipino migrant workers.

RULE II

For purposes of these Rules, the following terms are defined as follows:

1. Accreditation – shall refer to the grant of authority to a foreign principal to recruit and hire Filipino workers through a licensed agency for overseas employment.

2. Administration – shall refer to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).

3. Administrator – shall refer to the Administrator of the POEA.

4. Agency – shall refer to a private employment agency as defined herein.

5. Corporate Recruitment – shall refer to the act of providing the required manpower for all facets of an overseas project.

6. Department – shall refer to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

7. Derogatory record – refers to the existence of negative information such as, but not limited to, illegal recruitment, falsification, swindling or estafa, and/or conviction for crimes involving moral turpitude.

8. Documentation cost – shall refer to actual cost incurred in the documentation of an applicant-worker in relation to his/her application for overseas employment, such as, but not limited to passport, NBI/ Police/Barangay clearance, authentication, birth certificate, Medicare, PDOS, trade test, inoculation and medical examination fees.

9. Employment Contract – shall refer to an individual written agreement between the foreign principal/employer and the worker, which is based on the master employment contract.

10. Foreign Placement Agency – shall refer to a foreign principal indirectly engaging the services of Overseas Filipino Workers.

11. Joint and Solidary Liability – refers to the nature of liability of the principal/employer and the recruitment/placement agency, for any and all claims arising out of the implementation of the employment contract involving Filipino workers for overseas deployment. It shall likewise refer to the nature of liability of officers, directors, and partners with the company over claims arising from employer-employee relationship.

12. License – shall refer to the document issued by the Secretary or his duly authorized representative authorizing a person, partnership or corporation to operate a private employment agency.

13. Master Employment Contract – shall refer to the model employment agreement submitted by the foreign principal for verification and approval which contains the terms and conditions of employment of each worker hired by such principal.

14. Name Hire – shall refer to a worker who is able to secure an overseas employment opportunity with an employer without the assistance or participation of any agency.

15. New Market – shall refer to a principal or a foreign placement agency which is not in the active list of registered of accredited principals/foreign placement agencies for the past six months or more or which has never been registered or accredited to any licensed landbased agency; Provided that in the case of a foreign placement agency, its direct employer(s) are identified and are likewise not in the active list of registered or accredited employer of any licensed landbased agency for the past six months or more or has not been registered or accredited to any licensed landbased agency;

16. NLRC – shall refer to the National Labor Relations Commission.

17. Non-Licensee – shall refer to any person, partnership or corporation who has no valid license to engage in recruitment and placement of Overseas Filipino Workers or whose license is suspended.

18. Overseas Employment – shall refer to employment of a Filipino worker outside the Philippines covered by a valid contract.

19. Overseas or Migrant Filipino Worker – shall refer to any person, eighteen years of age or above, as provided in RA 8042, who is to be engaged, or is engaged or has been engaged in a remunerated activity in a state of which the worker is not a legal resident;

20. Placement Fee – shall refer to the amount charged by a private employment agency from a worker for its recruitment and placement services, as prescribed by the Secretary.

21. Principal – shall refer to a foreign person, partnership, or corporation hiring Filipino workers through a licensed agency.

22. Private Employment Agency – shall refer to any person, partnership or corporation engaged in the recruitment and placement of workers for a fee, which is charged, directly or indirectly, from the workers or employers or both.

23. Provisional License – refers to a license issued to a new agency with a limited period of one (1) year within which an applicant shall comply with its undertaking to deploy 100 workers to its new market.

24. Recruitment Agreement – shall refer to an agreement by and between the principal and the private employment agency or the Administration defining their rights and obligations.

25. Recruitment and Placement – shall refer to any act of canvassing, enlisting, contracting, transporting, utilizing, hiring or procuring workers and includes referrals, contract services, promising or advertising for employment abroad, whether for profit or not; provided that any person or entity which, in any manner, offers or promises for a fee employment to two or more persons shall be deemed engaged in recruitment and placement.

26. Registration - shall refer to the act of recognizing and entering in the official records of the Administration the existence of a foreign principal/employer or project whose documents have been verified in the job site by the appropriate officials of the Philippine government. It shall also refer to the act of entering in the official records of the Administration the names of name hires and workers on leave who will depart for overseas employment.

27. SEC – shall refer to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

28. Secretary – shall refer to the Secretary of Labor and Employment.

29. Service Contractor – shall refer to any person, partnership or corporation duly licensed by the Secretary of Labor and Employment to recruit workers for its accredited projects or contracts overseas.

30. Service Fee – shall refer to the amount charged by a licensee from its foreign principal as payment for actual services rendered in relation to the recruitment and placement of workers.

31. Special Recruitment Authority – shall refer to the authority granted to an agency to conduct recruitment outside its registered business address approved by the Administration.

32. Valid Employment Contract – shall refer to an individual written agreement between the foreign principal/employer and the worker which is based on the master employment contract approved by the Administration.

33. Verification - shall refer to the act performed by a Philippine Overseas Labor Officer, or any other officer designated by the Secretary of Labor and Employment in the Philippine Embassy or Consulate, in reviewing and verifying the recruitment documents of foreign principals, including the employment contracts of Filipino nationals, with the view to establish the existence of the employing person, company or project, its capability to hire workers at the acceptable rates, and at desirable working conditions in conformity with the minimum standards prescribed by the Administration and taking into consideration the labor laws and legislations of the host government.

34. Worker-on-Leave – shall refer to an overseas worker who is on vacation or on leave and is returning to the same employer.

[ back to POEA Rules and Regulations ]