What is illegal recruitment? Here is a detailed definition on what is illegal recruitment according to Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) website.
Any act of
canvassing, enlisting, contracting, transporting, utilizing,
hiring or procuring workers and includes referring, contract services,
promising or advertising for employment abroad, whether for profit or
not, when undertaken by a non-license or non-holder of authority
contemplated under Art 13 (F) of Presidential Decree No. 442, as amended
otherwise known as the Labor Code of the Philippines: Provided, That
any such non-licensee or non-holder who, in any manner, offers or
promises for a fee employment abroad to two or more persons shall be
deemed so engaged. (sec. 6, RA 8042).
It shall likewise include the following acts, whether committed by
any persons, whether a non-licensee, non-holder, licensee or holder of
authority.
(a) To charge or accept directly or indirectly any amount greater
than the specified in the schedule of allowable fees prescribed by the
Secretary of Labor and Employment, or to make a worker pay any amount
greater than that actually received by him as a loan or advance;
(b) To furnish or publish any false notice or information or document in relation to recruitment or employment;
(c) To give any false notice, testimony, information or document
or commit any act of misrepresentation for the purpose of securing a
license or authority under the Labor Code;
(d) To induce or attempt to induce a worker already employed to
quit his employment in order to offer him another unless the transfer is
designed to liberate a worker from oppressive terms and conditions of
employment;
(e) To influence or attempt to influence any persons or entity not
to employ any worker who has not applied for employment through his
agency;
(f) To engage in the recruitment of placement of workers in jobs
harmful to public health or morality or to dignity of the Republic of
the Philippines;
(g) To obstruct or attempt to obstruct inspection by the Secretary
of Labor and Employment or by his duly authorized representative;
(h) To fail to submit reports on the status of employment,
placement vacancies, remittances of foreign exchange earnings,
separations from jobs, departures and such other matters or information
as may be required by the Secretary of Labor and Employment;
(i) To substitute or alter to the prejudice of the worker,
employment contracts approved and verified by the Department of Labor
and Employment from the time of actual signing thereof by the parties up
to and including the period of the expiration of the same without the
approval of the Department of Labor and Employment;
(j) For an officer or agent of a recruitment or placement agency
to become an officer or member of the Board of any corporation engaged
in travel agency or to be engaged directly on indirectly in the
management of a travel agency;
(k) To withhold or deny travel documents from applicant workers
before departure for monetary or financial considerations other than
those authorized under the Labor Code and its implementing rules and
regulations;
(l) Failure to actually deploy without valid reasons as determined by the Department of Labor and Employment; and
(m) Failure to reimburse expenses incurred by the workers in
connection with his documentation and processing for purposes of
deployment, in cases where the deployment does not actually take place
without the worker's fault. Illegal recruitment when committed by a
syndicate or in large scale shall be considered as offense involving
economic sabotage.
Illegal recruitment is deemed committed by a syndicate carried out
by a group of three (3) or more persons conspiring or confederating
with one another. It is deemed committed in large scale if committed
against three (3) or more persons individually or as a group.
The persons criminally liable for the above offenses are the
principals, accomplices and accessories. In case of juridical persons,
the officers having control, management or direction of their business
shall be liable.
Source:
POEA
Now you know what is illegal recruitment, click here on
How To Avoid Illegal Recruitment In Working Abroad.
