How to Prevent Illegal Recruitment

What is Illegal Recruitment?

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.

No Ban On Seafearers To Somalia

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) today said it's not necessary to ban the deployment involving Filipino seafarers to international flagged ships because interventions are now taking place to handle the negative consequences of piracy-related situations perilous to them and also to the operations of ınternational shipping.

Labor and Employment Secretary Marianito D. Roque believed the troubles that brought on the total ban which was suggested to President Macapagal-Arroyo is being addressed with the implementation of a mutual communiqué or understanding forged between the DOLE and seafarers groups, manning and shipping sectors and the International Labour Organization and International Maritime Organization.

Roque considered the stakeholders signed the communiqué during the Anti-Piracy Summit for Filipino Seafarers held last January 8, 2010 at the Amosup Seamen’s Center in Intramuros, Manila.

“We do not recommend the banning of our Filipino seafarers from working in foreign vessels that ply pirate-infested waters in Somalia as interventions on how to deal with the piracy problem have been identified during the anti-piracy summit,” stated Roque noting that the proposed ban would result in Filipino seafarers losing their jobs that surely will affect their families and the Philippine seafaring industry and the economy as well.

Earlier, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) advised to the President the total ban on the deployment of Filipino seafarers to foreign flagships that ply pirate-infested waters in Somalia.

As provided for by the joint communiqué, three measures are now being carried through for the security of the Filipino seafarers against sea piracy. The procedures cover the formulation of anti-piracy regulations, and the conduct of anti-piracy training and psycho-social counseling for seafarers.

Roque considered that above 200 agencies out of 350 manning firms have handed in their own anti-piracy training modules to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA). The final approval of the explained modules will be based on the standard training module which the POEA is preparing in coordination with the Maritime Training Center (MTC).

Based on the POEA Memorandum Circular No. 02, Series of 2010, “all manning agencies must require seafarers to undergo training on practical measures to avoid, deter or delay piracy/ attacks prior to deployment.” The anti-piracy training is separate and in addition to the regular Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar (PDOS) conducted for departing seafarers. In addition, manning agencies will have to submit to POEA a list of all the trainees each month indicating the name, date of training and name of company.

Apart from the anti-piracy training, the POEA has also approved a resolution permitting the deployment of Filipino seafarers on board vessels transiting in pirate-infested locations provided that the ship owners, principals, managers or manning agencies will make sure the vessel will pass within the maritime security patrol area.

The ship owner and manning agencies will also submit proper security measure steps such as security escorts or joining convoy to all ships passing through identified pirate-infested areas.

On the other hand the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) will be providing psycho-social counselling and other support services to the families who will be victims of piracy.