Philippines set to lift employment ban to Saudi Arabia in November

Following discussions between the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, the Philippines will lift the ban on deploying overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to Saudi Arabia on November 7. DMW Secretary Susan "Toots" Ople spearheaded the delegation of officials from the DMW and the Department of Foreign Affairs. "Based on our agreement with Minister , we will resume deploying Filipino migrant workers to Saudi Arabia beginning November 7," Ople stated during a media briefing on Tuesday The media frequently reports on incidents involving maltreatment of OFWs in Saudi Arabia. To provide better care for overseas workers in the Kingdom, the DMW and the MHRSD have reached an agreement on the following action points:
  • Create a technical working group composed of representatives from both agencies to monitor the implementation of labor reforms, and jointly resolve concerns of workers
  • Implement a blacklist and whitelist of recruitment agencies and employers in both countries, based on criteria agreed upon by both sides
  • Revise the Standard Employment Contract of OFWs to reflect all guarantees in the Saudi Labor
  • Reform Initiatives, including:
    • insurance for unpaid wages
    • timely release of salaries through electronic payments
    • a pre-termination clause, which OFWs or the Philippine government can invoke once abuse is reported
  • Ensure implementation of a fully automated recruitment process in both countries
  • Sign a memorandum of understanding to fight human trafficking, investigate and prosecute offenders, and provide support to OFW trafficking victims in both countries
  • Convene regular joint committee meetings to monitor full compliance with the action points listed above, as well as developments of recruitment procedures in both countries
According to DMW, the Saudi labor ministry committed to reviewing a proposal from the DMW to reduce the duration of employment contracts of domestic workers to one year. Workers would have the option to extend for another year, but with a vacation leave of 15 days in between On the other hand, Undersecretary Patricia Yvonne Caunan of the DMW highlighted a new labor reform where OFWs can obtain faster employment transfers. According to Caunan, this change would mean that workers would no longer need clearances or approvals from their previous employers to transfer jobs if they run into problems such as a breach of contract, failure to pay salary, maltreatment, or being forced to work for someone who is not the employer, among other problems. BKM/ Expat Media
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