TIPS FOR OFWs
HOW TO AVOID ILLEGAL RECRUITMENT
Source: Philippine Overseas Employment Administration

1. Do not apply at recruitment agencies not licensed by POEA.
    
2. Do not deal with licensed agencies without job orders.
    
3. Do not deal with any person who is not an authorized representative of a licensed agency.
    
4. Do not transact business outside the registered address of the agency. If recruitment is conducted in the province, check if the agency has a provincial recruitment authority.
    
5. Do not pay more than the allowed placement fee. It should be equivalent to one month's salary, exclusive of documentation and processing costs.
    
6. Do not pay any placement fee unless you have a valid employment contract and an official receipt.
    
7. Do not be enticed by ads or brochures requiring you to reply to a Post Office (P.O.) Box, and to enclose payment for processing of papers.
    
8. Do not deal with training centers and travel agencies, which promise overseas employment.
    
9. Do not accept a tourist visa.
    
10. Do not deal with fixers.

• Recruiting and charging or accepting fees without proper license or authority to recruit.
   
• Furnishing or publishing any false notice or information or document in relation to recruitment or employment.
   
• Giving any false notice, testimony, information or document or committing any act of misrepresentation for the purpose of securing license or authority under the Philippine Labor Code
   
• Inducing or attempting to induce a worker already employed to quit his employment in order to offer him to another.
   
• Influencing or attempting to influence any person or entity not to employ any worker who has not applied for employment through his agency.
   
• Recruiting workers in jobs harmful to public health or morality or to the dignity of the Republic of the Philippines
   
• Obstructing or attempting to obstruct inspection by the Secretary of Labor and Employment or by his duly authorized representative
   
• Substituting or altering to the prejudice of the worker, employment contracts approved and verified by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) 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 DOLE.
   
• Withholding or denying travel documents from applicant workers before departure for monetary or financial considerations other than those authorized under the labor code.
   
• Failure to actually deploy worker(s) without valid reasons as determined by the Department of Labor and Employment.
   
• Failure to reimburse expenses incurred by the worker 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.

File your complaints at:
Legal Assistance Division
Anti-Illegal Recruitment Branch, 4th Floor, POEA Building or the nearest POEA/DOLE regional office; NBI, PNP, Police Authorities in your area

• Leaving the country as a tourist but with the intention of working abroad is illegal both in the Philippines and the host country.
   
• 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.

AGAINST RECRUITMENT AGENCIES

For violation of recruitment laws, rules and regulations

• overcharging of placement fee
• pre-mature collection of placement fee
• misrepresentation
• withholding of travel documents
• failure to deploy without valid reason
• failure to reimburse documentation expenses when deployment did not take place without the worker’s fault
• substitution and alteration of employment contract

Where to get legal assistance:
Legal Assistance Division
POEA head office or any POEA Regional Office

AGAINST A FELLOW WORKER

For offenses while working overseas:

• misappropriation of property or money of fellow worker entrusted for delivery
• creating trouble
• theft/robbery
• possession of deadly weapon
• drunkenness
• drug addiction, etc.

Where to get legal assistance:
Legal Assistance Division
POEA head office

AGAINST FOREIGN EMPLOYERS

• Defaulting on their contractual obligation to the workers
• Violation of rules and regulations on overseas employment
• Grave misconduct

Where to get legal assistance:
Legal Assistance Division
POEA head office

Philippine Embassy or Consulate nearest the jobsite of the worker

AGAINST RECRUITMENT AGENCY AND FOREIGN EMPLOYERS

• Money claims arising from employer-employee-relationship such as unpaid wages, breach of contract and illegal dismissal

Where to get legal assistance:
Migrant Worker’s Desk
National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC)
NLRC Regional Offices where the complainant resides