Philippines, UAE ink ‘historic’ labor accord; household workers’ deployment to resume March 31

The Philippines and the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday signed a “historic” labor agreement which gives greater protection to Filipino household service workers (HSWs), according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

In a statement, the DOLE said that both countries agreed, at the conclusion of the two-day joint committee meeting (JCM), to resume the deployment of HSWs to UAE, effective March 31, 2021.

The deployment of HSWs to UAE has been suspended since 2014.

The Philippine delegation head at the JCM Labor Undersecretary Claro Arellano said the new deployment scheme will now be covered by a Unified Employment Contract that provides stringent measures to protect Filipino HSWs pursuant to the directives of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Under the unified contract, both the employer and the Foreign Recruitment Agencies, and the Philippine Recruitment Agencies are bound by joint and solidary liability should anything happen to the Filipino workers.

The same provisions were in the standard employment contract being used in Kuwait, according to the DOLE.

The unified contract shall also incorporate the following addendum, which are the specific instructions of the President to ensure the safety and well-being of HSWs:

• The right of the domestic worker to take at least eight continuous hours of sleep every night
• The right of the domestic worker to take a break that is paid, outside the residence of the employer at least one full days every week
• The right of the domestic worker to keep his/her passport or identification documents and the employer is not allowed to hold them

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• The employer shall allow the domestic worker to have and use cellular phones and other communication devices and the employer is prohibited from confiscating them
• Opening of bank account under the name of the domestic worker for payment of salary
• Allowing the domestic workers to cook her or his own food

The DOLE noted that another significant achievement during the JCM is the agreement on the conversion of tourist/visit visa to working visa. 

As agreed during the JCM, the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) will be notified when a visit visa is converted to an employment visa for a Filipino domestic worker.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III hailed the agreement as a milestone in the government’s efforts to further protect Filipino overseas workers.

The Philippines also reiterated its position to deploy the workers through the legal channel and the conversion of tourist visa to working visa is therefore not recommended since this may lead to illegal recruitment and trafficking in persons, according to the DOLE.

Meanwhile, the UAE promised to provide a modified Unified Employment Contract that reflects the Philippine side-proposed addendum.

Both the Philippines and the UAE sides agreed that the addendum will already be implemented for the immediate resumption of the deployment of domestic workers under manual process.

The UAE delegation in the JCM is headed by Saif Ahmed Alsuwaidi, undersecretary of Human Resources and Emiratisation. — BM, GMA News