By Alec Go
The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) announced the deployment of overseas Filipino workers to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) will resume on Monday, Nov. 7, under new arrangements that will further protect OFWs.
DMW Secretary Susan Ople said overseas labor offices in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Al-Khobar will resume accepting employment offers for Filipino migrant workers who want to work in KSA.
“Hindi tayo basta lang magbubukas ng Saudi deployment na walang malinaw at matibay na pundasyon para sa proteksiyon ng ating mga manggagawa,” she said in a briefing on Friday.
DMW Undersecretary Patricia Yvonne M. Caunan said the following are the labor reform measures adopted by the two countries:
- A new Saudi-specific employment contract with insurance coverage for domestic workers and skilled workers covering unpaid salaries, airfare, refund of recruitment costs in case of unfinished contracts and other contingencies. The Saudi government will shoulder the insurance cost for skilled workers while Saudi employers are mandated to pay for the insurance coverage of Filipino domestic workers
- A pre-termination clause in the contract that would specifically allow a domestic worker to transfer to or change employers before the end of the contract based on certain grounds such as the non-payment of salary and cases of abuse/maltreatment
- The adoption of a joint alternative dispute settlement mechanism that would pave the way for a more transparent, fair, and amicable settlement of employment disputes
- Integration of the contract, and implementation of the Wage Protection Program, which will regulate and ensure the timely payment of wages to all OFWs; and,
- Direct referral of cases involving the trafficking and exploitation of OFWs to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (MHRSD) through its anti-human trafficking department
Ople said it is also the first time that recruitment agencies are required to have their own welfare desk officers.
“Kung walang welfare officer na full time at well-trained, wala [kaming] tatanggapin na job order,” she said.
She added that abusive employers and their agencies will be blacklisted by both the Philippines and KSA, while those with good practices will be included in the whitelist.
Meanwhile, the DMW is set to meet next week the Saudi MHRSD delegation to discuss OFW salaries and labor standards, and the automation of recruitment processes.
They will also discuss the status of the cases of Filipino construction workers who were not given their salaries since 2016, the cases of abuse, and joint efforts to combat trafficking of Filipino migrant workers.
Amid the changes, Ople called on the cooperation of all stakeholders to ensure the safe and fair reopening of the deployment.
“Ang ina-assure lang namin sa lahat na nasa gitna ng lahat ng mga pagbabago ay ang kapakanan at karapatan ng bawat OFW na bound for Saudi Arabia,” she said.
“Hindi kami nag-lift na basta-basta lang. Nag-lift kami dahil tiyak kami na mas protektado sila higit sa ngayon kaysa sa nakaraan pang panahon,” she added. – gb
