SESSION 6. International Cooperation To Manage Labor

Migration

The Philippine Experience with Bilateral Labor Agreements

COMMISSION ON FILIPINOS OVERSEAS

OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES

The views expressed in this presentation are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), its Board of Directors, or the governments they represent. ADBI does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this paper and accepts no responsibility for any consequences of their use. Terminology used may not necessarily be consistent with ADB official terms.

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2

3

4,925,797

4,221,041

1,342,790

Immigrants, dual citizens, legal permanent residents abroad, stay does

not depend on contract

Employment-related, overseas Filipino workers, students, trainees, entrepreneurs,

businessmen, staying abroad for is six months or more and their dependents, etc.

Not properly documented, without valid residence or work permits or are overstaying in a foreign country

Source: CFO

OVERSEAS FILIPINOS

in 200+ countries and territories as of December 2012

TOP 10 DESTINATION COUNTRIES OF OVERSEAS FILIPINOS

UNITED STATES (3.49 million or 33%)

SAUDI ARABIA (1.26 million or 12%)

MALAYSIA (686,547 or 6%)

JAPAN (243,136 or 2%)

UNITED KINGDOM (218,777 or 2%)

KUWAIT (213,638 or 2%)

QATAR (200,016 or 2%)

UAE (931,562 or 8%)

CANADA (852,401 or 8%)

AUSTRALIA (391,705 or 3%)

BILATERAL LABOR AGREEMENT

The Philippines continued engagement with various forms of bilateral labor agreements to obtain protective measures for its overseas migrants.

Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) general in scope and usually contain general principles and areas of cooperation on the employment and welfare protection of workers

Memoranda of Agreement (MOAs)

provides more specific provisions and

procedures on the areas of cooperation

• RA 8042 - the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act (sec. 4c) requiring a bilateral labor agreement as one of the eligibility criteria to qualify as destination for overseas Filipinos.

• RA 10022 – Amending RA 8042, asserted that the Philippine government should endeavor to enter into bilateral agreements with countries hosting overseas Filipino workers

PHILIPPINE POLICIES ON BILATERAL LABOR AGREEMENTS

a) It has existing labor and social laws protecting the rights of workers, including migrant workers;

b) It is a signatory to multilateral conventions, declarations or resolutions relating to the protection of workers, including migrant workers; and

c) It has concluded a bilateral agreement or arrangement with the government on the protection of the rights of overseas Filipino workers;

PHILIPPINE POLICIES ON BILATERAL LABOR AGREEMENTS

PHILIPPINE POLICIES ON BILATERAL LABOR AGREEMENTS

• The Philippines has signed 107 BLAs with 79 countries

- 49 general agreements on employment, welfare and cooperation (mostly on health professionals and domestic workers) - 13 agreements on social security and - 45 agreements related to seafarers

BLAs on employment, welfare and general cooperation for land based workers

Middle East countries • strengthen areas of

cooperation (labor, employment and manpower development)

• orderly system for the entry and employment of Filipino workers

• protection of rights

Asia, Europe and Trust Territories • address problems affecting the

deployment of migrant workers • better access to employment

opportunities in new labor markets • promote the principle of shared

responsibility in migration management

BLAs on social security

• equal treatment • portability of

benefits

recognition of training and certification of Filipino seafarers

BLAs on recognition of certificates

ALTERNATIVE INFORMAL BILATERAL APPROACHES

pursuit of bilateral arrangements which are less formal and deals with

operational arrangements on areas of mutual concern

Joint Commissions

Technical committees

BLA with Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Household Service Workers

• Signed by two countries on May 5, 2013 • Provides a standard employment contract accepted by the two

countries and binding among all parties • use of recruitment companies that practice ethical

recruitment • regulation of recruitment costs in both countries • no imposition of any kind of unauthorized salary deductions • facilitate the opening by the employer of a bank account under

the name of the domestic worker for the deposit of his/her monthly salary

• provide 24-hour assistance to the domestic workers • facilitate the issuance of exit visas for the repatriation of

domestic workers upon contract completion, emergency situations

BLA with Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Household Service Workers

• a new Standard Employment Contract (SEC) for domestic workers in the KSA

• In case of death, the employer is responsible for the repatriation of the HSW remains and personal belongings to the Philippines

• Employers can no longer keep the passports of HSWs

• Increase in minimum wage (US $400), employers to pay HSWS via the banking system

• at least eight hours of rest daily and one day off work per week

• a paid vacation leave of 30 days for every two years of service with a round-trip economy class ticket

BLA with Switzerland on the exchange of professional and technical trainees

• Signed by both countries on March 19, 2013 • Filipino health professionals may not be employed under working

conditions less favorable that those for comparable German workers and that employers must provide adequate accommodations to them

• both parties will explore projects to sustain and promote human resource development in the Philippines

• Triple Win project - professional, country of origin and Germany • Provides free German language training for the nurses who passed

the Project interview pre-selection. There is no placement fee for the participants, and the preparation and integration assistance are free of charge.

• 225 Filipino nurse beneficiaries

BLA with Switzerland on the Exchange of professional and technical trainees

• Signed by two countries on July 9, 2002, (guidelines

developed in November 2014) • Allows professionals from the Philippines and

Switzerland for 18 months to acquire new professional experience with the added value of acquiring insight into the language and culture of Switzerland or the Philippines.

• Trainees may be engaged in any professional and technical occupations in which there are no legal restrictions.

• Foreign trainees are subject to the same salary and employment conditions as Swiss citizens. Moreover, there is also no recruitment fee to be paid by the trainee.

LEARNINGS FROM THE PHILIPPINE EXPERIENCE

SOME SUGGESTIONS BASED ON THE PHILIPPINE EXPERIENCE

Rodrigo Garcia Jr.

COMMISSION ON FILIPINOS OVERSEAS Citigold Center, 1345 Quirino Highway corner

South Superhighway, Manila, Philippines

Telephone No: (632) 552-4766, Fax No: (632) 561-8332 Email: rgarcia@cfo.gov.ph, Website: www.cfo.gov.ph

Thank You