After reading “What is the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration?”, read also “Who has the power to suspend the effects of termination of employment?”
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The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration is the government agency responsible for the regulation of outflow of Filipino workers for temporary employment overseas.
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The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration has both regulatory and adjudicatory functions.
- The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration protects the right of Filipino workers to fair and equitable employment practices.
What is the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA)?
The POEA is the entity which assumed the overseas functions of the Bureau of Employment Services (BES) by virtue of E.O. No. 797. It also absorbed the task of the National Seamen Board by virtue of the same executive order. (E.O. No. 797, Section 4, May 1, 1982).
Jurisprudence says:
The POEA was created under Executive Order No. 797, promulgated on May 1, 1982, to promote and monitor the overseas employment of Filipinos and to protect their rights. It replaced the National Seamen Board created earlier under Article 20 of the Labor Code in 1974. Under Section 4(a) of the said executive order, the POEA is vested with “original and exclusive jurisdiction over all cases, including money claims, involving employee-employer relations arising out of or by virtue of any law or contract involving Filipino contract workers, including seamen.” These cases, according to the 1985 Rules and Regulations on Overseas Employment issued by the POEA, include “claims for death, disability and other benefits” arising out of such employment. (Eastern Shipping Lines, Inc. v. POEA)
What are the principal functions of the POEA? The law says:
The principal functions of the POEA include:
- Protection of the right of Filipino workers to fair and equitable employment practices
- Regulation of private sector participation in the recruitment and overseas placement of workers by setting up a licensing and registration system
- Deployment of Filipino workers through Government to Government hiring
- Formulation, implementation, and monitoring of overseas employment of Filipino workers taking into consideration their welfare and domestic manpower requirements
- Shall inform migrant workers not only of their rights as workers but also of their rights as human beings, instruct and guide the workers how to assert their rights and provide the available mechanism to redress violation of their rights
- Implementation, in partnership with other law-enforcement agencies, of an intensified program against illegal recruitment activities. (Section 14, R.A. 10022)
The POEA has regulatory and adjudicatory functions. Regulatory functions involve the making or enforcement of by-laws, orders, standards, or other controls. R.A. No. 9422 provides for the Regulatory Functions of the POEA.
The law says:
- Regulate the private sector participation in the recruitment and overseas placement of workers through its licensing and registration system;
- Formulate and implement, in coordination with appropriate entities concerned, when necessary, a system for promoting and monitoring the overseas employment of Filipino workers taking into consideration their welfare and the domestic manpower requirements;
- Inform migrant workers not only of their rights as workers but also of their rights as human beings;
- Instruct and guide the workers how to assert their rights;
- Provide the available mechanism to redress violation of their rights; and
- In the recruitment and placement of workers to service the requirements for trained and competent Filipino workers of foreign governments and their instrumentalities, and such other employers as public interests may require, the administration shall deploy only to countries:
- Where the Philippines has concluded bilateral labor agreements or arrangements;
- Guaranteeing to protect the rights of Filipino migrant workers; and,
- Observing and/or complying with the international laws and standards for migrant workers. (RA No. 9422)
Adjudicatory Functions involve determining the rights or liabilities of a person in a proceeding in which there are two or more parties. The Adjudicatory Functions of the POEA is provided under R.A. No. 8042.
The law says:
- Administrative cases involving violations of licensing rules and of licensing rules and regulations and registration of recruitment and employment agencies or entities.
- Disciplinary action cases and other special cases which are administrative in character involving employers, principals, contracting partners and Filipino migrants. (Sec. 6, Rule X, IRR, RA 8042)
Alburo Alburo and Associates Law Offices specializes in business law and labor law consulting. For inquiries, you may reach us at info@alburolaw.com, or dial us at (02)7745-4391/0917-5772207.
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