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Also, the matters contained in the following were written in accordance with the law, rules, and jurisprudence prevailing at the time of writing and posting, and do not include any future developments on the subject matter under discussion.
AT A GLANCE:
The penalty of imprisonment ranging from twelve (12) years and one (1) day to twenty (20) years and a fine ranging One Million Pesos (PhP1,000,000.00) to Two Million Pesos (PhP2,000,000.00) shall be imposed upon any person found guilty of illegal recruitment.
The penalty of life imprisonment and a fine ranging from Two Million Pesos (PhP2,000,000.00) to Five Million Pesos (PhP5,000,000.00) shall be imposed if illegal recruitment constitutes economic sabotage as defined therein.
The penalty of imprisonment ranging from six (6) years and one (1) day to twelve (12) years and a fine ranging from Five Hundred Thousand Pesos (PhP500,000.00) to One Million Pesos (PhP1,000,000.00) shall be imposed upon any person found guilty of any of the prohibited acts under the law. (Source: Section 6, Republic Act No. 10022)
What is illegal recruitment?
Illegal recruitment refers to any recruitment activity done by a non-licensee or non-holder of authority. Article 38 of the Labor Code provides that:
“Any recruitment activities, including the prohibited practices enumerated under Article 34 of the Labor Code, to be undertaken by non-licensees or non-holders of authority, shall be deemed illegal and punishable under Article 39 of this Code.”
Illegal recruitment shall mean any act of canvassing, enlisting, contracting, transporting, utilizing, hiring, or procuring workers and includes referring, contract services, promising or advertising for employment abroad, whether for profit or not, when undertaken by non-licensee or non-holder of authority contemplated under Article 13(f) of the Labor Code; Provided, That any such non-licensee or non-holder who, in any manner, offers or promises for a fee employment abroad to two or more persons shall be deemed so engaged. (Section 6, R.A. No. 8042, as amended by Section 5, R.A. No. 10022)
Illegal recruitment shall likewise include the following acts, whether committed by any person, whether a non-licensee, non-holder, licensee or holder of authority:
“(a) To charge or accept directly or indirectly any amount greater than that specified in the schedule of allowable fees prescribed by the Secretary of Labor and Employment, or to make a worker pay or acknowledge any amount greater than that actually received by him as a loan or advance;
“(b) To furnish or publish any false notice or information or document in relation to recruitment or employment;
“(c) To give any false notice, testimony, information or document or commit any act of misrepresentation for the purpose of securing a license or authority under the Labor Code, or for the purpose of documenting hired workers with the POEA, which include the act of reprocessing workers through a job order that pertains to nonexistent work, work different from the actual overseas work, or work with a different employer whether registered or not with the POEA;
“(d) To include or attempt to induce a worker already employed to quit his employment in order to offer him another unless the transfer is designed to liberate a worker from oppressive terms and conditions of employment;
“(e) To influence or attempt to influence any person or entity not to employ any worker who has not applied for employment through his agency or who has formed, joined or supported, or has contacted or is supported by any union or workers’ organization;
“(f) To engage in the recruitment or placement of workers in jobs harmful to public health or morality or to the dignity of the Republic of the Philippines;
“(h) To fail to submit reports on the status of employment, placement vacancies, remittance of foreign exchange earnings, separation from jobs, departures and such other matters or information as may be required by the Secretary of Labor and Employment;
“(i) To substitute or alter to the prejudice of the worker, employment contracts approved and verified by the Department of Labor and Employment 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 Department of Labor and Employment;
“(j) For an officer or agent of a recruitment or placement agency to become an officer or member of the Board of any corporation engaged in travel agency or to be engaged directly or indirectly in the management of travel agency;
“(k) To withhold or deny travel documents from applicant workers before departure for monetary or financial considerations, or for any other reasons, other than those authorized under the Labor Code and its implementing rules and regulations;
“(l) Failure to actually deploy a contracted worker without valid reason as determined by the Department of Labor and Employment;
“(m) 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. Illegal recruitment when committed by a syndicate or in large scale shall be considered an offense involving economic sabotage; and
“(n) To allow a non-Filipino citizen to head or manage a licensed recruitment/manning agency. (Section 6, R.A. No. 8042, as amended by Section 5, R.A. No. 10022)
Further, it shall likewise be unlawful for any person or entity to commit the following prohibited acts:
“(1) Grant a loan to an overseas Filipino worker with interest exceeding eight percent (8%) per annum, which will be used for payment of legal and allowable placement fees and make the migrant worker issue, either personally or through a guarantor or accommodation party, postdated checks in relation to the said loan;
“(2) Impose a compulsory and exclusive arrangement whereby an overseas Filipino worker is required to avail of a loan only from specifically designated institutions, entities or persons;
“(3) Refuse to condone or renegotiate a loan incurred by an overseas Filipino worker after the latter’s employment contract has been prematurely terminated through no fault of his or her own;
“(4) Impose a compulsory and exclusive arrangement whereby an overseas Filipino worker is required to undergo health examinations only from specifically designated medical clinics, institutions, entities or persons, except in the case of a seafarer whose medical examination cost is shouldered by the principal/shipowner;
“(5) Impose a compulsory and exclusive arrangement whereby an overseas Filipino worker is required to undergo training, seminar, instruction or schooling of any kind only from specifically designated institutions, entities or persons, except for recommendatory trainings mandated by principals/shipowners where the latter shoulder the cost of such trainings;
“(6) For a suspended recruitment/manning agency to engage in any kind of recruitment activity including the processing of pending workers’ applications; and
“(7) For a recruitment/manning agency or a foreign principal/employer to pass on the overseas Filipino worker or deduct from his or her salary the payment of the cost of insurance fees, premium or other insurance related charges, as provided under the compulsory worker’s insurance coverage. (Section 6, R.A. No. 8042, as amended by Section 5, R.A. No. 10022)
Who may be held liable for illegal recruitment?
The law says:
“The persons criminally liable for the above offenses are the principals, accomplices and accessories. In case of juridical persons, the officers having ownership, control, management or direction of their business who are responsible for the commission of the offense and the responsible employees/agents thereof shall be liable.” (Section 6, R.A. No. 8042, as amended by Section 5, R.A. No. 10022)
What are the penalties for illegal recruitment?
Under the Labor Code, the penalty ranges from imprisonment of not less than two (2) years up to life imprisonment and a fine ranging from not less than Ten Thousand Pesos (PhP10,000.00) to One Hundred Thousand Pesos (PhP100,000.00).
Since the effectivity of the Labor Code, the penalties have been increased through the enactment of the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995 (Republic Act No. 8042), and further amended by Republic Act No. 10022.
Section 6 of Republic Act No. 10022 has amended Section 7 of R.A. No. 8042, to wit:
“Section 7 of Republic Act No. 8042, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows:
“SEC. 7. Penalties. –
“(a) Any person found guilty of illegal recruitment shall suffer the penalty of imprisonment of not less than twelve (12) years and one (1) day but not more than twenty (20) years and a fine of not less than One million pesos (P1,000,000.00) nor more than Two million pesos (P2,000,000.00).
“(b) The penalty of life imprisonment and a fine of not less than Two million pesos (P2,000,000.00) nor more than Five million pesos (P5,000,000.00) shall be imposed if illegal recruitment constitutes economic sabotage as defined therein.
“Provided, however, That the maximum penalty shall be imposed if the person illegally recruited is less than eighteen (18) years of age or committed by a non-licensee or non-holder of authority.
“(c) Any person found guilty of any of the prohibited acts shall suffer the penalty of imprisonment of not less than six (6) years and one (1) day but not more than twelve (12) years and a fine of not less than Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000.00) nor more than One million pesos (P1,000,000.00).
“If the offender is an alien, he or she shall, in addition to the penalties herein prescribed, be deported without further proceedings.
“In every case, conviction shall cause and carry the automatic revocation of the license or registration of the recruitment/manning agency, lending institutions, training school or medical clinic.” (Section 6, R.A. No. 10022)
Read also:
How is illegal recruitment committed?
What are the prohibited practices in conducting recruitment for overseas employment?
Alburo Alburo and Associates Law Offices specializes in business law and labor law consulting. For inquiries regarding taxation and taxpayer’s remedies, you may reach us at info@alburolaw.com, or dial us at (02)7745-4391/0917-5772207.
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