The Philippines and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have signed a bilateral labor agreement to allow the deployment of household service workers there again at the end of March.
It will be recalled that in 2014, the Philippines suspended the sending of household service workers to the UAE due to the lack of an agreement for the protection of OFWs.
But because it is legal in the UAE to convert a tourist visa to a work visa, illegal recruiters have taken advantage of it.
“Ito kasing mga umaalis na tourist syempre wala kang dokumento, sinasamantala ka eh, wala kang laban diyan, wala ka ngang proteksyon diyan… Unpaid salaries, overworked, hindi tama sa oras, not on time ang sahod,” said Madolyn Uanang, president of the Philippine Association of Manpower Agencies for the United Arab Emirates.
As a result, 80 percent of the more than 600,000 OFWs in the UAE are undocumented, according to Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello.
But after a 2 -day meeting, the UAE and the Philippines agreed to end this system.
“From now on nangangako sila na kapag ‘yung isang worker ay pumasok dun bilang tourists, hindi nila papalitan from tourist to working visa without approval of our labor attaché,” said Bello.
After 7 years, the UAE has also agreed to a unified employment contract that lays down certain conditions to ensure proper treatment of Filipino household service workers.
Conditions under the unified employment contract of household service workers
- The right of the domestic worker to take at least eight (8) 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 (1) full day 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;
- 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; and
- Allowing the domestic worker to cook her or his own food.
Although not part of the negotiations, the meeting of Philippine and UAE representatives also mentioned the vaccination against COVID-19 of OFWs to be deployed.