New PH Labor Reform Covers Overseas Recruiters
MANILA: The Philippines’ new Labor Laws Compliance System (LLCS), the landmark reform on labor inspection, has covered establishments recruiting and deploying Filipino workers abroad, both sea-based and land-based, according to a media report.
Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz was quoted as saying by Philippine Information Agency that this ‘inclusive and expansive’ system demonstrates that the administration of President Benigno S. Aquino III is resolute in its efforts to uphold the rights of overseas Filipino workers by ensuring that recruitment and manning agencies are labor laws compliant.
“In the maiden year of the full implementation of the LLCS, 958 of the 1,214 recruitment and manning agencies with valid licenses as of 31 March 2015 were subjected to assessment by our Labor Laws Compliance Officers (LLCOs),” Baldoz reportedly said, citing a report of Administrative Hans Leo J. Cacdac of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).
“Of the 958 agencies, 944 were assessed under joint assessment; 13 under compliance visit; and one under occupational safety and health standards investigation,” Baldoz added.
The labor chief reportedly said among the agencies assessed, 37 were issued with Certificates of Compliance (COC).
The LLCS is a developmental approach to labor inspection that aims to propagate a culture of voluntary compliance among establishments and workplaces, through modalities such as joint assessment, compliance visit, occupational safety and health standards investigation, technical safety inspection, and special assessment or visit of establishments, said the news portal.
In his report, Administrator Cacdac reportedly said five LLCOs from the POEA licensing branch were accredited in May 2014 to complement the number of LLCOs performing assessment on overseas recruitment agencies and covered by a General Authority issued by the Secretary.
The POEA, in cooperation with the Bureau of Working Conditions (BWC), and DOLE-NCR also conducted a series of orientations to disseminate information on the new LLCS and to familiarize land-based and sea-based agencies on the requirements and processes of the LLCS. A total of 790 agencies, 507 of them land-based and 283 sea-based, attended our LLCS briefings,” Cacdac was quoted as saying by Philippine Information Agency.