By The SUN
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| Dizon (left, with Villafuerte) met with agencies over the training fee issue |
Hong Kong employment agency operators who met with Labor Attaché
Melchor Dizon on Tuesday afternoon were told paid training should be voluntary
on the part of Filipino domestic workers, according to an industry leader.
The representatives sought the meeting with Labatt Dizon after
he said in a recent meeting with Filipino community leaders that Philippine
agencies should not charge overseas Filipino workers training fees.
The statement reflected an opinion expressed by Administrator Bernard
Olalia of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration in July this year
that agencies which require Hong Kong-bound domestic helpers to undergo
training are breaking the law.
If accurately reported, Dizon’s assurance to the
agencies was a climbdown from his earlier firm stance on the issue because in reality,
it is the agency that chooses the training center and compels the worker to
enlist there, on pain of not being deployed abroad.
Thomas Chan, president of the Hong Kong Union of Employment
Agencies, said he and leaders of 10 other groups in the industry attended the
one-and-a-half-hour meeting at the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in United
Centre, Admiralty.
The meeting was attended by Dizon’s two deputies, Angelica Sunga
and Tony Villafuerte.
“Of course, before clarification with Labatt, agencies in Hong
Kong worried as much as their Philippine partners” about Dizon’s statement,
Chan said.
“However, it is clearer now because we were told and [it was]
confirmed that not all … training with payment are illegal activity,” Chan
said.
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Chan says agencies were assured not all paid training are illegal
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What is unclear, though, is how agencies can prove that overseas
Filipino workers voluntarily agreed to the training, or conversely, for the
worker to disprove such a claim.
According to the 2016 Rules of the Philippine Overseas
Employment Administration which Administrator Olalia emphasized in a recent letter
to Fred Palmiery, head of an agency group in the Philippines, recruiters cannot
by law compel OFWs to undergo training.
If the employer wants to require the worker to undergo training,
then the employer or the agency must pay for it, Olalia said.
He further said that OFWs do not have to enroll in any training
course as domestic work is not a specialized skill that one has to be trained
for. All that is required is for the worker to pass a skills assessment by Tesda
(Technical Education and Skills Development Authority) and get an NCII
certificate.
If the worker is not confident about passing the skills
assessment, he or she can opt to go for training, Olalia said. But that decision,
as well as the choice of the training center, should be made by the worker.
Olalia also very clearly warned agencies that they will be
violating the law if they compelled OFWs who are in possession of valid NCIIs
to undergo training again before being re-deployed.
Chan said it emerged in the discussions that although training
is not compulsory in overseas job application, it is allowed if workers choose
to attend such course willingly to improve their skills and boost their
confidence to do their domestic duties in Hong Kong.
“The key point of the dispute between the workers and training
centers is the voluntary basis. If the workers opt for it voluntarily, then it
is fine. If they are forced to do it with evidence, they can complain, of
course,” Chan said.
He said, in his opinion, not all agencies are involved in
illegal training and that the final definition of the activity depends on
evidence and investigation. “We don’t jump into conclusion that all agencies
are making money by collecting illegal fees,” he said.
As for the general impression that agencies in the Philippines
misinterpreted the POEA rules to make money out of compulsory training, Chan
said, “I don’t deny some of them might be involved in this way. However, I
believe the Philippines is a country with rule of law. If there’s solid
evidence, they will be punished by law.”
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Some of the OFWs who claim they were charged illegal training fees
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Since Labatt Dizon told Filcom leaders that agencies should not
require workers to undergo training and that the workers who paid for such
training could file for a refund, the industry has been evidently alarmed.
Last Sunday, an initial group of about 30 workers went to POLO
to apply for a refund and many more said they would follow suit in the days
ahead.
Chan said Dizon told the agency owners about the claims that the
workers had filed.
The HKUEA head said both agencies in Hong Kong and the
Philippines are worried about the impact of a wave of refund claims.
“Since February this year, Philippine agencies, because of the
pandemic situation, nearly collapsed due to the suspension of business and
deployment. If the refund becomes popular activity, then we [fear] lots of them
might close. If there’s large-scale closure, workers in the Philippines will
lack the channel to go overseas, not only to Hong Kong, but other parts of the
world as well,” Chan said.
He said if all agencies collapse, people who need a job will
suffer as well, along with their families.
“An agency is also playing a social function while earning
money. Don’t treat all agencies as devils, hahaha!” he said in jest.
Left unsaid is that in the past, direct hiring (or without
agency intervention) had worked well for Hong Kong-bound Filipino workers, and
should be revisited if agencies are found to skirt well-enunciated government
policy.
