Unified contract system to protect OFWs' rights

ABU DHABI - The adoption of a unified contract system, recognised by the UAE and Philippine governments, would plug the loophole and help protect the welfare of Filipinos desirous of joining the work force in the UAE.

By (By a staff reporter)

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Published: Sun 3 Aug 2008, 1:32 AM

Last updated: Sun 5 Apr 2015, 4:59 PM

Philippine Labour Attache Nasser Munder at the Philippine embassy in Abu Dhabi said that both the governments will find a resolution to the issue without sacrificing the interest of the UAE employers. "The missing link, as we see it, will be discussed in the forthcoming Secretarial Meeting tentatively set for October this year in Manila."

"One of the problems to be ironed out will be the contract substitution, which is getting rampant among OFWs working in the service sector," he said.

He said that under the UAE labour laws, all disputes between the employer and the employee would be negotiated and settled here in UAE. But, the Philippine labour laws recognise a Joint and Solidary Liability, where both the employer and the deploying manpower agency are held equally liable to whatever happens to the OFWs working in UAE.

"According to our labour laws, we can file cases against both the employer and the deploying manpower agency under this provision. Hence, a lot of erring manpower recruitment agencies have either lost their licence to deploy OFWs abroad or got their licence suspended. The UAE government, on the other hand, does not allow filing of cases involving UAE employers in the Philippines," he said.

Consultations between the labour officials of both countries are being carried out through the secretarial meetings, which are a product of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in April 2007. The first ministerial meeting was held in Abu Dhabi in October 2007.

The Philippine labour attache said guidelines will be further refined at the forthcoming second ministerial meeting in order to give more teeth to the MoU.

lily@khaleejtimes.com


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