Partial lifting of ban on deployment of Filipino workers to Kuwait
Following the signing of an agreement between the Philippines and Kuwait on a standard employment contract for Filipino household service workers in Kuwait, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has passed a resolution to partially lift the ban on deployment of Filipino workers to Kuwait.
Disclosing this, the Secretary of the Philippines Department of Labor and Employment, Silvestre Bello III, said the resolution by the POEA governing board means that skilled, semi-skilled and professional workers ( Kuwait Visa-18) can now be deployed to Kuwait on employment contracts, however, the ban on deployment of household service workers (Kuwait Visa-20) will still remain in force.
The new standard contract agreement reached between Kuwait and the Philippines will also prevent the Philippines embassy in Kuwait from harboring Filipino domestic helpers at its premises in future. Instead, the embassy would be obliged to report all such workers to the domestic workers’ employment department at the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM), to ensure their protection and take necessary legal measures.
Other relevant clauses in the tripartite agreement include a new clause added to the fifth article and relates to the obligations of the second party, the employer, to allow the domestic worker to own a phone and use it after working hours, provided that he/she maintains the family’s secrets and privacy in a manner consistent with public morals.
Another clause prevents the employer from assigning the domestic worker any work outside Kuwait without her consent, and if forced, the sponsor is obliged to return her to her country at his own expense. The seventh clause in the agreement also stipulates that the employer will not retain the worker’s passport and civil ID.
In addition, the minutes of the Joint Committee meeting held with the visiting Philippine delegation pledges all parties to fully comply with the standard dual and tripartite contracts and emphasizes the need for the Kuwaiti and Philippine parties not to sign contracts or other pledges other than the standard bilateral and tripartite contracts.
Staff Report
