Question & AnswerQ&A (POEA GOVERNING BOARD Resolution NO. 04, S. OF 2007)
The primary legal basis is Article 18 of the Labor Code, as amended, which prohibits employers from hiring Filipino workers for overseas employment except through the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) or entities authorized by the Secretary of Labor and Employment.
The repeal signifies the end of allowance for direct hiring registration of name hires without restrictions, ensuring that such hiring aligns strictly with Article 18 of the Labor Code, restricting direct hiring to certain foreign employers.
Members of the diplomatic corps and international organizations are allowed to directly hire Filipino workers without prior approval from the Secretary of Labor and Employment.
All other foreign employers must secure approval from the Secretary of Labor and Employment before the employment contracts of workers they directly hire can be processed by POEA.
No, foreign employers who are registered or accredited with private recruitment agencies are not allowed to directly hire Filipino workers.
POEA is directed to process the employment contracts of workers directly hired by authorized foreign employers and to promulgate necessary guidelines to implement the Resolution.
'Name hired workers' refers to Filipino workers who obtained employment overseas on their own without the participation of recruitment agencies.
To ensure consistency with the requirements of Article 18 of the Labor Code and to regulate the processing of name hired workers more strictly, removing previous exemptions that allowed direct hiring without proper authorization.
The Resolution restricts direct hiring to only specified foreign employers, effectively banning direct hiring by private foreign employers without approval from the Secretary of Labor and Employment, thus abolishing the previous broader exemption.
The Secretary of Labor and Employment has the authority to approve employment contracts of directly hired Filipino overseas workers by these foreign employers.