POEA Age and Protection Rules for Overseas Household Workers

The POEA Governing Board affirms fundamental equality before the law of women and men and recognizes the role of women in nation-building through gender-sensitive criteria for migrant worker policies.
The POEA Governing Board recognizes overseas migrant women workers’ particular vulnerabilities and applies protection-based policy formulation and program implementation.
The POEA commits to ensuring maximum protection for overseas household workers who are vulnerable to exploitation.
The POEA directs that overseas Filipino workers should be deployed only in countries where their rights are protected, using deployment criteria tied to receiving-country guarantees.

POEA Memorandum Circular No. 20 sets a minimum age requirement for female overseas household workers of twenty one (21) years old.
Deployment under the minimum age requirement is subject to an age exception where the receiving country’s age requirement for household workers is higher.
POEA Memorandum Circular No. 20 allows a minimum employable age of eighteen (18) years old for household workers in pre-identified host countries.
The pre-identified countries where 18 years old is allowed are Hongkong, Canada, United States of America, Japan, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Sweden.

The POEA Governing Board recognizes that a receiving country’s protection and rights guarantees may exist through any of the following:
- The receiving country has existing labor and social laws protecting the rights of migrant household workers.
- The receiving country is a signatory to multilateral conventions, declarations or resolutions relating to protection of migrant household workers.
- The receiving country has concluded a bilateral agreement or arrangement with the government protecting the rights of overseas Filipino household workers.
- The receiving country is taking positive, concrete measures to protect the rights of migrant household workers.

The POEA Governing Board resolves to allow deployment of household workers with duly approved employment contracts only in countries where the rights of Filipino migrant household workers are protected.
Deployment authorization is tied to the receiving country having recognized protection guarantees and to the employment contract approval requirement.

The POEA Governing Board resolves to adopt pre-qualification requirements for foreign placement agencies and employers hiring household workers.
The POEA Governing Board resolves to continue recruitment of household workers through:
- Licensed agencies, and
- Direct hiring and name hiring, subject to POEA guidelines on accreditation and contracts processing to be formulated by POEA.
The POEA Governing Board resolves to strengthen the Household Workers Center in POEA to carry out the intents and objectives of the resolution.

POEA Memorandum Circular No. 20 takes effect immediately, based on the circular’s effectivity instruction.
The minimum age requirement operates as the governing rule for deployment of female overseas household workers, subject to the stated exceptions tied to receiving-country requirements and pre-identified countries.