Governing policy on placement fees
- POEA Memorandum Circular No. 03, s. 2007 implements the policy that a landbased agency is prohibited from charging and collecting any placement fee from workers to be deployed to countries where the prevailing system does not allow such charges and collections.
- The policy is premised on the rule that the employer defrays the cost of placement and recruitment services where the prevailing system so requires.
Reiterated rules under the 2002 land-based recruitment framework
- Section 3, Rule V, Part II of the 2002 Rules and Regulations Governing the Recruitment and Employment of Land-based Overseas Workers allows a recruitment agency to charge and collect from its hired workers as placement fee an amount equivalent to one month salary, exclusive of documentation costs.
- Section 3, Rule V, Part II of the 2002 Rules and Regulations also provides an exception: the one-month-salary placement fee is not allowed when the prevailing system in the country of deployment does not allow charging and collection of placement and recruitment fees.
Covered deployment to Canada
- The issuance establishes Canada rules based on laws, policies, and practices in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia.
- The issuance establishes that these provincial rules prohibit charging of recruitment and placement fees upon any person seeking employment.
- The issuance establishes that the Pilot Project of the Government of Canada for hiring foreign workers in occupations requiring a high school diploma or a maximum of 2 years of job-specific training (level C and D) requires Canadian employers to cover all recruitment costs related to hiring the foreign workers under the Project.
Absolute prohibition on agencies’ fees in identified Canada cases
- Agencies are prohibited from charging or collecting any recruitment and placement fee from workers to be deployed to Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia.
- Agencies are also prohibited from charging or collecting any recruitment and placement fee from workers deployed under the Pilot Project of the Government of Canada (level C and D).
- The prohibition for the Pilot Project applies regardless of the province of destination in Canada.
Enforcement and administrative consequence
- Any violation of POEA Memorandum Circular No. 03, s. 2007 constitutes a ground for cancellation of license under Section 2, Paragraph (c) Rule II, Part VI of the 2002 Rules.