KHOBAR: Strict verification of employment documents, such as the condition of work contracts and salary rates, submitted by local recruitment companies to the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in the Eastern Province, ensures better protection for Filipino workers scheduled for deployment in the Kingdom, according to Philippine labor attaché David Des T. Dicang. The verification of job contracts also includes inspections by POLO officials of the actual worksites, where the workers will be working, and the conditions of the accommodation to determine if these facilities are up to standards. “The best front line protection for our workers before their deployment in the Kingdom is the verification of their employment contracts submitted by recruitment companies for our approval and authentication,” Dicang said in his report covering the first quarter of 2011. He said that by verifying the employment documents before they are finalized and send to Manila, workers contracted in jobs are given protection against the possible malpractices of employers, including contract substitution. According to Dicang, the best evidence to confirm the stipulated and actual provision of the work contract agreement between the employers and Filipino workers is the verified and authenticated contract approved by POLO. During the first quarter of the current year, POLO in the Eastern Region verified a total of 6,072 documents. The verified documents included 2,328 employment contracts. The other verified documents were manpower requests, special powers of attorney, commercial registrations and licenses, insurance policies of workers, recruitment agreements, revocation letters, and affidavits of undertaking. According to the report, the total number of workers involved in the verification of documents during the said period was 7,224. The report stated that medical workers, mostly nurses, topped the list of those whose documents were verified and checked by POLO. During the first three months of 2011, the number of verified documents involving medical workers was 3,031. Industrial skilled workers and household service workers, such as housemaids and family drivers, came second and third, with verified work contracts of 2,265 and 1,176, respectively. During the first quarter of this year, the Philippine labor office in the Eastern Province also conducted 135 actual inspections of the workplaces of Filipino workers in the region. In addition to the verification of employment documents, POLO in the Eastern Region provides welfare assistance to workers. On a monthly basis, it handles an average of 500 labor/employment-related cases, 100 cases for repatriation, 100 cases for the provision of temporary shelter to distressed workers, 120 non-labor cases, and about 50 other cases that include hospital visits, personal problems of workers, family relations, and the whereabouts of missing workers.
