PHILIPPINE HIRING GUIDELINES

There are strict rules and guidelines in hiring Filipinos for overseas employment. Our government’s implementing administrative body which carries out these rules is the PHILPPINE OVERSEAS EMPLOYMENT ADMINISTRATION or POEA. Regulation requires that any recruitment activity in Philippines intended for overseas employment must pass through the “approval” of the POEA. Without its approval, any overseas recruitment here in Philippines shall be illegal. To explain the legalities will be a lengthy process. Our effort to educate prospecting employers will be concentrated in the legalities required in hiring through a POEA-licensed Philippine Recruitment Agency.

To begin with, an “approval” from POEA requires a “JOB ORDER DULY VERIFIED AND ACCREDITED”. This requires a 3-steps process:

STEP 1 Job Order Preparation – This is a standard set of documents comprising of the following:

  1. Special Power of Attorney or SPA – This document gives the Philippine Recruitment Agency like our company the AUTHORITY to recruit in behalf of the overseas Employer. In other words, the Employers gives our company the power of attorney to act / recruit to make recruitment of the manpower the employer needs to hire from Philippines.
  2. Manpower Request – Used synonymously with the terms Job Order and Demand Letter, this document summarizes among other things, the positions, quantity required, qualification, salary offer, and employment terms and conditions proposed by the Employer.
  3. Recruitment Agreement – Used synonymously with the term Memorandum of Agreement, this document stipulates the working terms and conditions between the Employer and The Philippine Recruitment Agency.
  4. Standard Employment Contract – This is the Employment Contract that stipulates all terms and conditions including but not limited to salary, overtime-pay, medical and health insurance, vacation leaves among other things.
    1. Photocopy of the Employer’s Passport.
    2. Certified true copy of Business License of the employing Company.
    3. POEA License of the appointed Philippine Recruitment Agency.
STEP 2 JOB ORDER VERIFICATION – This process entails the employer to hand carry all the job order mentioned in the above and present them to the Philippine Overseas Labor Office, POLO, care of our resident Labor Attaché, nearest to the Employer’s intended job site. In the absence of a POLO office or a Labor Attaché, please contact the Philippine Consulate office nearest the intended job site. Or you may call us for advice and we shall check this for you. In this process, our Labor Attaché shall make “verification” of the terms and conditions of the intended job hiring and the stipulations therein to ensure that employer’s employment terms and conditions are in accordance with POEA rules and regulation. Once approved, your job order is considered ‘VERIFIED”.

STEP 3 JOB ORDER ACCREDITATION – Once verified by our Labor Attaché, the last thing the employer needs to do is to send the “Verified Job Order” to our company through courier services like FedEx or DHL. Upon receipt, we shall send this to POEA for ACCREDITATION. Once accredited, your JOB ORDER shall become registered with POEA and all formal recruitment activities and eventual deployment of selected candidates may from this point on carried out.

THINGS EMPLOYER NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HIRING IN THE PHILIPPINES
  1. HIRING IN THE PHILIPPINES IS SIMPLE AND YET MANY EMPLOYERS THINK IT’S COMPLICATED, PRIMARILY BECAUSE OF LACK OF KNOWLEDGE IN THE HIRING GUIDELINES OUR GOVERNMENT REQUIRE SPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO DOCUMENT PREPARATION.
  2. For a Licenced Philipine Recruitment Agency, most employers do not know that we undertake to assume the Employer’s responsibilies and even financial obligation as part of our requirement to get a License. Any maltreatment, non-payment of salary, switching of employment contracts, among other things that is in violation of the employee’s Standard Employment Contract shall also be considered a violation on the part of your appointed recruitment agent in Philippines. To avoid any such problems, the guide is simple, REVIEW YOUR CONTRACTS AND AGREEMENTS WITH US AND THE EMPLOYEE AND FOLLOW ALL STIPULATED TERMS AND CONDITIONS. Any deviation on the agreed stipulation may translate into a violation. Should any changes be necessary, please contact us and we shall provide you the answers you require to ensure no violation will be committed.
  3. Job Order verification and accreditation is a very important requirement to get Filipinos to work legally in your company. Any recruitment activity intended for overseas placement without going through this process is highly illegal and at times may involve criminal offenses. Any attempt to shortcut the process is also highly risky.
  4. Always check the background of your chosen Philippine Recruitment Agency to ensure your recruitment project will be carried out in the terms and result you expected. Our company exist to make sure overseas Employers get what they came for without wasting time, money and effort.
  5. Our business is in the export of Filipino manpower and we believe in the rights of workers to be treated with respect and dignity.