Filipino domestic workers who plan to work in Saudi, please be advised that there is a temporary ban on deployment to the Kingdom. This is in the aftermath of a former Saudi general’s actions against Filipinos.
Also Read: Directory: POLO-OWWA Offices
According to a report by Philippine News Agency on November 26, 2021, The Philippines has temporarily halted the authentication and deployment of new household service workers (HSWs) destined for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).
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Employment of New Domestic Helpers Suspended in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) announced on Facebook that it would follow Secretary Bello’s order to shut down the processing of documents for newly hired HSWs from the Philippines at POLOs in Saudi Arabia until new rules are established.
This was an urgent memorandum signed by the DOLE Secretary and it was addressed to Saudi Labor Attaches Fidel Macauyag, Roel Martin, POLO-Jeddah, POLO- Riyadh; Hector Cruz Jr., and POLO-Al Khobar.
“In the interest of the service, you are hereby instructed to temporarily suspend the verification of new hires domestic workers effective immediately pending the issuance of the new guidelines by the POEA,” the directive issued on November 25 said. “As such, a new order shall be issued for the resumption of the processing of documents once the new guidelines have been finalized and fully implemented.”
Urgent Advisory to POLO Offices in Saudi
The urgent advisory was addressed to the Philippine Overseas Labor Offices in KSA. Here is the post as shared on POLO-Riyadh regarding the temporary ban:
POEA and POLO to Verify New Rules for Saudi Employment of Workers
POEA and POLO will issue the verification rules. The memorandum does not cover HSWs with renewed contracts and the hiring of skilled workers.
“POEA and POLO need to come out with a new set of verification guidelines to prevent the abuse committed by Gen. Ayed (Thawah Al Jealid ) in KSA. Gen. Ayed was able to circumvent POLO and POEA rules on verification by placing in the employment contract a pseudo KSA employer when in fact he was the real employer,” DOLE Secretary Bello said in a statement on Saturday.
To prevent a similar scenario from occurring, in which the HSW would be given to someone on the blacklist, the new verification standards stipulate that the house address of the employer in KSA must be stated in the employment contract.
Under the new verification standards, not only the employer but also the workplace address are blacklisted.