THE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is requiring recruitment/manning agencies and foreign employers to provide insurance coverage to more overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) amid the continued coronavirus disease pandemic.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III announced the expansion of the compulsory insurance coverage by including rehires and direct hires through DOLE Department Order No. 228-2021.
“The pandemic has left our migrant workers vulnerable to various risks and perils. By expanding the compulsory insurance coverage, we aim to extend the protection to all OFWs, at no cost to our workers,” said Bello.
“The mandatory insurance coverage of OFWs provided for under existing laws and POEA rules and regulations shall now include rehires or ‘Balik-Manggagawa’ and direct hires,” said Bello.
According to DOLE Spokesman Rolly Francia, only newly hired OFWs were previously covered by the mandatory insurance coverage.
The Department Order states that the insurance policy shall be effective for the duration of the migrant worker’s employment contract and assures coverage in case of death, disability, repatriation, medical emergency, and litigation.
It provides for at least US$15,000 survivor’s benefit in case of accidental death; at least US$10,000 survivor’s benefit in case of natural death; and at least US$7,500 disability benefit.
In case of death, the insurance provider shall arrange and pay for the repatriation or return of the worker’s remains.
The insurance policy also covers repatriation, including transport of the worker’s personal belongings, when his/her employment is terminated by the employer without any valid cause or terminated by the employee with just cause.
It shall also provide subsistence allowance benefit of at least US$100 per month for a maximum of six months for a migrant worker, who is involved in a case or litigation, and money claims arising from the employer’s liability, which may be awarded or given to the worker in a judgment or settlement of his/her case in the National Labor Relations Commission.
The insurance policy shall also cover medical evacuation, medical repatriation, and compassionate visit by one family member of a migrant worker, who is hospitalized and confined for at least seven consecutive days.
DOLE said only reputable private insurance companies duly registered and currently accredited with the Insurance Commission are qualified to provide the insurance coverage to OFWs.
