THE Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Hong Kong yesterday advised overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who were terminated after they were infected with coronavirus disease (COVID-19), to file complaints against their employers. In a televised public briefing, Labor Attaché Melchor Dizon asked the sacked workers, or those with knowledge of such incidents, to hold their foreign employers accountable.
“We are calling on our countrymen, who were terminated because of COVID-19, to inform our office. We guarantee that we will assist them in filing complaints against their employers,” said Dizon. “We are also trying to establish contact with workers, who were reportedly terminated after getting sick with COVID-19,” said Dizon. The labor official noted how the first three cases they have handled have been resolved between the OFW and their respective employers.
“As of now, we have yet to file any cases. The three cases brought to us, they were reconsidered,” he said. If employers are proven to have violated labor laws of Hong Kong, Dizon said they face possible fines of HK$100,000 or about P650,000 for illegal dismissal. “As to our part, our jurisdiction, we can blacklist the employers,” said Dizon.
There have been earlier reports of OFWs in Hong Kong being terminated by their employers after they were hit with COVID-19.
