POEA insists Taiwan employers must pay for OFW quarantine

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DESPITE the risk of losing employment opportunities in Taiwan, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) is not giving in to the requirement of the host government to have overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) shoulder the required quarantine protocol expenses.

In an online press briefing, POEA Administrator Bernard Olalia said they insist that quarantine protocol expenses must be shouldered by the foreign employers or recruitment agencies of the OFWs.

“The rules and regulations of the POEA is clear regarding quarantine protocols. They should be at no cost to OFWs,” said Olalia. “Even if the host government allows charging of cost to OFWS, we will not implement this and we will enforce our own rules.”

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He said they have sent a letter to their Taiwan counterparts regarding the matter.

“We agreed on the protocols established by Taiwan except on the part where the cost should be borne by the employee,” said Olalia.

Instead of pushing for OFWs to shoulder the costs, he urged foreign employers and the recruitment sector to find alternative ways.

“They will need to propose for other ways to shoulder these expenses, but not by OFWs,” said Olalia.

Earlier, recruitment analyst Emmanuel Geslani called on the POEA to resolve its impasse with Taiwan’s Council of Labor on the new quarantine protocols on migrant workers.

Geslani said an estimated 5,000 OFWs are waiting for the go signal to be deployed to Taiwan.

 

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