Mandatory Insurance For OFWs: DOLE warns stern penalties for erring recruitment agencies

Recruitment agencies should comply with the new mandatory insurance requirements for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) or face strict penalties, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

DOLE also stressed that the new requirement should be at no-cost to the OFWs, except for the optional coverage as provided under Republic Act 10022.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said agencies caught violating this provision shall face penalties in accordance with existing rules and regulations of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).

The POEA, through administrator Jennifer Manalili, has also vowed to strictly monitor agencies that would attempt to circumvent the law, particularly the new provisions under RA 10022. Licensed recruitment and manning agencies or foreign employers shall bear the cost of the insurance coverage of workers as mandated by law.

Optional coverage, on the other hand, is for name hires, rehires (balik-manggagawa or vacationing workers) as well as workers hired through government-to-government arrangement. These workers may request their foreign employers to pay the cost of insurance or they themselves may pay the premium.

The strict implementation of the insurance provision under RA 10022 is among the reforms committed to by the DOLE under the Aquino administration. On top of the OWWA life insurance of P100,000 for natural death, P200,000 for accidental death, P100,000 for total permanent disability, and P50,000 burial benefits, the new insurance cover requires recruitment agencies to pay the premium of the following insurance coverage for OFWs: $15,000 in case of accidental death; $10,000 in case of natural death, and $7,500 in case of permanent disablement, including repatriation costs, subsistence allowance benefit, money claims, compassionate visit, medical evacuation, and medical repatriation.

The Insurance Coverage Guidelines was signed on September 8, 2010 and published in a national newspaper on Sept. 17, 2010. Hence, the insurance policy has become a mandatory requirement for processing of OFW contracts and overseas employment certificates (OECs). The certificate of cover (COC) provided by an insurance firm licensed and certified by the Insurance Commission is now required before the issuance of OECs or exit clearance of agency-hired OFWs. A certificate of entry or other proofs of insurance coverage from the manning agency shall be accepted for seafarers if the vessel is covered by protection and indemnity. The coverage must also conform to pertinent POEA rules and regulations and the POEA Standard Terms and Conditions Governing the Overseas Employment of Filipino Seafarers on Board Oceangoing Ships.

DOLE also explained that the insurance coverage shall be effective for the duration of the worker’s employment contract and shall at least cover the benefits provided for by the Omnibus Rules and Regulations Implementing R.A. 8042 as amended by R.A. 10022. ?