Landbased overseas work applicants must undergo mandatory online PEOS

Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis Baldoz reiterated to overseas work applicants to undergo the mandatory online Pre-Employment Orientation Seminar (PEOS Online) required by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration.

“I enjoin all Filipino overseas work applicants to adhere to this mandatory PEOS Online policy issued by the POEA which took effect this month,” said Baldoz, adding that this comprehensive, client specific, self-instructional, and computer-based education program seeks to provide prospective overseas Filipino workers with relevant, quality, and more accessible information about overseas employment.

The labor chief underscored the importance to overseas jobseekers the realities of working abroad which will help them in making a decision on whether or not to pursue overseas employment.

The online PEOS is also designed as an anti-illegal recruitment and human trafficking strategy. It bridges the community based PEOS and the Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar for overseas work-bound Filipinos.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration has already issued Memorandum Circular No. 2, Series of 2016 requiring all Filipinos seeking overseas jobs for the first time to undergo and complete the mandatory online pre-employment orientation seminar (PEOS Online).

In his report to Secretary Baldoz, Administrator Hans Leo J. Cacdac said the online PEOS is now a pre-qualification requirement for new overseas job applicants as mandated by Section 23, Rule VI of the Omnibus Rules and Regulations Implementing Republic Act No. 8042, as amended by Republic Act No. 10022, the POEA Governing Board Resolution No. 6, Series of 2016, and the Revised Rules and Regulations Governing the Recruitment and Employment of Land-based Overseas Filipino Workers of 2016.

“The mandatory PEOS also covers newly hired workers who have no prior record of deployment in the POEA database,”Cacdac said.

The POEA administrator bared that the online PEOS was developed separately for the skilled and professional workers category and the household or domestic workers category.

“New applicants should take the PEOS Online prior to submission of his application to a licensed recruitment agency. Likewise, the recruitment agency should submit for POEA processing only documents of workers who have completed the online PEOS,” Cacdac said.

Cacdac said the online PEOS is free of charge and applicants should report to the POEA any person, entity or recruitment agency charging any fee for its use.

The PEOS Online is accessible through the website www.peos.poea.gov.ph using any personal computer, laptop, tablet or smart phone with internet connection.

Applicants without internet access may use the facilities of the POEA’s PEOS Online Hub, licensed recruitment agencies, POEA Regional Offices, Public Employment Service Offices, and POEA private partners.

Licensed recruitment agencies are also required to adhere to the full compliance and implementation of the memorandum circular by ensuring, primarily, that all their applicants have taken the mandatory PEOS online before accepting applications. They are also enjoined to offer their facilities for free for the applicants to take and complete the PEOS online.

Licensed recruitment agencies that will violate the POEA Memorandum Circular, as well as applicants who submit false information or documents, will be held liable based on the 2016 POEA rules and regulations governing the recruitment and employment of landbased workers. (DOLE)