Philippine starts deployment of maids to Japan

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino household service workers are set be sent to Japan.

Administrator Hans Cacdac of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration said they have issued the necessary implementing rules and regulations governing the hiring of Filipino household service workers in Japan.

The IRR would take effect 15 days after publication in a national daily, but deployment will start only after private recruitment agencies have completed accreditation of Japanese employers, he added.

The deployment of household service workers to Japan will be limited to Kanagawa prefecture since the program is still being pilot-tested, Cacdac said.

Under the IRR, those who will be deployed as household service workers to Japan must not be younger than 23 years and must have a minimum of one-year work experience in housekeeping services and must also have competency certification from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.

Those who will engage in daily life care must pass a Japanese-language proficiency test.

The POEA said those to be deployed to Japan are exempted from paying placement and language training fees.

Filipino household service workers to be hired in Japan shall work for a minimum of five days or a total of 35 hours per week and they shall receive pay equal to salary of their Japanese counterpart, the POEA said.

Meanwhile, the local recruitment industry urged the POEA and the Bureau of Immigration   to closely monitor the number of Filipinos leaving for Saudi Arabia and Recruitment officials alleged that quite a number of those departing for the Middle East hold tourist visas to avoid the government’s strict hiring regulations for household service workers.