Estrada urges househelpers to enroll in schools

MANILA, Philippines - Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada urged all employers of household helpers to encourage and allow their workers to enroll in schools as this is part of their responsibilities under the newly enacted Batas Kasambahay.

Estrada, the principal author and sponsor of Republic Act 10361, said under the new law, household workers are guaranteed the right to education and training.

Estrada cites Section 9 of Article II of R.A. 10361, which states that the “employer shall afford the domestic worker the opportunity to finish basic education and may allow access to alternative learning systems and as far as practicable, higher education or technical and vocational training.”

The employer is also required to adjust the work schedule of the domestic worker to allow access to education or training without hampering the services required of them.

Estrada noted that International Labor Organization Convention 189, or the Decent Work for Domestic Workers, also calls on the member states to ensure that domestic workers are not deprived of compulsory education and opportunities to participate in further education or vocational training.

“Let us not deprive our kasambahay the opportunity to enroll in schools and acquire new knowledge and skills as a step towards a more productive, high-paying career in the future,” Estrada said.

The lawmaker also lauded the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for defining the mechanisms for the protection, rescue and rehabilitation of domestic workers in the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of Batas Kasambahay.

“Apart from ensuring the promotion of overall welfare and protection of around two million domestic workers in the country, we aim to lay out the general policies and put up systems for the immediate rescue and relief of abused kasambahay,” Estrada said.

Estrada cited the case of Bonita Baran, who was maltreated by her employer and had no clear idea where she could go for assistance and what she could do to get help.

Estrada hopes that with the release and publication of the IRR of Republic Act 10361, cases of maltreatment and abuse will be immediately and effectively responded to and given proper and just conclusion.

Rule X of the IRR states that an abused kasambahay shall be immediately rescued by a municipal or city social welfare officer in coordination with the concerned barangay officials and law enforcement personnel.

“Abuse” refers to any act or a series of acts committed by an employer or any member of his/her household against a domestic worker that results in or is likely to result in physical, sexual, psychological harm or economic abuse (e.g. withholding of wages), including threats of such acts, battery, assault, coercion, harassment or arbitrary deprivation of liberty.

Any act of abuse committed against a kasambahay may be reported to any official of the barangay where the abuse occurred, any social worker, any police officer from the Women and Children Protection Desks, or any officer of the Public Employment Service Office.

Section 5 of Rule X of the IRR states that “at all times, the rescue team shall ensure the full protection of the rights of the abused kasambahay and the accused while under its custody and control.”

Moreover, no action or suit shall be brought in any court or before any authority against any social worker, law enforcement officer or person acting in compliance with the lawful order for lawful acts done during an authorized rescue operation, investigation or prosecution of an abuse case involving a kasambahay.

Local social welfare and development offices shall also make available the following services for the abused kasambahay: temporary shelter, counseling, free legal services, medical or psychological services, livelihood and skills training, among others.

As a way of monitoring, there shall also be a registration system for kasambahay.

Section 1 of Rule IX states that every employer shall register a kasambahay under his/her employment in the barangay where his/her residence is located. The Punong Barangay, together with SSS, Pag-IBIG and PhilHealth representatives, shall also conduct a common registration of all kasambahay nationwide. A start-up registration shall be held in the city or municipal hall or plaza.

The IRR also stipulates mechanism for settlement and disposition of labor-related disputes.

Section 1 of Rule XI states that all labor-related disputes shall be filed before the DOLE field/provincial/regional offices having jurisdiction over the workplace and shall go through the 30-day mandatory conciliation.

Conciliation is an alternative dispute settlement mode. It is a non-litigious, less expensive and expeditious mechanism, which assists contending parties towards reaching their own mutually acceptable settlement to the labor dispute.

Batas Kasambahay was signed into law last January 18, 2013. The date will also be known as “Araw ng mga Kasambahay (Domestic Workers’ Day)”

The DOLE published the IRTR last May 19. The IRR will take effect 15 days after its publication. – With Christina Mendez