MANILA – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) approved the partial lifting of government’s deployment ban in Kuwait following a meeting between the Philippine labor delegation and Kuwaiti officials.
DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello III said Thursday the partial ban allows Filipino workers classified under the skilled, semi-skilled, and professional categories can now go back to their Kuwaiti employers.
However, those newly-hired and “balik-manggagawa” household workers will still not be allowed to enter Kuwait as part of the partial ban.
The partial lifting of the Philippine deployment ban in Kuwait came after the Philippines and Kuwait sealed a deal on the proposed standard employment contract for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the Gulf State.
The template contract for OFWs is contained under a provision of a 2018 labor deal between the two countries, an agreement crafted to protect the welfare of Filipino workers in Kuwait.
Both parties reached an agreement earlier this month after threshing out earlier disagreements on certain rules in the provision.
Bello said that the standard contract contains regulations endorsed by President Rodrigo Duterte – including allowing Filipinos to keep their passports and cellphones, setting one day off with pay, as well as designating working and sleeping hours for the OFWs.
The Philippines imposed a total deployment ban to Kuwait in January, following the death of Jeanelyn Villavende, a household worker reportedly killed by her Kuwaiti employer./PN
