Listing and identification of erring overseas job recruiters of migrant workers is now as easy as clicking a button after the International Labor Organization (ILO) held the international launch this week of its new Web-based rating system for recruitment agencies.
The ILO partnered with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) in developing its Recruitment Advisor web site (https://www.recruitmentadvisor.org/ituc/PH), where migrant workers from Nepal, the Philippines and Indonesia could rate the performance of their recruitment agencies in their country of origin and destination.
The ILO said the web site also aims to inform migrant workers on their basic rights against abusive employers.
“Ultimately the system will promote recruiters who follow a fair recruitment process, based on the ILO’s General Principles and Operational Guidelines for Fair Recruitment,” the ILO said in a news statement.
In the Philippines ITUC tapped its local affiliate group Public Services Labor Independent Confederation (PSLINK) to help in adopting the web site for local use, as well as get the initial users for its pilot test.
“The users will be asked to answer formulated questions based on the ILO Fair Recruitment Principles and Guidelines. It has a comment section where they could write their thoughts/experiences, but it is not required,” PSLINK Advocacy Head Jilian Roque told the BusinessMirror in a text message.
“For now we have 1,000 reviews already from OFW [overseas Filipino workers], although not have been uploaded,” she added.
She said they are planning a local launch of the Recruitment Advisor after Labor Day to encourage more OFWs to use the web site.
Last year PSLINK announced it will be developing a mobile application version of the Recruitment Advisor to make it more accessible to its users.
The plan was temporarily shelved by PSLINK so it could focus its development of the web site.
The web site rates a recruiter based on the following criteria: recruitment fees; predeparture orientation; employment contract; conditions in the country of destination; and services for returning clients.
It makes use of star-based system, wherein recruiters with the best service are given five stars, while those with the poorest service are given one star.
The Recruitment Advisor boast of having 1,206 registered recruitment agencies for the Philippines, 1,410 in Indonesia and 753 in Nepal.
The ILO said it plans to eventually expand the coverage of the web site to other countries with large number of migrant workers.
ILO Technical Specialist Alix Nasri urged migrant workers in Nepal, the Philippines and Indonesia to utilize the web site since it will be instrumental in providing the necessary information to their fellow users.
“A critical mass of reviews is needed for the platform to be really helpful for migrants,” Nasri said.
ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow agreed with Nasri, saying it will lead to the empowerment of the migrant workers.
“It’s time to put power back into workers’ hands to rate the recruitment agencies and show whether their promises of jobs and wages are delivered,” Burrow said.