Illegal recruitment is the unbeatable enemy of workers who want to find their luck overseas.

Illegal recruitment is a crime and should be punishable, it is defined in the Republic Act No. 8042, Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995 Section 6 as, any act of canvassing, enlisting, contracting, transporting, utilizing, hiring, procuring workers and includes referring, contract services, promising or advertising for employment abroad, whether for profit of not, when undertaken by a non-license or non-holder of authority. Provided, that any such non-license or non-holder who, in any manner, offers of promises for a fee employment to abroad to two or more persons shall be deemed to engaged.

Even those who are licensed or holder of authority can be charge of illegal recruitment if they conduct any prohibited acts enumerated in Section 6 of RA 8042. Such as:

1. To charge or accept directly or indirectly any amount greater than that specified in the schedule of allowable fees prescribed by the Secretary or to make a worker pay the recruiter or its agents any amount greater than that actually loaned or advanced to him;

2. To furnish or publish any false notice or information or document in relation to recruitment or employment;

3. To give any false notice, testimony, information or document or commit any act or misrepresentation for the purpose of securing a license or authority under the Labor Code.

4. To induce or attempt to induce a worker already employed to quit his employment in order to offer him another unless the transfer is designed to liberate a worker from oppressive terms and conditions of employment;

5. To influence or attempt to influence any person or entity not to employ any worker who has not applied for employment through his agency;

6. To engage in the recruitment or placement of workers in jobs harmful to public health or morality or to the dignity of the Republic of the Philippines as may be prohibited by law or duly constituted authority;

7. To obstruct or attempt to obstruct inspection by the Secretary or by his/her duly authorized representative;

8. To fail to submit reports on the status of employment, placement, vacancies, remittance of foreign exchange earnings, separation from jobs, departures and such other matters or information as may be required by the Secretary under penalty of law;

9. To substitute or alter to the prejudice of the worker, employment contract approved and verified by the DOLE from the time of actual signing thereof by the parties up to and including the period of the expiration of the same without the approval of the DOLE;

10. For an officer or agent of a recruitment or placement agency to become an officer or member of the Board of any corporation engaged in travel agency or to be engaged directly or indirectly in the management of a travel agency;

11. To withhold or deny travel documents from applicant workers before departure for monetary or financial consideration other than those authorized under the Labor Code and its implementing rules and regulations;

12. To fail to actually deploy without valid reason as determined by the DOLE;

13. To fail to reimburse expenses incurred by the worker in connection with his/her documentation and processing for purposes of deployment, in cases where the deployment does not actually take place without the worker’s fault.

The POEA has programs to protect the public and eradicate illegal recruitment. Likewise, they provide free legal assistance to the victims, including but not limited to legal advice, assistance in the preparation of complaints and supporting documents, institution of criminal actions and whenever necessary, provide counseling during the preliminary investigation and hearings.