A LOCAL shipping company that employed 32 Filipinos, who have since been expatriated, was blacklisted by their government.
Employment Minister Agni Deo Singh confirmed this while explaining why the workers returned to the Philippines earlier this month.
“We were alerted about those 32 workers and their employer, and my senior staff met with the honorary consulate here, Dr (Virgilio) de Asa, and then it was made known to us the shipping company had actually been blacklisted for some reason by the Filipino authorities,” said Mr Singh.
“In other words, they are not allowed to source workers from the Philippines.
“So for that reason, those workers who had come and had signed separate contracts here were later repatriated by their government.”
When asked if the shipping company would be investigated by the ministry, Mr Singh said the proper authority to deal with the issue was the Department of Immigration.
“Actually, the sourcing of foreign workers is handled by the Department of Immigration so they are the competent authority that can take anyone to task.
“As far as we are concerned, we look at compliance at the workplace. If there is no compliance our people will act.
“We know that those workers were actually paid before they left. Our officers worked with them to get them paid.”
He, however, added the ministry was clear on its stand with compliance of employment laws by employers hiring local and foreign workers.
“As far as we are concerned, all workers must be treated equally whether they are locals or foreigners. That is what the law says.
“Our compliance officers visited workplaces to ensure that this is followed.
“Wherever a report is received we act immediately to resolve such situations.”
