RP lifts ban on deployment of au pairs in Europe

The country’s overseas employment authority has lifted the 13-year ban on the recruitment and deployment of au pairs (domestic assistants) to selected European countries. The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) lifted the ban after its governing board issued guidelines for the recruitment and protection of au pairs, the agency announced in a release posted on its site on Oct. 27. In 1997, the Department of Foreign Affairs banned the deployment of Filipino au pairs to Europe, following a surge in cases of unfair compensation, excessive working hours, discrimination, sexual assault and other forms of maltreatment. An au pair is a domestic assistant working for a host family for a fixed number of hours, and in a manner where he or she is supposed to be treated as part of the family. The title comes from a French word which means “on par" or “equal to," to denote “living on an equal basis in a reciprocal, caring relationship with the host family and the children," the POEA said. An au pair should thus not be treated as a servant, and should only take on light tasks, such as bringing the children to and from school, cooking, cleaning and babysitting. POEA administrator Jennifer Manalili said the governing board has issued three separate resolutions allowing the deployment of au pairs to Switzerland, Norway and Denmark, after these countries guaranteed protection for them and agreed to observe the deployment requirements set by the Philippine government. Under the guidelines, a Filipino au pair should be between 18 and 30 years old, unmarried and without any children, and should placed under a cultural exchange agreement with the host family for a maximum stay of two years, during which the worker shall undergo cultural and language training. The au pair should also be enrolled in a school to learn the language of the host country, should live with the host family and be treated on an equal basis with other family members. “The Filipino au pair should be given pocket money, and should share in child care or light household chores and other responsibilities previously agreed upon in a contract between the au pair and the host family," Manalili stressed. Employers are also obliged to pay the cost of hiring a Filipino au pair, which includes visa fees, airfare, POEA processing fees, contribution for membership to the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, and the costs of training, if such training is required by the employer. For their part, au pairs are required to pay for their passports, NBI clearances, birth certificates, medical tests, Philhealth insurance, and other personal documents. Manalili said the deployment of au pairs to Switzerland should only be through recruitment entities authorized by the Swiss Federal Office of Migration. Filipino au pairs bound for Norway and Denmark will meanwhile be documented by the POEA as name hires, or overseas workers, who did not go through agencies.—DM/JV, GMANews.TV