An Overseas Employment Development Board is hereby created to undertake, in cooperation with relevant entities and agencies, a systematic program for overseas employment of Filipino workers in excess of domestic needs and to protect their rights to fair and equitable employment practices. It shall have the power and duty:
1. To promote the overseas employment of Filipino workers through a comprehensive market promotion and development program;
2. To secure the best possible terms and conditions of employment of Filipino contract workers on a government-to-government basis and to ensure compliance therewith;
3. To recruit and place workers for overseas employment on a government-togovernment arrangement and in such other sectors as policy may dictate; and
4. To act as secretariat for the Board of Trustees of the Welfare and Training Fund for Overseas Workers.
Editor’s notes from DOLE (2)
The functions of the Overseas Employment Development Board (OEDB) are now being undertaken by the POEA. These, as provided for in Sec. 3 of EO No. 247, “Reorganizing the POEA and for Other Purposes,” shall refer to the POEA’s powers and functions to: (a) Regulate private sector participation in the recruitment and overseas placement of workers by setting up a licensing and registration system; (b) Formulate and implement, in coordination with appropriate entities concerned, when necessary, a system for promoting and monitoring the overseas employment of Filipino workers taking into consideration their welfare and the domestic manpower requirements; (c) Protect the rights of Filipino workers for overseas employment to fair and equitable recruitment and employment practices and ensure their welfare; (d) Exercise original and exclusive jurisdiction to hear and decide [all claims arising out of an employer-employee relationship or by virtue of any law or contract involving Filipino workers for overseas employment including the disciplinary cases [Note: Sec. 10 of R.A. No. 8042, "Migrant Workers Act of 1995," transferred the original and exclusive jurisdiction to hear and decide money claims and cases involving overseas Filipino workers to the NLRC.] and all preemployment cases which are administrative in character involving or arising out of violation or requirement laws, rules and regulations including money claims arising therefrom, or violation of the conditions for issuance of license or authority to recruit workers. All prohibited recruitment activities and practices which are penal in character as enumerated and defined under and by virtue of existing laws, shall be prosecuted in the regular courts in close coordination with the appropriate Departments and agencies concerned; (e) Maintain a registry of skills for overseas placement; (f) Recruit and place workers to service the requirements for trained and competent Filipino workers by foreign governments and their instrumentalities and such other employers as public interest may require; (g) Promote the development of skills and careful selection of Filipino workers; (h) Undertake overseas market development activities for placement of Filipino workers; (i) Secure the best terms and conditions of employment of Filipino contract workers and ensure compliance therewith; (j) Promote and protect the wellbeing of Filipino workers overseas; (k) Develop and implement programs for the effective monitoring of returning contract workers, promoting their re-training and re-employment or their smooth re-integration into the mainstream of national economy in coordination with other government agencies [Note: This was modified by Sec. 17 of R.A. No. 8042.]; (l) Institute a system for ensuring fair and speedy disposition of cases involving violation or recruitment rules and regulations
The Welfare and Training Fund for Overseas Workers organized in 1977 is now known as the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA). Under Sec. 3 of R.A. No. 10801 (2016), “An Act Governing the Operations and Administration of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration,” otherwise known as the OWWA Act, the OWWA shall exercise the following functions: (a) To protect the interest and promote the welfare of member-OFWs in all phases of overseas employment in recognition of their valuable contribution to the overall national development effort; (b) To facilitate the implementation of the provisions of the Labor Code of the Philippines (Presidential Decree No. 442, as amended) and the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995 (Republic Act No. 8042, as amended), concerning the responsibility of the government to promote the well-being of OFWs. Pursuant thereto, and in furtherance thereof, it shall provide legal assistance to member-OFWs; (c) To provide social and welfare programs and services to member-OFWs, including social assistance, education and training, cultural services, financial management, reintegration, and entrepreneurial development services; (d) To provide prompt and appropriate response to global emergencies or crisis situations affecting OFWs and their families; (e) To ensure the efficiency of collections and the viability and sustainability of the OWWA Fund through sound, judicious, and transparent investment and management policies; (f) To undertake studies and researches for the enhancement of the social, economic, and cultural well-being of member-OFWs and their families; (g) To develop, support and finance specific projects for the welfare of member-OFWs and their families; and (h) To ensure the implementation of all laws and ratified international conventions within its jurisdiction.
Text and numbering follow the Department of Labor and Employment's 2022 edition of Presidential Decree No. 442, as amended and renumbered under DOLE Department Advisory No. 01, series of 2015. Former article numbers are shown in brackets. Notes are DOLE's editorial notes. Amendments after that edition are not included. For information and research only, and not legal advice. For certified copies, refer to the Official Gazette or the issuing agency.