Promote Labor Standards

Monday, December 20, 2010

DOLE warns vs firms selling products to jobseekers

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz on Monday warned jobseekers against some marketing firms that exploit jobseekers by requiring them to buy their products in exchange for nonexistent jobs.

In a statement posted on the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) website, Baldoz said such firms require jobseekers to buy "training kits" and shell out money for supposed training.

"Employers should not require workers or even applicants to buy their products as this is tantamount to violation of the law," Baldoz said.

Article 112 of the Labor Code and Article 288 of the Revised Penal Code prohibit employers from obliging workers to buy merchandise and commodities from them.

Baldoz cited the recent case of a worker who filed a complaint with DOLE’s Public Assistance Complaint Unit (PACU) after being made to buy a water purifier and a training kit by a Malate-based firm as a requirement for a job that turned out to be non-existent.

Complainant Israel Garduque, 25, said the person who interviewed him when he submitted his application told him that he should first buy an appliance the firm was selling. He was also told to pay for training kits, and undergo training before he could be hired.

“I was desperate for a job that’s why I readily agreed to pay P3,500 for a water purifier and another P550 for a training kit before I underwent a two-week training for a job in which did not materialize," the DOLE statement quoted Garduque as saying.

He said he stopped training with the marketing firm when he sensed that the jobs promised to applicants were non-existent. He wanted a refund of the money that the marketing firm allegedly fleeced from him.

“Garduque’s case is still being heard at the DOLE Regional Office in the National Capital Region where it was referred to by the PACU," Baldoz said. - KBK/MRT, GMANews.TV

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