The Philippines was second place in the 2013 Best Practice Excellence Award for Excellent Record in the implementation of South Korea’s Employment Permit System (EPS). With the award, the Philippines, along with other winners Nepal, Sri Lanka, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, and Vietnam, will get a higher labor quota to South Korea this year.
The award affirms the Philippines’ performance in deployment of skilled overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), as it has consistently fulfilled its obligation under the EPS, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said. EPS is a quota hiring arrangement by South Korea for migrant workers who are hired directly from 15 labor-sending countries.
The EPS was forged between DOLE and Korean Ministry of Employment and Labor in 2004 to regulate the employment of skilled OFWs in South Korea. Philippine best practices cited by South Korea were sustained, transparent EPS dissemination, including advisories in POEA website; comprehensive education, including orientation for EPS applicants during job fairs and registration, pre-employment briefing, pre-departure orientation, post-arrival orientations in South Korea, and a labor education program by Philippine Overseas Labor Office; transparency in all stage of hiring; regulations based on the Code of Discipline for OFWs; and reintegration support for voluntary returnees.
South Korea’s annual quota for foreign workers under the EPS takes into consideration labor market trends, level of labor shortages, economic condition, and rate of undocumented workers. The government implements strict monitoring to ensure that Filipino workers under the EPS return at the end of their contracts. Returning EPS workers get extended work contracts of four years and 10 months if they stay with their South Korean employers all throughout the duration of their contracts. There are today 25,951 OFWs in South Korea, of which 13,818 are under the EPS.
We congratulate the Department of Labor and Employment headed by Secretary Rosalinda D. Baldoz, Korean Ministry of Employment and Labor Minister Phang Hanam, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration Administrator Hans Leo J. Cacdac, Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Seoul Labor Attaché Felicitas Q. Bay, and Korean Human Resource Development Director General Kim See Tae, for their partnership and cooperative measures that promote the welfare and protection of our Filipino workers as well as strengthen the long-standing labor relations between South Korea and Republic of the Philippines.

Source: Manila Bulletin - January 28, 2014