POEA Issues Guidelines on Issuance of OFWs’ Unemployment Insurance Certification

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has recently issued a set of guidelines governing the process of issuance of certification for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who lost their job and wish to apply for unemployment benefits under the Social Security System (SSS).

According to POEA Memorandum Circular No. 24, Series of 2020, qualified OFWs may file their application for unemployment certification at the POEA Central Office and at any POEA office and One-Stop Service Center for OFWs (OSSCO) in the province.

Unemployment insurance benefits

Image: Facebook/Department of Labor and Employment-DOLE 

“The POEA Welfare and Employment Office will also serve as the central coordinating, monitoring, and supervising unit for the issuance of the certification,” the POEA said.

Conditions of the grant

The agency added that an OFW must not be over 60 years old and has paid at least 36 months of contributions to SSS to qualify for the grant.

Applicants must bring one valid identification card and a copy of the notice of termination issued by his or her employer. In place of the notice of termination, the displaced OFW may submit a duly notarized affidavit of termination of employment.

Furthermore, the OFW must have been involuntarily separated due to economic downturn, natural or human-induced calamities or disasters, and authorized causes of termination due to installation of labor-saving devices, redundancy, retrenchment, and closure of operations and other analogous cases, as determined by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

The said certificate is one of requirements if a qualified OFW wishes to apply for an involuntary separation benefit.

Application forms are available for download at the POEA website.

Unemployment insurance benefits

Image: Facebook/Department of Labor and Employment-DOLE

The said guidelines are in line with DOLE Circular No.01, Series of 2019 and the Social Security Act of 2018.

As soon as the POEA certification has been issued, the OFW may proceed to the SSS office for the filing of the application of the unemployment insurance or involuntary separation benefit.