Jinggoy pushes equal protection for employers under ‘Batas Kasambahay’
AFTER ten years of its implementation, Senator Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada has set his sights on further strengthening the “Batas Kasambahay,” this time providing safeguard measures to employers and their families from domestic workers with “criminal minds.”
“The enactment of Batas Kasambahay, a landmark legislation governing the rights and liabilities of both house helps and their employers, was a long and arduous one. It took years and several Congresses before it was finally passed into law,” said Estrada, principal author, and sponsor of RA (Republic Act) 10381, otherwise known as the “Domestic Workers Act.”
“While we have seen its benefits for the kasambahays, there is a need to provide equal protection to their employers given the fact that the nature and place of their work are so intimate to the latter,” he added.
In revisiting RA 10361, also called “Batas Kasambahay,” which was signed into law on January 18, 2013, Estrada introduced provisions in his Senate Bill (SB) No. 456, establishing greater responsibility and accountability on private employment agencies (PEA).
The PEAs, he said, must ensure that the domestic helper that they recruit and refer to employers have no criminal records.
Estrada said PEAs shall have the responsibility to ensure that there is sufficient information, such as bonafide residence and family background, through actual verification and supported by relevant documents, among them clearances from barangay, police, and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and birth certificates.
The senator also introduced a sub-section in Section 36 stating the liabilities of PEAs in relation to any criminal act committed by the domestic helper in the first year of employment.
Such accountability shall cease after one year from the first day of the domestic worker’s employment with the employer, he said.
“Matapos ang isang dekada ng pagpapatupad nitong Batas Kasambahay, nakita natin na kailangang paigtingin ang proteksiyon maging ng mga employer mula sa mga mapagsamantala at kawatang nagkukunwaring mamasukan na kasambahay,” said Estrada.
