DOLE Urges Companies To Accept CTC of Pre-Employment Docs

The Department of Labor and Employment enjoins private establishments to require only certified true copy of the pre-employment documents from First Time Jobseekers.

Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III, in a Labor Advisory issued recently, put premium on the limitations of the privilege granted to First Time Jobseekers in getting pre-employment requirements from issuing government agencies free of charge.

Under the First Time Jobseekers Act or Republic Act No. 11261, First Time Jobseekers can only be issued with pre-employment documents free of charge once and that there’s only one original copy of the pre-employment document/s to be issued to them.

Labor Advisory No. 07, Series of 2020, issued by the Secretary, reiterated the limitations of the law and at the same time urged companies to consider accepting certified true copies of pre-employment requirements from First Time Jobseekers. Another consideration identified is the time of the submission of original pre-employment documents that shall only be done and required once the First Time Jobseeker is offered the job.

Covered by the First Time Jobseekers Act are governmental transactions that would include the following, namely: (1) Police clearance certificate; (2) National Bureau of Investigation clearance; (3) Barangay Clearance; (4) Medical Certificate from a public hospital, provided that fees and charges collected for laboratory tests and other medical procedures required for the grant of a medical certificate shall not be free of charge; (5) Birth Certificate; (6) Marriage Certificate; (7) Transcript of academic records issued by State Colleges and Universities; (8) Tax Identification Number (TIN); (9) Unified Multi-Purpose ID (UMID) card; and (10) Other documentary requirements issued by the government that may be required by employees from job applicants.

According to DOLE-7 Regional Director Salome O. Siaton, the limitations of the law may pose some challenges to first time job applicants since most of the establishments require submission of original copy of the pre-employment requirements even during the application process.

“Taking into account all these limitations, we now seek understanding from our partner-establishments and enjoin them to only require and accept certified true copies of needed documents from these first time applicants,” said Director Siaton.

A First Time Jobseeker is a Filipino citizen, who is actively seeking employment locally or abroad, for the first time, as certified from the barangay of which he or she is a resident for said purpose.

The DOLE, together with partner-agencies already issued Joint Memorandum Circular No. 001, Series of 2019 or the Implementing Rules and Regulations of R.A. 11261, which took effect on 25 October 2019.

Covered by the law are all government agencies and instrumentalities; government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCC); local government units (LGUs); and government hospitals.

To avail of the benefits, the jobseeker shall secure and present the barangay certification stating that he or she is a first time jobseeker and a resident of the barangay for at least six (6) months.

The validity to avail of the benefits is set for one year from the issuance of the barangay certificate.

“We will be promoting and disseminating this latest pronouncement to all our stakeholders. Most definitely, the discussion on Labor Advisory No. 7 and the IRR of the First Time Jobseekers Act shall form part of the regular learning sessions of each respective ITCs/TIPCs located in the different provinces in Central Visayas,” Director Siaton finally said.