POEA Memorandum Circular No. 4 imposed stricter documentation and processing requirements plus an approval from the Secretary of the DOLE to foreign employers who wants to hire Filipino workers directly. Under the new rule, foreign employers need to go through the screening process of labor attaché or the Philippine embassy to get the approval of the DOLE secretary. The POEA memorandum also obliges employers to present a performance bond (amounting to the workers’ 3-month salary), a repatriation bond (USD 5,000), and medical insurance. Read more