(Labor Standards – Agents hired without knowledge and consent of recruitment agency)
Facts: Petitioners applying for overseas employment in Doha, Qatar, with CBT/Sheik International, were assisted by a liaison officer of private respondent All Season Manpower International Services, who processed their papers and gave them travel exit passes (TEPS). After being deployed and worked for 4 months without being paid, they filed a complaint to recover their unpaid salaries and for wages covering the unexpired portion of their contracts against private respondent.
Issue: WON a recruitment agency be liable for unpaid wages and other claims of overseas workers who appear to be recruited by its agent without its knowledge and consent.
Held: No. It is true that the rules and regulations of the POEA provide that the private employment or recruitment agency is made to assume full and complete responsibility for all acts of its officials and representatives done in connection with recruitment and placement. However, where the recruitment was actually made by respondent agency’s agent in behalf of CBT/Shiek International, not the private respondent, and the name of private respondent was only used as a means to enable petitioners to be issued TEPS for travel purposes, obviously without the knowledge and consent of private respondent, the latter cannot be held liable for the claims of petitioners.
CASE EATER 