PHILIPPINES AND SWITZERLAND SIGN GUIDELINES ON TRAINEE EXCHANGE
The Department of Labor and Employment and the government of Switzerland signed on 13 November 2014 the Guidelines on the documentation and deployment of Filipino trainees in Switzerland, which fully operationalizes the Philippine-Swiss Agreement on Exchange of Professional and Technical Trainees signed in Manila in July 2002.
The Guidelines were jointly signed by Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz on behalf of the Philippines and Swiss Ambassador to the Philippines Ivo Sieber on behalf of Switzerland.
Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz (right) and Swiss Ambassador to the Philippines Ivo Sieber (left) shake hands upon the signing of the Guidelines
on the documentation and deployment of Filipino trainees in Switzerland, with officials of DOLE-POEA and the Swiss Embassy
In her remarks during the signing ceremony, Secretary Baldoz thanked the Philippine Embassy in Berne, under the leadership of Ambassador Leslie Baja, for its valuable assistance in coordinating the crafting of the Guidelines.
The newly-signed Guidelines enhance the migration and human resource development cooperation between the Philippines and Switzerland. “These guidelines will certainly boost the chances of our workers of gainfully learning and experiencing our respective cultures and work ethics and discipline,” said Secretary Baldoz.
Secretary Baldoz thanks Ambassador Leslie Baja and the Philippine Embassy in Berne
for contributing to the finalization of the Guidelines.
Filipino Trainees to Switzerland
Under the Guidelines, Filipinos who are 18 to 35 years of age, have completed secondary or tertiary education, and desire to train and work in Switzerland, are eligible to apply under the trainee exchange program once they have found a suitable Swiss employer.
The employment arrangement between the Filipino trainee and the Swiss employer will involve a signed prescribed standard employment contract, which should include the following provisions: (a) type of employment; (b) 18-month employment duration; (c) salary, trial period, and period of notice; (d) working hours and holiday entitlement; (e) health and accident insurance; and (f) information who is to shoulder the trainee’s travel expenses.
The employment contract is subject to the review and approval of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA). Once approved, the POEA will issue the exit clearance for the Filipino trainee’s departure.
The Swiss Embassy in Manila will likewise issue the visa to Filipino trainees after their documents have been approved and endorsed by the Swiss Federal Office for Migration (FOM).
The FOM, in this regard, is tasked to notify the POEA of its approved visa applications and will provide the POEA a copy of the FOM-stamped employment contract between the Swiss employer and the Filipino worker trainee.
Swiss Trainees to the Philippines
On the other hand, under the Guidelines, Swiss trainees to Philippines shall be formally endorsed by the Swiss FOM to the DOLE-National Capital Region for the issuance of the Swiss trainee’s Alien Employment Permit (AEP).
Only the DOLE-NCR will process the AEP application of the Swiss trainee even if the Swiss trainees’ work is not in the NCR.
The Swiss trainees will then be issued a temporary visitor’s visa by either the Philippine Embassy in Berne or the Consulate General in Geneva both in Switzerland.
If the Swiss trainee will practice a regulated profession while in the Philippines, he or she must also have a special temporary permit issued by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC).
Philippines-Switzerland Trainee Agreement
The Philippines is the only country in Southeast Asia with which the Swiss government has signed a bilateral traineeship agreement.
The trainee agreement gives qualified young professionals of the Philippines and Switzerland the opportunity to work in gainful occupation for up to 18 months, receive remuneration due them and enrich the exchange of the rich culture and heritage of our respective countries and peoples.
In its 2013 Migration Report, the Swiss FOM reported that out of a total of 118 permits issued to foreign nationals for traineeship in Switzerland, the Philippines accounted for 25% of the total foreign young trainees under the program.
Since the signing of the Philippine-Swiss Agreement in 2002, more than 50 Filipino trainees have gone to Switzerland and to be trained mainly in pharmaceutical, chemical, finance and health care sectors.
Many of the Filipino trainees have found employment as nurses and professionals in pharmaceutical and financial firms in Switzerland.
Secretary Baldoz said that none of the Filipino trainees in Switzerland had been heard complaining about their work situations, indicating that Switzerland is a country that advocates for, and applies the principle of fair, ethical, secured and safe migration.
