24 July 2024, Seoul - The Philippine Embassy in Seoul, through the Migrant Workers Office (MWO) - Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), held a Korea Labor Laws Seminar for OFWs on 20 July 2024, Saturday, via an online format.

The activity is part of the Embassy's year-round labor education for OFWs in Korea that aims to continuously inform and empower them for productive employment in the host country. For this particular session, the webinar focused on the most frequently-asked-questions about wages and overtime payment, hours of work, leave, resignation and termination, and industrial accident compensation.

The webinar had more than 100 registered participants and was additionally viewed via live stream.

In her opening message, Ambassador Theresa Dizon-De Vega underscored the importance of OFWs having the correct understanding of their rights and obligations from official sources to ensure their protection as well as their productive stay in the host country. "The immigration and labor regulations in South Korea is very dynamic. Because of this the Embassy is committed to promote what we call an eco-system of empowerment among our Filipino community in Korea by conducting regular and responsive information sessions, townhalls, skills training, and various workers education activities, in cooperation with our institutional and FilCom partners." She conveyed her appreciation to the Itaewon Global Village Center (IGVC) headed by Director Katherine Corteza for its continued support to the Embassy's activities.

Labor Attorney Suehee Kim, a labor law consultant, presented the Korean labor laws and provided specific cases to illustrate clearly how regulations apply to foreign workers. The participants, majority of whom were first time attendees, actively participated in the open forum that followed the presentation.

The webinar was co-moderated by Labor Attache Ma. Celeste Valderrama and Director Katherine Corteza.

The Filipino community is enjoined to watch out for Embassy announcements and join upcoming seminars and activities for the rest of the year. - END -