First-time Jobseekers Assistance Act (Republic Act 11261)

Senator Joel Villanueva hailed the recent signing of First-time Jobseekers Assistance Act (RA 11261) which waives government fees and charges on documents needed by first-time jobseekers for their employment.

Under the law, individuals who seek employment for the first time will be able to secure identification documents and clearances issued by the government for free.

Among those covered by the newly-signed law are the following:

• police clearance
• National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) clearance
• barangay clearance
• medical certificate from a public hospital
• birth and marriage certificates
• tax identification number (TIN)
• transcript of academic records (TOR) issued by state universities and colleges
• Unified Multi-Purpose ID (UMID) card

Data shows that job applicants pay as much as P2,000 for these employment requirements notwithstanding other expenses such as additional money for transportation, food, among others.

First-time applicants will only be asked to submit a barangay certification as proof that the individual is a first-time jobseeker. The law covers not only fresh graduates but also out-of-school youth.

“All government agencies and instrumentalities, including government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs), local government units (LGUs), and government hospitals shall not collect fees or charges from a first-time jobseeker: Provided, that such fee or charge is paid in connection with the application for and the granting of licenses, proofs of identification, clearances, certificates or other documents usually required in the course of employment locally or abroad: Provided, further, that the benefit provided under this Act shall only be availed of once,” the law read.

The law creates an Inter-agency Monitoring Committee in charge of monitoring the compliance of the concerned government agencies and instrumentalities and may recommend to the proper authorities the filing of an administrative complaint against any person who refuses to comply with the provisions of the act.

The committee will be chaired by the Labor Secretary and composed of the heads of the Civil Service Commission (CSC), the departments of information and communications technology, finance, and education, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), the National Youth Commission (NYC), the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and others.

The implementing rules and regulations (IRR) shall be issued within 60 days from the effectivity of the new law.

The new law is a consolidation of Senate Bill 1629 and House Bill 172, which was passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives last February 6.