Short answer. Private employment agencies may recruit and place workers — both locally and abroad — only under the guidelines, rules, and regulations issued by the Secretary of Labor. The Labor Code authorizes private sector participation but subjects it to DOLE oversight as the condition for lawful operation.
What the law says
the private employment sector shall participate in the recruitment and placement of workers, locally and overseas, under such guidelines, rules and regulations as may be issued by the Secretary of Labor
Labor Code, Article 25 — Private Sector May Recruit. Read the full provision →
What Article 25 authorizes
Article 25 of the Labor Code opens the door to private sector involvement in recruitment — something the preceding article generally restricts to public employment offices. The authorization is genuine: private employment agencies are invited into the system, both for local placements and for overseas work. But the door opens on a condition: participation must occur under the guidelines, rules, and regulations issued by the Secretary of Labor. An agency that recruits or places workers outside those rules is not simply bending a technicality — it is operating without the authorization the law requires.
Why DOLE issues the rules, not Congress
The Labor Code delegates rulemaking power to the Secretary of Labor, which means the specific licensing requirements, capitalization rules, accreditation processes, and conduct standards for private agencies are set by DOLE issuances rather than written directly into the Code itself. This allows the rules to be updated as the labor market changes without requiring legislation. What Article 25 fixes is the framework: private sector participation is allowed, but it must be regulated, and DOLE is the regulator.
Local and overseas recruitment are both covered
The article explicitly names both local and overseas placements. This is significant because overseas recruitment carries its own additional regulatory layer — agencies placing workers abroad must comply not only with DOLE rules under Article 25 but also with separate requirements governing overseas employment. The distinction matters in practice: an agency licensed only for local placement cannot use that license to deploy workers abroad.
What this means for workers dealing with a private agency
If you are a worker being recruited by a private agency, you have the right to ask for proof that the agency is duly authorized under DOLE rules. An agency that cannot produce that proof — or that is evasive about it — is a warning sign. The authorization requirement exists precisely to give workers a legitimate, traceable party to hold accountable if something goes wrong with the recruitment or placement. Unauthorized recruitment does not merely expose the agency to penalties — it also raises serious questions about the validity of the employment arrangement and the collectibility of any fees already paid.