Kayanin never charges Workers. Eight signals, three steps, real rules.

The guide

Seven sections, in plain language.

1. 01

   Kayanin never charges Workers

   This is the boundary that defines the Worker side of Kayanin: the platform does not charge Workers for job access, applications, resume uploads, profile completion, daily-login streaks, or any other feature on the core flow.

   Kayanin is funded by Employer-side subscriptions and Agency-side subscriptions. The Worker side stays free, with no per-application fee, no per-message fee, and no per-feature paywall — and no cut of wages. Wage payment runs from Employer to Worker (or through an Agency intermediary where one is in the loop); Kayanin is not party to the payment.

   A third party on the platform who charges a Worker is a third party who has broken the rules. The full enforcement ladder is on /community-guidelines.

   Kayanin is NOT a recruitment agency. Kayanin does not place Workers into jobs. The platform scores three peers on the trust layer, then lets the peers talk.

2. 02

   The eight PH-OFW scam signals

   Most scams aimed at Filipino job-seekers share a recognisable shape. Kayanin scores every listing against these eight patterns; the same patterns are worth learning because they show up across channels — Facebook posts, Telegram messages, "agency" landing pages, and outreach from unlicensed recruiters.

   The eight are summarised here; the live form is on /scam-check.

   • GCash or padala-style "send" language near a transfer — the classic PH-OFW scam tell.
   • "Maya send" or "Maya padala" — the Maya-side mirror of the GCash transfer rule. Same intent, different rail.
   • Upfront "processing", "placement", "training", "medical", or "insurance" fee tied to the offer. Each one of these is illegal to charge to the Worker.
   • Visa fees, ticket fees, or an OWWA "send" / "transfer" / "padala" near any of the above. The fee structure is the proxy for the scam.
   • Claims of POEA / DMW authority paired with "no licence", "unlicensed", or "recruitment" wording. The contradiction is the red flag.
   • "No interview", "no experience needed", direct-hire promises — pressure past the due diligence.
   • "Limited slots", "only N left", "deadline today", "act now" — language designed to short-circuit verification.
   • "WhatsApp only", "Telegram only", "no website" — refuses a verifiable surface on the destination platform.

3. 03

   What real fees look like (and what does not)

   Under the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) rules — the successor to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) — the cost structure for outbound deployment has a well-defined shape. The Worker is not on the hook.

   • Recruitment fee — capped at one month of basic pay, and only when the recruitment is on the legitimate, documented channel. Charging this fee to the Worker is illegal.
   • Training fee — borne by the agency or the employer. Charging it to the Worker is illegal.
   • Airfare — borne by the employer for documented deployment. A Worker should never be asked to "send ticket money".
   • OWWA membership — a small fixed contribution; never a free-form "send OWWA fee" transfer.
   • Visa fees — paid through documented channels at the embassy or consulate. A Worker is never asked to "send visa money" through GCash or Maya.
   • Placement fee — an industry term borrowed by scammers; there is no legally defined "placement fee" charged to the Worker in the PH-OFW pipeline.
   • Service fee on Kayanin — only the Employer side and the Agency side pay. The Worker side pays nothing.

   If a contact asks for any of the items above via a personal GCash, a personal Maya, a "padala", or a free-hosted landing page, the contact is not operating inside the law. Stop, verify on dmw.gov.ph / poea.gov.ph, and report to the contact address below.

4. 04

   The verify-before-applying three-step checklist

   Before paying any fee or sending any ID, run the listing through the verify-before-applying funnel. The full guide is on /verify-before-applying; the summary is: read the listing for the four "ask first" signals, look the agency up on DMW / POEA, then run the listing through the Kayanin scam-check tool.

   • Step 01 — Read the listing for the four "ask first" signals (GCash / padala transfers, "processing" / "placement" / "training" fees, "no interview", off-platform-only contact).
   • Step 02 — Look the agency up on dmw.gov.ph / poea.gov.ph. Match the agency / officer name against the public licence search. A clean listing has to clear this before you send an ID or a peso.
   • Step 03 — Run the listing through /scam-check. Kayanin scores it against the eight signals above and a URL-host rule, and returns a red / yellow / green verdict with the reasons.

   Even on a green verdict, do not skip steps 01 and 02. The check covers common patterns only — the licence search is the layer that catches the rest.

5. 05

   What to do if you have already paid

   If a payment has already left your account, the next steps depend on the rail. Speed matters; bank-side dispute windows and platform-side escrow windows can close quickly.

   • GCash / Maya — file a dispute report in the app within 24 hours of the transfer. The platform-side dispute window is short, but it is the most direct path to a hold on the receiving account.
   • Bank transfer — call the issuing bank's fraud line and request a recall. Provide the transaction reference, the receiving account number, and the date / time.
   • Padala (Western Union, etc.) — contact the padala operator; recall windows are short (typically within hours) and the operator must be reached directly.
   • Report to DMW — file a complaint on dmw.gov.ph. The DMW enforcement team investigates illegal recruitment and unlicensed activity.
   • Report to the PNP — for large losses, file a complaint with the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group.
   • Tell Kayanin — send the listing URL, the contact channel, and the rail used to the contact address below. The moderation team reads every report.

   A report does not guarantee a recovery, but it increases the chance for the next person — and it puts pressure on the rail to close the receiving account.

6. 06

   Why this matters on the trust layer

   Scam patterns feed the trust score. The Worker Trust score weighs commitment & reliability, but its inputs include flag events — a reported contact, a paid fee in a review, a DMW advisory tied to a personal name. The Employer Score and the Agency Score are scored with the same weight: a posted-pay audit surfaces payout drift before a Worker ever sees the listing, and an Agency Score carries a cross-company history rollup that does not forget the old pattern.

   Kayanin does its best to keep the trust layer current. The eight-signal list on this page exists because the same shape keeps appearing — the agency that pulls the same scam in a new skin should still score a red.

7. 07

   Contact

   Scam reports, after-payment cases, and questions about fee safety go to kayanin@proton.me. The moderation team reads every message; nothing routed to that address is ignored.