Some 10,212 workers were voluntarily regularized by 92 establishments across Central Luzon after undergoing a series of consultations and assessments by the Department of Labor and Employment.
DOLE Regional Director lawyer Ana Dione said the regional office took less than six months to achieve this scorecard in reducing illegal contractualization, “endo,” and labor-only contracting.
“We continue to rise to the challenge set by our Labor Secretary [Silvestre Bello] as part of the DoLE’s priority commitments to President Rodrigo Duterte to reduce illegal forms of work arrangements by 50 percent this year, and abolishing it entirely by next year,” Dione said.
In August, DoLE Central Luzon targeted 235 firms across the region to determine if they applied end-of-contract and LOC practices in their workplaces. The labor office wanted to reach at least 118 firms or principals for consultation by the end of the year, Dione said. The rest would be completed within the first half of 2017, she added.
“We have surpassed our target firms subjected for consultation and assessment because we have seized in every forum to intensify our information campaign, by urging establishments operating in the region to regularize their workers in consonance with our goal to stop contractualization, ‘endo,’ and LOC in all forms,” Dione explained.
DoLE Regional Office 3 also trained and dispatched its labor laws compliance officers and its technical inspectors on how to determine these illegal work arrangements, and how they could help firms voluntarily comply with not only general labor standards and occupational safety and health standards, but adopt allowable employment arrangements and thereafter regularizing workers.
Industries operating inside and outside Central Luzon’s Freeport and economic zones were covered by the Department’s consultation programs.
Of the workers regularized, 3,939 were voluntarily regularized by 54 firms upon assessment visit by the LLCOs at plant level, Dione said.
The remaining 6,580 workers were voluntarily regularized through conferences at the Technical Support and Services Division for Labor Relations and Labor Standards of the regional office.
It was also noted in Dione’s report to Bello that around 956 workers in 31 companies engaging in bilateral work arrangements, were likewise regularized.
The regional office and its field offices adopted two strategies in eliminating illegitimate work arrangements. Dione said. First, it consulted with firms of various industries and encouraged them to voluntarily regularize their workers who are under the illegal work arrangements.
Second, some 21 LLCOs assessed establishments, business owners and contractors to see which practiced prohibited working arrangements leading to illegal contractualization, ‘endo,’ and LOC.
Firms found to be engaging in labor-only contracting were subjected to mandatory conferences and were assisted in complying with GLS and OSH standards.