Friday, December 08, 2006 Only 74% of Davao firms comply with minimum wage law By Grace L. Plata
ONLY 74 percent of companies in Davao Region have complied with the minimum wage mandate, said David Quirino of the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) in a press conference at the PIA office Thursday.
Quirino, along with Dole regional director Ma. Gloria Tango, promoted the celebration of Dole's anniversary and also update the public on various programs being implemented by the agency.
Quirino said based on their monitoring, only 74 percent of companies in the region with 10 to 199 employees have complied with the minimum wage law.
But he was quick to add that those who failed to comply with the wage law are companies that employed newly-hired workers who are still under probation, thus are not yet receiving minimum wage.
Quirino said companies with more than 200 and above employees are mandated to self-assess with the aid of the labor unions established by the workers.
These unions will serve as checkers whether the minimum wage have been complied with as well as other benefits that the employees deserve under the law.
National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) representative Elbert Restauro said one of the benefits also that the workers should push to avail of especially this holiday season is the 13th month pay.
Restauro said Presidential Decree 851 issued by the late President Ferdinand Marcos states that all rank and file employees are entitled to 13th month pay provided they have been in employment for at least a month. The benefit must be given to employees on or before December 23.
Restauro said it is important for employees to know their rights especially those who are not unionized in order to get full benefits from their employers.
Unionism
Tango said as of October 31 of this year, only 68,000 of the 1.6 million workers in Davao City are union members.
Most employees in Davao City are dependent on a wage increase, Tango said.
She said employees who are not organized could not exercise collective bargaining power enjoyed by unionized workers who can negotiate with management on their wage increase and for other benefits.
Dole, Tango said, advocates the organization of workers in order to protect their interests.
Tango said factors such as contractualization actually decrease the number of workers who opt to unionize because they would not stay in the job for very long. An unfortunate practice that is being done by companies as cost-cutting measures, but which place them at the losing end.
Quirino said contractualization is counter-productive because by limiting the period of employment, the company does not give any worker the chance to be the best in the field -- limiting the possibility for the company to produce the best products and services that will make them globally competitive.
In the end, it is the company who pays dearly for its cost-cutting measures.
To develop the relationship between employer and employees, DoLE has come up with the Labor Management Education Program (LMEP).
According to Tango, the present maturity of relationship between laborer and management can be attributed to these efforts.
Both laborers and companies are informed and educated on labor laws and other subjects that are important to establish inter-office relationship.
