Sunday, July 29, 2007 Senator seeks benefits for subcontracted workers
SENATE Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. is pushing for a measure that would free workers from “exploitative practices” by subcontractors or so-called indirect employers.
Pimentel has filed Senate Bill (SB) 1159 mandating indirect employers to pay all benefits that they are entitled under labor laws to employees hired through job contracts.
Workers hired by agencies through job-contracting scheme perform duties no different from those hired through job contracts.
“Many of them toil endlessly for years in a company they cannot even call their employer. Their hard work is compensated with a chopped wage, already pre-deducted by the hiring agencies. Many of them do not get their legally mandated benefits. Worse, their hopes of getting retirement pay, after a lifetime of hard work, almost turn into illusions,” he said.
He said the unjust treatment is a “grave scandal that must be stopped.”
Pimentel’s proposal will amend Article 106 of Presidential Decree 442 otherwise known as the Labor Code of the Philippines.
If the employees cannot get their benefits from their agencies, Pimentel said they can turn to their company for relief.
Under the bill, if the workers of the contractor or subcontractor have rendered at least one year to service to the same employer, whether or not such employment is continuous, such employer shall also be jointly and severally be liable with the contractor or subcontractor for the payment of their benefits. The benefits include, but are not limited to, separation or retirement pay.
However, the bill states that liability of the indirect employer shall be limited only to the period that such employee rendered services to the indirect employer. (CPB/Sunnex)
