THE Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) has sent labor laws compliance officers (LLCOs) to inspect business establishments and determine whether they have complied with orders to reduce contractual workers.
Dole 7 Director Exequiel Sarcauga said that as ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte, there must be at least 50 percent reduction of all contractual workers in the country by the end of December.
The other 50 percent must be made regular employees by the end of December 2017.
Sarcauga said that Dole 7 has urged employers, especially the big firms, to voluntarily comply with the policy of the Duterte administration to stop contractualization.
“It would be better if they voluntarily regularized their employees and register them with SSS (Social Security System), Pag-IBIG Fund and Philhealth,” Sarcauga said.
Sarcauga added that with the deployment of LLCOs, they can determine how many workers in Cebu and Central Visayas have become regular.
He said that if LLCOs find contractual workers in a business establishment, they will immediately determine if the arrangement is permissible or illegal.
Sarcauga cited as an example the seasonable workers who are hired under Article 106 of the Labor Code of the Philippines.
Yesterday, Dole spearheaded the First Consultative Conference Workshop attended by Cebu labor leaders.
Sarcauga said the consultative conference was held under the Workers’ Organizations Development Program (WODP) to update or to advocate Dole policies.
The speakers included resource persons from National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), who talked about the economic condition of the country and of the labor sector.
There were also resource persons from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) who talked about the prices of commodities that affect the workers’ buying power.
Officials from the Department of Agriculture (DA) talked about the importance of increasing food production so that prices of commodities will go down and increase the buying power of workers.
The wage increase petitions filed by three labor groups with the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) were also discussed.
The RTWPB 7 is composed of Sarcauga as chairman, DTI 7 Director Asteria Caberte and Neda 7 Director Efren Carreon as co-chairs, lawyer Ernesto Carreon and Jose Tomungha and labor representatives, and lawyer Hedelito Pascual and businessman Phillip Tan as management representatives.