LABOR officials gave Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI) and its contractors 10 days to comply with labor laws that they allegedly violated at the Il Corso Festival Mall at the South Road Properties (SRP).
Since the work-stoppage order was served last Monday, Feb. 20, the property developer and its 12 contractors have until March 6 to correct the alleged violations of the General Labor Standards (GLS).
Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) 7 information officer Luchel Taniza said these include the underpayment of wages; nonpayment of overtime pay, holiday pay, service incentive leave and 13th month pay; and failure to enroll the workers in the Social Security System, Philhealth and Pag-Ibig.
As for the alleged violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Standards (OSHS), FLI and its contractors are expected to submit their compliance report today.
“They assured us they will already be able to comply with some of the requirements under the OSHS by Friday and they will come here to submit their compliance report even if it’s a holiday. As for the labor standards violations that were observed, they have 10 days to correct that,” Taniza said in a phone interview yesterday.
She said that depending on what the contractors submit today, the work stoppage order may be partially lifted.
“Partial lifting means they can continue with their operations but if they don’t comply with the rest of the requirements, the stoppage order will be in effect again,” Taniza explained.
All exterior works at the mall project were ordered stopped by Dole 7 after its labor laws compliance officers noted imminent danger at the project site due to at least eight violations of the OSHS.
The project reportedly does not have a Dole-approved Construction Safety and Health Program, no safety officer with Construction Safety Training certificate, no Dole-accredited safety practitioner and no first aider, among other violations.
The workers also did not have personal protective equipment, such as full body harnesses, hard hats, uniforms and safety shoes.