THE Department of Labor and Employment (Dole)-Davao said 4,913 workers in Davao Region will be regularized by their employers after their probation period.
In a statement, Dole-Davao said companies that voluntarily regularize their employees must put them in a six-month probation period before the effectivity of their regular status in the company.
The 4,913 workers were recorded as of last September 14 and they come from 38 establishments in the region specifically from the sectors of manufacturing, agriculture, retail, and services.
"Since these 4,913 workers were put into probation in different time, the effectivity of their regularization will also vary. There are those who will start before this year ends and there are also workers who will be regularized maybe in the first two months of 2018," Dole-Davao said.
Dole-Davao also said there were already 3,011 regularized workers this year from last year's application while 1,902 workers have yet to be validated.
The department, through its Labor Laws Compliance System unit, is conducting a series of validations to ensure the compliance of the involved establishments on regularizing their workers.
Most of the employers in the region, Dole-Davao said, have been supportive ever since the department began the campaign against illegal contractualization back in August 2016 wherein many of them have chosen to voluntary regularize their employees.
The labor department, however, said lack of manpower, especially the Labor Laws Compliance Officers (LLCOs), is seen as a problem in intensifying its campaign.
"We currently have 25 LLCOs covering the entire region, so it is truly a challenge. But we are doing our best to hit our target or surpass it by the end of the year," the department said.
As of June 2017, there are still 357 companies in the region that have not yet regularized workers despite notices and inspections.