DAYS after a staff of a prominent fast food chain in Davao City went viral over the weekend for taking orders door-to-door, the Department of Labor and Employment in the Davao Region (Dole-Davao) will be taking action on the complaints against the fast food branch.
Paul Cruz, Dole-Davao chief technical and support division, said that they will be sending a labor inspector to conduct a routine inspection at one of the branches of Chowking in Davao City.
The routine inspection was necessary since the complainant was not the crew of the viral video but the netizens.
Cruz said the measure also aims to unmask the truth of the matter and to check if labor laws and rights were indeed violated.
This comes after a video of a female crew going house-to-house in a subdivision taking orders went viral.
The fast food chain was criticized online, prompting the management to review and stop the practice.
Netizens also called on Dole to take action on the incident.
"Ginatan-aw pud sa department ang atong (The department is also looking into the) desire for a reasonable return of investment nga dili pud masakripisyo ang katungod sa mga trabahante (without sacrificing the worker’s rights)," Cruz said in an interview aired on PTV Davao.
The labor official also lauded the uploader of the video.
In a statement, Chowking Philippines emphasized that they are taking the matter seriously and have instructed the involved store to temporarily suspend its door-to-door order-taking operations.
“Guidelines are currently under review to ensure alignment with Chowking's standards,” the statement added.
Contrary to reports, the company said that the employee was not terminated, and is still part of their "valued member of the store."
Right to complaint
Sofriano Mataro, Associated Labor Union-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) regional vice president, said in a radio interview that they are saddened by the incident, calling it an unjust practice.
"Nahisubo kita nga ingon ana kadako nga kumpanya mugamit og ingon ana nga estratehiya para lang mabaligya ang ilang produkto ug mukita ang ilang branch (We are saddened that a big company like them would be using these kinds of strategies just to ensure their products are sold and the sales of their branch)," Mataro said in an interview on RMN dxDC Davao.
In case the employee is terminated in relation to the incident, he said that ALU-TUCP will be supporting her in filing an illegal dismissal against the company.
"Kinahanglan magreklamo gyud siya otherwise mawala lang tong panghitabo (She needs to file a complaint otherwise the incident will just be forgotten)," he said.
Mataro said that it would fall under constructive dismissal if the employee is fired from her work due to the incident.
"Ang balaod nag-ingon kinahanglan mo-file og kaso sulod sa tulo ka tuig (The law requires to file the case within three years)," he added.
The labor union leader is also appealing to the public to help them locate the service crew for them to provide legal assistance.
Mataro added that it is not right for the service crew to shoulder the transportation expenses in the delivery order to the customers to keep up with their sales. RGL