By Camille A. Aguinaldo
SENATOR Emmanuel Joel J. Villanueva late Wednesday released the committee report of the “endo” (end of contractualization) bill.
Senate Bill No. 1826 or the proposed Security of Tenure and End of Endo Act of 2018 seeks to amend the Labor Code of the Philippines, providing the following labor policies:
• prohibit labor-only contracting and provide penalties for violation
• limit job contracting to licensed and specialized services
• classify workers into regular and probationary employees and treat project and seasonal employees as regular employees
• provide security of tenure
• clarify standards on probationary employment
• provide “Transition Support Program” for employees while they are not at work or transitioning in between jobs
In a statement, Mr. Villanueva, chair of the Senate committee on labor, employment and principal author of the bill, maintained that the proposed measure was in line with the principles agreed by all stakeholders, stressing that the bill was not “anti-business.”
“Guaranteeing the right to security of tenure gives our workers certainty and social protection,” he said.
The bill amends Article 106 of the Labor Code, explicitly placing an absolute prohibition on labor-only contracting. It defines the labor practice where the job contractor, whether licensed or not, merely recruits and supplies or places workers to a contractee or the workers supplied by the job contractor are performing activities which are directly related to the core business of the said contractee or are under the control and supervision of the contractee.
It also directs the contractee to regularize workers in cases where labor-only contracting is present.
A fine of P5 million is imposed against any labor-only contractor. The bill gives the Secretary of the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) the power to preventively or permanently close the operations of any labor-only contractor.
The bill also introduces a new Article 107 in the Labor Code, concerning the licensing and regulation of contractors for specialized work, job or services. Erring contractors may face cancellation of license while the DoLE officer who licensed the contractor may face administrative penalty.
A contractor must show proof of expertise and specialization in order to be licensed. The contractor must also prove that he or she has a paid-up capital or a net worth of P5 million, which may be increased through a tripartite consultation.
The license has a fee not lower than P100,000 and is valid for three years.
The proposed measure also simplifies the classification of employees to regular and probationary. All employees, except those under probationary employment, are deemed regular, including project and seasonal employees.
Probationary employment shall not exceed six months from the first day of service regardless of the nature of work to be performed.
The bill assured that a worker who is unjustly dismissed from work would be entitled to reinstatement without loss of seniority rights, full back wages, allowances, and benefits. It passes the burden to the employer to prove that the termination is valid.
It also creates a “Transition Support Program” (TSP) providing cash assistance for unemployed workers or for those who are in between jobs conditioned on skills development or skills upgrading.
Sought for comment, Alan A. Tanjusay of ALU-TUCP said “We support the bill 100% because this has been the by-product of our years of collaboration with Mr. Villanueva and his (staff).”
Mr. Rene Magtubo of Nagkaisa said via text: “We fully support the committee report on the endo bill by the Senate committee on labor and employment led by Sen. Villanueva.”
“We appreciate that the Senate Bill goes a long way in strengthening the workers’ constitutional right to security of tenure by reinforcing the prohibition against labor only contracting and imposing penalties against it. It also takes a positive step towards ensuring the direct hiring is the norm,” SENTRO’s Nimfa Atienza said in an e-mail.
The Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) was sought for comment as of this reporting. —with G.M. Cortez

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