SENATOR Joel J. Villanueva presented to the plenary on Tuesday the security of tenure bill, which President Rodrigo R. Duterte urged Congress to pass in his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) in July.
In his sponsorship speech, Mr. Villanueva, who chairs the Senate committee on labor, employment and human resources development, said Senate Bill 1826 or the proposed Security of Tenure and End of Endo Act provides the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) and employers clearly defined labor policies.
“Senate Bill 1826 is clear enough to meet the interests of the labor sector and the interests of the business sector… (The bill) is pro-labor, pro-business and pro-Filipino,” he said.
Mr. Villanueva added that the recent protests of contractual workers against certain corporations were rooted in the ambiguity of the Labor Code of the Philippines.
He said the bill only allows independent, licensed and specialized job contracting. It also simplifies classification of workers and tightens the rules over probationary employees. Meanwhile, the proposed measure prohibits labor-only contracting and provides penalties for companies found to be in violation.
Mr. Villanueva said the bill defines labor-only contracting as: (1) where a job contractor, whether licensed or not, merely recruits or places workers to a contractee, regardless of whether or not he or she has substantial capital, (2) the workers of the job contractor are performing activities which are directly related to the principal business of such employer, and (3) if the workers of the job contractor are under the control and supervision of the contractee.
It also provides for workers under a labor-contracting scheme to be deemed regular employees of the contractee.
Compliance orders affirmed by the DoLE Secretary shall be immediately executory unless restrained by an appropriate court. In case the order involves a regularization directive, the employment of the workers shall not be terminated pending appeal of the order.
Any termination of workers pending appeal renders the compliance order involving the regularization of workers executory.
A penalty of P5 million is imposed to violators engaging in labor-only contracting on top of the preventive or permanent closure of operations of any labor-only contractor.
The bill also classifies workers into regular and probationary employees and treats project and seasonal employees as regular employees.
It also provides for licensing and regulation of job contractors for specialized work, jobs or services. To be licensed, a contractor must show proof of an independent business with a paid-up capital of at least P5 million and proof of payment or compliance of payment of social welfare contributions.
It also requires the contractor to be an expert or specialist in the job, work or service being contracted out and to be an employer exercising control over the work performed by his or her employees.
The bill also establishes a Transition Support program providing cash assistance for workers while they are not at work or transitioning in between jobs. Workers may only avail of the program once a year.
It also authorizes DoLE to manage the program and to make reports to the National Tripartite Industrial Peace Council. Funding for such operations will be generated by the registration of contractors, fines collected under Article 106 of the Labor Code, and funds from the DoLE adjustment program.
“We are proposing a law that is predictable and reliable… We expect this to reduce the cost of doing business and compliance with the law,” Mr. Villanueva said.
“Guaranteeing the right to security of tenure gives our workers certainty and social protection. It makes them more efficient and more productive which is the primary concern of every business,” he added. — Camille A. Aguinaldo
