THE Labor department said it expects more workers to be given regular status soon after it inspects companies it earlier warned about employment practices that amount to illegal contractualization.
“Various firms are now submitting their own regularization plans but still they are all up for inspection to ensure the rights of employees to security of tenure,” Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said in a statement on Thursday.
The initial list of noncompliant companies which was submitted to Malacañang “made a huge impact on our campaign against illegal contractualizaton,” Mr. Bello said.
Companies that have pledged to ramp up their efforts to regularize their workers are Jollibee Foods Corp., Dole Philippines, and Philsaga Mining Corporation, who were part of a list of 20 companies with the most number of workers affected by labor-only contracting.
Other establishments have submitted their voluntarily regularization programs. DoLE said that SM Malls will regularize 10,000 of its employees by the end of the year while Century Pacific Food, Inc. will regularize 7,000 workers.
“We are expecting more regularized workers soon and I am optimistic that various establishments will comply with our directives. Also, inspections of establishments are ongoing to ensure their compliance with labor standards and existing labor laws,” Mr. Bello said. — Gillian M. Cortez

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