THE Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) said it inspected 34,000 establishments during the first half, ahead of the pace to meet its 2019 inspection target of 55,000.

Speaking to BusinessWorld Tuesday, DoLE Assistant Secretary Benjo Santos M. Benavidez said that DoLE conducted more inspections than expected.

“In the natural and normal course of inspection of companies…Nakadami na naming inspection (we have inspected a lot). We inspected 34,000 establishments as of June,” he said.

In 2018, DoLE inspected 134,263 businesses with 500 labor law compliance officers (LLCOs). This year, it deployed an additional 234 LLCOs but has decided to focus their efforts on known problem areas like hospitals and bus companies.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Department of Finance (DoF) have pledged their support for DoLE’s plans to hire 5,000 more LLCOs.

He estimated the number of bus companies at about 400 and major private hospitals about 200.

Hospitals have come to the fore because of numerous complaints about nurses’ working hours and pay. In the bus industry, DoLE is currently enforcing a 2018 Supreme Court ruling requiring regular salaries for drivers and conductors and the prohibition of the “boundary” wage system. — Gillian M. Cortez

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