DoLE urged to strengthen inspections vs endo schemes
SENATE Committee on Labor, Employment, and Human Resources Chairperson Rafael T. Tulfo on Wednesday called on the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) to ramp up their workplace inspections for labor violations.
In a committee hearing on Senate bills on anti-end of contract (endo) and magna carta for workers in the informal economy, Mr. Tulfo urged the Labor department to strictly monitor employers for endo schemes and lapses in labor protection.
“It is high time to adopt clearer parameters and enforce stricter punishment to those fly-by-night contractors who prey upon our laborers,” he said, noting that erring DoLE workplace inspectors must be sanctioned. “Start investigating the lazy inspectors and those colluding with companies that have labor violations.”
He also told the DoLE to directly communicate with employees during workplace inspections to determine company labor violations.
DoLE Undersecretary Benedicto Ernesto R. Bitonio, Jr. responded to Mr. Tulfo’s calls, noting that the agency also involves the representatives of the employees apart from workplace managers during inspections.
“That’s the process, and if we have inspectors who aren’t doing that, there needs to be appropriate administrative action against them,” Mr. Bitonio said in Filipino.
However, he also said in the hearing that no labor inspector has been sanctioned yet, prompting Mr. Tulfo to ask the labor agency to investigate their compliance officers.
Mr. Tulfo cited labor schemes such as the “555” arrangement, or the practice of dismissing employees before they hit the six-month mark at a job to prevent their regularization.
He added that this practice is still prevalent in the manufacturing and service industries despite DoLE’s Department Order No. 174, series of 2017, prohibiting labor-only contracting arrangements.
The senator also eyed the removal of the piece-rate pay, noting that employees in this wage setup must also earn minimum wage for eight hours of work.
“In the manufacturing companies I’ve visited, an individual worker has to work at least 15 to 16 hours just to earn the minimum wage. So the company saves four to five hours’ worth of overtime pay,” Mr. Tulfo explained.
He also asked the department to ensure proper monitoring of the cash aid programs, suggesting that the beneficiaries must also be given more meaningful tasks other than sweeping. — Kaela Patricia B. Gabriel
