Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III. INQUIRER file photo / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
MANILA, Philippines — Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III on Thursday said the department is finalizing a guideline to determine the employer-employee relationship between a food delivery app and its riders.
“Bagong-bagong sistema ito ngayon dito, kaya gagawa kami talaga ng advisory or guidance para matiyak natin na maayos,” Bello said over Teleradyo.
(This is a new system which is why we are making an advisory or guidance to ensure proper procedure.)
Bello said he and the senior officials tried to come up with a clear-cut guideline and advisory but it has yet to be finalized due to so many considerations.
“Sino ba ang employee, sino ba ang employer?” he said. “Kasi ang employer, to be able to determine kung merong employer-employee relationship, i-determine kung sino naghire, sino ang nagbayad ng suweldo, sino ang may kontrol sa trabaho, e sa ngayon ang rider di mo mapilit kung ayaw eh.”
(Who is the employee, who is the employer? To be able to determine if there is an employer-employee relationship, we should determine who is the hiree, who pays the salary, who controls the work. But for now, [food delivery apps] could not force the riders [to work] if they don’t want to.)
Bello also said they would tackle who would pay the insurance premium of the riders.
“Yun din ang aming pag-uusapan, sino ang magbabayad ng kanilang insurance premium,” he explained. “Sino magbabayad dun sa Pagibig nila, PhilHealth nila, napaka ano nito, very novel na situation na ito,” he went on.
(We would also tackle that, who would pay for their insurance premium. Who would pay for their Pagibig, Philhealth, this is a very novel situation.)
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) tried to come up with a guidance following the protest of FoodPanda riders in Davao City over the app’s wage policy.
According to food delivery apps’ terms and conditions, the riders are not their employees but either their third-party providers or independent contractors.
The riders, not being considered as employees, are not entitled to certain benefits, like insurance premium, Pagibig, and Philhealth.
RELATED STORY:
‘Delivery riders are employees, too’