509 W. Visayas firms found violating labor laws

ILOILO CITY—Almost half the number of business establishments in Western Visayas are violating labor standards and laws, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

DOLE conducted an inspection of the region’s business establishments to check for compliance with labor standards and laws, according to DOLE officials.

The DOLE reported that out of 1,027 establishments inspected during the first half of the year, 509 or 49.56 percent violated labor standards while 386 or 37.5 percent violated social security laws.

The data collated from the department’s Labor Enforcement Action Program (Leap) showed that violations include the nonpayment or underpayment of wages or benefits to employees.

Violators also failed to remit worker contributions to the Social Security System, Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) and the Home Mutual Development (Pag-Ibig) Fund.

The establishments surveyed included manufacturing firms (20), service businesses (243), security agencies (11), manpower services (48), subcontractors (28), cooperatives (12) and other business types (665).

Of the firms that committed violations, 28 companies corrected the violations by paying 144 workers more than P300,000 in wages and benefits.

In 2010, DOLE reported 451 violations of labor standards and 299 cases of failure to provide social welfare benefits by more than 2,000 firms in Western Visayas.