No need for law vs 5-5-5 employers, says DOLE chief

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz: No need for a law FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—There is no need for a law that will impose a criminal penalty on unscrupulous employers, particularly those engaged in contractualization, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

“Uncooperative employers and subcontractors who are engaged in the so-called 5-5-5,’ or endo (end of contract) work practices, and who are flaunting and circumventing the law on subcontracting are already sanctioned under Article 288 of the Labor Code. Hence, there is no need for a law to deal with them,” said Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz.

(Under the 5-5-5 scheme, an endo worker is hired and fired every five months so that employers will not make them permanent employees to avoid paying them benefits.)

“If there is sufficient evidence of violation of directly circumventing the provision of the Labor Code on subcontracting, we can use Article 288 of the Labor Code which imposes criminal liability for unlawful acts that the Courts can declare,” she said.

But she noted that this provision of the law had yet to be tested.

She said the DOLE was focused on the serious implementation of new Labor Laws Compliance System (LLCS), a reform directive of President Aquino, which is embodied in Department Order No. 131 Series of 2013.

Baldoz said that to carry out the order, Aquino had given the DOLE plantilla positions for 372 labor law compliance officers to ensure that each establishment is visited or inspected at least once a year.

“We have now 574 LLCOs who have trained and deployed. They are equipped with mobile gadgets for real time assessment and compliance reporting,” she said.

Under the new LLCS, the DOLE has shifted from the purely regulatory mode of enforcement to a developmental approach, which is envisioned to foster a culture of voluntary compliance, like in audits of ISO certification bodies.

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