Bello acts on contractualization, asks DOLE execs for reports

SECRETARY Silvestre Bello III has ordered all Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) regional directors to furnish him with reports on incidents of contractualization in their areas.

Bello earlier expressed a desire to reduce contractualization, particularly  the “end of contract” (endo) system, by at least 50 percent in his first 100 days as secretary of labor.

Endo refers to the practice of hiring a person under a 5-month contract to avoid making him or her a permanent employee after six months entitled to benefits.

Bello said the DOLE did not have figures on how widespread endo was in the country.

“There are no specifics but we know it’s rampant. It’s very clear there is rampant violation of our labor laws… so we would  require our regional officers to be very vigilant against the practice of endo and contractualization,” he said.

Bello said that once he received the reports, he would impose strict compliance with the laws regarding these practices.

“And from there we would have to enforce strict compliance by our directors in implementing these provisions of our laws on endo and contractualization,” he said.

“If our directors do their jobs, we would be able to reduce endo by at least 50 percent,” he added.