PLDT claims DOLE order to put contractors out of biz

A Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) order mandating PLDT Inc. to stop engaging in subcontracting activities would lead to shutdowns of the telco’s labor contractors, the company said Wednesday.

“These actions, if pursued by DOLE, would effectively shut down these companies, and displace not only the workers deployed to PLDT but also thousands of other workers assigned to other principals,” the company said in a regulatory filing submitted by senior vice president and corporate secretary Ma. Lourdes Rausa-Chan.

The department has ordered PLDT’s service contractors to cease and desist from further engaging in contracting and sub-contracting activities.

In a resolution signed on April 24, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III affirmed the DOLE order for PLDT to regularize more than 7,000 employees, and more than 30 PLDT contractors to cease and desist from doing labor contracting.

Among the contractors were Activeone Health Inc., Aremay Enterprise, BBS-VPN Allied Services Corporation Philippines, Best Options Assistance, Inc., Comworks Inc., Consolidated Management Resources, Curo Teknika Inc., and Diar’s Assistance Inc.

PLDT contested the DOLE order before the Court of Appeals (CA) in May, claiming that the order was not in accordance with the law.

According to PLDT, some 23 affected service contractors have also questioned the legality and the validity of the DOLE order before the CA.

The company said it was reviewing the status of 7,000 employees covered by the DOLE order even if it intends to contest the department’s decision.

“While PLDT awaits judicial relief from the CA, PLDT is carrying out an orderly and effective intake process in response to the DOLE order,” it said the disclosure on Wednesday.

“This process involves the proper identification of individuals named in the DOLE order and establishing their respective qualifications and fitness for work,” it said.

“PLDT will continue to exert ... best efforts in good faith to resolve these issues, bearing in mind the welfare of the affected workers and PLDT’s own employees, its commitments to trade partners like its 38 service contractors, and its duty to deliver quality services to its customers.”