Cebu biz leaders oppose 2-year probie period bill
“A two-year employment probationary period is too long and could be abused,” Cebu business leaders reacted to the proposed bill seeking to extend the probationary period of workers from six months to two years.
Probinsyano Ako party list representative Jose “Bonito” Singson Jr. has filed a bill seeking to amend the Labor Code and allow employers to “avoid the automatic regularization” of employees.
House Bill 4802, which is currently pending with the House Committee on Labor and Employment, seeks to extend the maximum prescribed period of probationary employment to 24 months.
Singson, who has been a member of the House for just three months, argued that the current period set for probationary employment is not enough to ensure that a worker is qualified to be a regular employee.
Under the present setup, employees are granted permanent tenure on the sixth month of service.
Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) president Stanley Go said, “two years is too long and could be abused by some employers.”
Go said that with this set up employers will be tempted to abuse the benefits of prolonging the probationary period to avoid giving benefits to employees.
“To me, the probationary period is an opportunity for both employer and employee to get the “feel” of each other. Employees likewise can terminate his employment if he finds the employer is not worth his while. But two years is too long, one year can be reasonable,” said Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) president Virgilio Espeleta.
In this day and age, Go said it’s difficult to find good people. Again, the hiring and firing of employees depend on the supply and demand.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III also rejected Singson’s proposal to extend the period of probationary employment to two years from the current six months, saying the measure, if passed into law, would deny probationary workers a path to regular employment.
“I don’t support it. It’s too long,” Bello told ABS-CBN News in a television interview. “That is no longer in keeping with our policy of security of tenure.”