Firms engaged in labor-only contracting fewer – DOLE

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III expressed belief that the second list of employers engaged in short-term employment will be significantly shorter, considering the impact of the publication of the first list.

According to Bello, many employers have started complying with the government’s policies on labor-only contracting after his department released the first list.

Bello said companies should have realized that the government is serious in its campaign against illegal contractualization.

“The same number of companies as the first batch are being inspected. But there is a likelihood that the number (of noncompliant) will be smaller since they already saw how serious we are,” he noted yesterday.

Bello added there are firms that “will voluntarily comply without getting compliance order from us.”

Last May, the Department of Labor and Employment submitted to the Office of the President a list of 3,377 out of the 99,526 inspected companies that were found to be either suspected or engaged in labor-only contracting, with 224,852 workers found affected.

Labor-only contracting means the contractor merely recruits, supplies or places workers to perform a job or work for a principal, but does not have substantial capital, tools, equipment, machineries, supervisions and work premises; and that the contracted employees are performing activities directly related to the main business operation of the principal.

Bello said the second list is still being completed by their labor laws compliance officers, which are conducting inspections.