Hotel owners’ group cautions gov’t on contractualization stance

A group of hotel owners in the Philippines cautioned the government against its “overly generalized” stance on contractualization as they are greatly affected by the measure to put an end to work schemes such as “endo” (end of contract) and labor-only contracting.

In a statement, Philippine Hotel Owners Association (PHOA) president Arthur Lopez said they are concerned about the government’s proposal to totally ban all forms of contractualization, as it does not take into account the type of business they are operating.

“PHOA thus cautions the government against an overly generalized stance on contractualization, which does not take into account the seasonal business of the hotel industry and the need to outsource activities requiring specialized skills,” he said.

The PHOA said it has more than 200 member-hotels and is the largest single investor in the tourism industry in the Philippines.

In the hotel industry, Lopez admitted that they practice outsourcing of temporary employees who will help them beef up manpower requirements on special occasions of high demand that require additional persons.

“Hotels are not in a position to absorb hiring all of these personnel who are on per-call basis due to the peculiarities of the business and the seasonality of the need for their services,” he said.

President Duterte had certified as urgent the passage of the Security of Tenure bill, which aims to strengthen workers’ security of tenure.