Ecop still reviewing final details of regularization deal with DOLE

THE Employers Confederation of the Philippines (Ecop) said on Wednesday it had yet to give its imprimatur to a proposed agreement with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for its members to absorb their contractual workers.

In a SMS, Ecop Director General Jose Roland A.Moya told the BusinessMirror they are still reviewing provisions of the draft accord.

On Monday, Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III announced they are just waiting for the Ecop to respond to their query about the provision of the accord before it could be signed.

Once the agreement is approved, Bello said, Ecop members would have to regularize 30 percent of their work force in the initial year of its implementation. The proposal came from Ecop.

The labor chief, however, noted the agreement did not contain any time line as to when Ecop members will absorb the remaining 70 percent of their contractual workers.

“We want them to give a period for this. For example, three years,” Bello said.

In exchange for the voluntary regularization, the DOLE would exempt Ecop members from regular workplace inspections.

The DOLE hopes the proactive approach in its campaign against illegal contractualization will minimize the load of its labor inspectors and maintain industrial peace in the country.

Currently, DOLE’s 1,000 labor inspectors have to regularly inspect over 900,000 companies nationwide.

It earlier said it came out with the measure after observing many companies have shown their willingness to voluntarily absorb their contractual workers.

At least 65 percent of the 411,449 contractual workers regularized under DOLE’s campaign as of December 3, were covered by voluntary acts by the concerned firms.

Among the companies was Henry-Sy owned SM Mall chain and Jollibee Food Corp., which were able to regularize 11,660 and 1,000 contractual workers, respectively, this year.

Bello said the government hopes more private companies will also absorb their contractual workers on their own volition once their agreement with Ecop is signed.