December labor inspection suspended
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III suspended all labor inspection activities this month, the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) announced yesterday.
DoLE said the initiative is to enable the Labor department to dispose all pending labor standards cases and prepare the inspection program for 2020.
In Administrative Order 495, Bello directed all DoLE regional directors to suspend all labor inspection activities in their respective regions starting Sunday, 1 December.
However, exempted from the suspension are complaint inspections; occupational safety and health standards (OSHS) investigations; technical safety inspections, such as inspection of boilers, pressure vessels, and mechanical and electrical installation; and inspection of any establishment or industry as directed by the Labor Secretary.
According to DoLE, the conduct of routine inspections shall resume upon issuance of the 2020 General Authority for Labor Inspectors.
“During the period of suspension, DoLE regional directors shall ensure that all results of inspection activities are uploaded in the Management Information System (MIS) before the end of December,” it said.
The information technology personnel in charge of the information and communications technology materials and/or the MIS regional systems administrators shall conduct an audit of all mobile gadgets used for inspection activities to ensure that all 2019 inspection findings are uploaded and those mobile gadgets issued are properly utilized and maintained.
As of September, 57,514 establishments covering 2.3 million workers were inspected by DoLE labor inspectors.
Most of the inspected establishments were engaged in wholesale and retail, accommodation and food service, and administrative support and service.
Among the notable violations on general labor standards pertain to non-maintenance of employment records in the workplace, non-payment of service incentive leaves, non-coverage of workers to social welfare agencies, and non-remittance of social welfare contributions.
Meanwhile, common violations on OSHS include absence of OSHS personnel in the workplace, non-conduct of workers’ OSHS seminar, non-submission of the annual medical report, and lack of health facilities.