Prelate, labor groups rebuke bill on 2-year probation for workers
MANILA -- Church and labor group officials on Friday slammed the proposal of Probinsyano Ako Party-list Rep. Jose Singson Jr. that seeks to extend the probation period for employment from six months to two years.
Fr. Edu Gariguez, executive secretary of the National Secretariat for Social Action (NASSA)/ Caritas Philippines noted that the present policy for new workers is enough and need not be extended.
“That’s very objectionable! The existing practice is working because six months is more than enough to determine (an) employee’s qualification and competence,” Gariguez said in an interview.
“Extending it to two years is to legalize contractualization because employees can be employed for two years without security of tenure, and can be easily terminated when (the) two-year (probation) period ends,” he added.
On the other hand, Defend Job Philippines and the Regent Food Workers Union (RFWU) described House of Representatives Bill 4802 as nothing but “a pro-business and antiworkers policy” as it “only favors the interests of capitalists while denying the long-drawn aspirations of the Filipino working class for security of tenure.”
“We urge the members of the House of Representatives to junk HB 4802 if they are really serious in enacting a law that will ban contractualization, pro
vide security of tenure, and institutionalize regular employment for Filipino workers,” Christian Lloyd Magsoy, Defend Job Philippines spokesperson, said in a statement.
“For the longest time, employers have been violating the existing provisions on the Philippine Labor Code concerning a maximum of six months’ probation period in order for workers to be regularized,” he added.
Meanwhile, RFWU president Tita Cudiamat cited their experience wherein contractual workers have been on probation for 20 years or more.
“Despite existing laws and rules of six months maximum probationary period, many companies like ours in Regent Food Corp. have been rampantly and habitually practicing ‘unli-probi’ schemes,” Cudiamat said.
“Singson’s HB 4802 will only worsen the nonregularization practices of many companies in the country and will not benefit the Filipino workers,” she added.
Regent Food Corp. manufactures such snack brands as Snacku, Cheese Ring, Tempura, Sweet Corn, Cheese Ball, Labzter, and Custard Cake.