Dole set to outlaw subcontracting
IN A sneak peek of the contractualization policy of the Duterte administration, the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) said Wednesday it is set to prohibit subcontracting work arrangements.
Speaking at their year-end press conference, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said they are all set to outlaw subcontracting and instead provide more responsibilities to contractors.
“It is a modified version of the proposal of the Department of Trade and Industry and employers. Kasi gusto ng employers ang service provider will assume role of employer. But the labor sector is against the ‘win-win solution’,” said Bello.
“What we did is to review existing laws and, under existing laws, contractualization is allowed,” he furt her ed.
Subcontractors are defined as entities that contracts with a prime contractor to perform some or all of the prime contractor's contractual obligations under the prime contract.
Aside from banning contracting, Labor Undersecretary Dominador Say said they will also require contracting agencies to post bonds.
“Before we could call them legitimate contractors or businessmen, they should have a decent capital, in which case we will be requiring them to post a bond registration,” said the labor official.
Say said the bond will be in the amount of the number of employees multiplied by 50 percent of the monthly minimum wage of workers.
He said the bond can be used in case the contractor encounters financial problems to pay their employees.
“The contractor could pay on his own account sa kanilang empleyado. Hindi siya maghihintay ng collection at hindi siya hahabulin ng kanyang employees,” explained Say.
The new contractualization policy, according to the official, will require contractors to find a new project for their workers within a three-month period from the previous service arrangement.
“During the three months na walang trabaho yung empleyado, bibigyan siya ng financial assistance ng kanyang employer na half month salary per month,” added Say.
If the three-month period for redeployment is unmet, he said the contractors will have to provide the worker with a separation pay.
Say reiterated that they are set to release the new contractualization policy on December 28.
For his part, Dole Undersecretary Joel Maglunsod appealed to labor groups to give a chance to the new contractualization policy before criticizing it.
“We have to realize na pag-abante na ito nang konti mula sa ating present situation,”said Maglunsod.
This, he said, is an adequate solution to the perennial labor problem while the Dole is pushing for the amendment of the Labor Code, specifically Articles 106 at 109.
“Isa sa aming pinupursige is mapabilis yung pagpasa ng mga pending bills on Security of Tenure at Regular Employment bills,” said Maglunsod.