Firms engaging in ‘endo’ banned from job fairs

Companies engaging in contractualization are now barred from joining job fairs, the Department of Labor and Employment ( DOLE) announced yesterday.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said the imposition of the ban is meant to reduce the number of establishments practicing “labor- only contracting” and “endo,” or end of contract, this year and abolish these by 2017.

He noted that the government is succeeding in reducing the number of companies engaging in endo.

“We are on track of achieving our target of 50 percent reduction in contractualization by 2016 because as of now, about 10 to 15 percent are already complying,” he said.

Bello explained that under labor- only contracting and endo, the duration of employment is fixed for a short period and without benefits.

Endo is the practice of employers of hiring workers on a period of less than six months to skirt the regularization requirement under the law after six months of work. Bello said this violates the workers’ rights to security of tenure, self-organization and collective bargaining.

Upon assumption to office in July, Bello vowed to immediately close down companies found engaging in contractualization as ordered by President Duterte.

But companies requested the DOLE to give them until the end of September to comply and cease from practicing illegal contractualization.

‘DOLE order 18 tolerates endo’

But Albay Rep. Joey Salceda said DOLE is actually tolerating endo with its Department Order No. 18.

Salceda said DO No. 18 allows employers to source 10 percent of their manpower requirements from labor contractors.

“This means that your department is to blame for allowing this endo practice, under which employees are not regularized and do not enjoy security of tenure,” he told Bello.

In response, Bello promised to review DO No. 18.

Bello and other labor officials could not say how many companies are taking advantage of the order, and whether these firms are strictly adhering to the 10-percent limit or exceeding it.

Salceda said he has information that more than 20 million of the country’s 40 million employees are engaged under endo arrangements.

“If you can end endo, our economic growth will soar to 12 percent from six-seven percent. Endo workers cannot purchase homes and other necessities and cannot plan for their families for fear that they will no longer have jobs tomorrow,” Salceda added.

Salceda also noted that the government should share the blame for perpetuating endo by having hundreds of thousands of “job order” and contractual personnel.

He said that in many state agencies, the number of joborder employees exceeds those holding permanent positions.