Labor contracting scheme reviewed
By J.Lo
“One of the first tasks that we focused on is the review of existing labor and employment issuances, part of which contains Department Order (DO) 174…that is what we are reviewing,” Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) is currently reviewing guidelines on labor contracting and subcontracting. This was disclosed during House briefing on proposed 2023 DoLE budget.
Signed on March 16, 2017, DO 174 sets stricter guidelines on contractualization but does not immediately illegalize it.
Laguema said part of ongoing review is having discussions with labor and employment sectors “because of principle of tripartism, social dialogue and consultation.”
He further pointed out that under existing Labor Code wherein legitimate job contracting is recognized, problem that the labor department sees is the “exploitation or abuse in contractual arrangement that just goes round and round.”
“There is a provision about this in the Labor Code that must be looked at,” Laguesma said.
On the issue of security of tenure, Laguesma said they were now “looking at the results of pending proposals” so that the department will be able to provide technical inputs.
“But while waiting for that we are actually reviewing issuances that have to do with labor relations, especially security of tenure and continuation of work which are all aspirations that must be realized,” he concluded.
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