Employers willing to work with labor groups to amend Labor Code

THE Employers Confederation of the Philippines (Ecop) is willing to work with the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) and similar groups to amend “outdated” provisions of the 34-year-old Labor Code.

“It’s time for us to take a look at the Labor Code. We need to make it more relevant and make companies more competitive,” Miguel Varela, Ecop president, said in a telephone interview.

In particular, Ecop wants to revisit the legal prohibition on night work for women.

This is one of the Code’s provisions which the TUCP, considered to be a “moderate” labor group, is also keen on amending.

“In the 24-hour-duty cycle of the business-process outsourcing, or BPO, industry alone, we now have more than 500,000 workers, the majority of whom are women,” said TUCP secretary-general Ernesto Herrera.

“The outright ban on night work for women has been rendered outmoded by the rapidly changing times,” the former senator said.

The TUCP also said there was a need to reinforce the protection of workers against “widespread abuses,” including rampant labor-only subcontracting.

“Labor-only subcontracting is supposed to be illegal, yet so many firms are defiantly resorting to it,” Herrera said.

Under this illegal system, the principal or employer, instead of directly hiring workers, subcontracts another entity to recruit the needed workers.

Thus, the subcontracted  workers often end up mistreated as mere temporary or casual workers, and are deprived of lawful minimum wages and benefits, including social-security coverage, health insurance and access to low-cost housing services.

Ecop said it was “open” to the idea of talking to labor groups on the problem of labor subcontracting.  Jennifer A. Ng, Businessmirror