BSP, DoLE eye new rules on outsourcing in banks

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) are in the process of crafting new guidelines governing outsourcing of jobs in the banking industry.

The new guidelines are intended to harmonize the regulations on outsourcing currently covered by BSP Circular No. 268 and DoLE Department Order No. 18-02, which both contain conflicting provisions on outsourcing in the banking industry.

The move to craft new guidelines was prompted by grave concerns of National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) on the outsourcing of jobs of regular workers in the banking industry in the face of very liberal provisions in BSP Circular 268. “Outsourcing has become rampant since the enactment of BSP Circular 268 and has resulted in job losses,” NUBE National President Jose P. Umali, Jr. stressed.

During the Colloquium on “What Makes a Bank a Bank” organized jointly by the Bureau of Labor Relations (BLR) and the National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) and held recently, Dr. Johnny Noe Ravalo, BSP Managing Director, outlined the seven proposed areas that “will effectively be deemed as inherent to a bank.” These areas are deposit-taking, lending, management functions, activities covered by specific guideline/license, compliance functions, internal audit, and risk management. According to Ravalo, these areas are the core of the proposed revisions to the existing outsourcing framework.

Ravalo added that the BSP amid the concerns of bank workers has already undertaken initiatives to review labor laws.

For his part, lawyer Troy Montefalco of the BLR clarified that outsourcing is different from contracting as defined under D.O. 18-02, noting that contracting refers to a specific period or pre-determined period of time while outsourcing does not have restrictions with respect to timeframe. “But under BSP Circular 268, outsourcing does not distinguish between contracting,” Montefalco pointed out.

Montefalco said D.O. 18-02 deals with the “ifs” and “when” of outsourcing as well as contracting. –Manila Bulletin