Labor chief dismisses proposed 2-year probation for workers

by Ian Nicolas Cigaral (Philstar.com), 18 Oct 2019

MANILA, Philippines — Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III on Thursday rejected a lawmaker’s proposal to extend the period of probationary employment to two years from the current six months, saying the measure, if passed into law, would deny probationary workers a path to regular employment.

“I don’t support it. It’s too long,” Bello told ABS-CBN News in a television interview. “That is no longer in keeping with our policy of security of tenure.”

Rep. Jose “Bonito” Singson Jr. (Probinsyano Ako party-list) has filed a bill seeking to amend the Labor Code and allow employers to “avoid the automatic regularization” of employees.

Singson argued that the current period set for probationary employment is not enough to ensure that a worker is qualified to be a regular employee.

Under the present setup, employees are granted permanent tenure on the sixth month of service.