SM expresses support for contractualization

MANILA, Philippines - The SM Group has expressed support for contractualization but keeps its hands clean from the labor practice which the incoming president has vowed to abolish.

SM Investments Corp. vice chairperson Tessie Sy-Coson believes there is nothing wrong with contractualization if it is properly regulated.

She said the practice in fact provides much-needed employment for many Filipinos.

“On contractualization, if it is regulated well, it is a good format for extra work and more employment,” Sy-Coson told The STAR.

Incoming president Rodrigo Duterte has vowed to work with Congress to put an end to labor contractualization in the country, saying that the practice is “anti-people.”

Contractualization, also known as “endo” or end of contract, is a practice of hiring workers for only a short period, or usually not more than six months.

The reason why employers practice such is that by regularizing employees, they would be required to provide them overtime and holiday pay, 13th month pay and social security benefits.

For their part, Sy-Coson assured that the SM Group does not exercise contractualization across its vast workforce in the country.

“For us we don’t have contractualizations. Eighty percent of our people are regular but we do take in temporary or seasonal workers come Christmas, come weekends, come school opening. So we do take in some people during those times so there’s no problem in that aspect. And I think DOLE (Department of Labor and Employment) has been checking on us from time to time,” she said.

As one of the largest conglomerates in the country, the SM Group is seen as one of the country’s biggest employers with businesses spanning across retail, property developmentand banking.