Dole policy on ‘endo’ out this week

MANILA, Philippines - Whether employers and workers like it or not, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will issue this week a new policy regulating contractual employment.

Labor Undersecretary Joel Maglunsod said DOLE would no longer wait for the two sectors to end their deadlock before issuing the government guidelines on contractual employment, which President Duterte promised to end during his campaign last year.

“If we will always wait on them, there will be no end to the debate. So, I will recommend to Secretary Silvestre Bello to just issue guidelines, which we believe is most appropriate. We will come out with the new policy and wait for their feedback,” Maglunsod said in an interview.

He noted that DOLE has already deferred several times the signing of a draft department order because of opposition from both management and workers.

Bello earlier gave the workers and management enough time to consult with each other and come out with a recommendation but the dialogue, Maglunsod said, ended in a stalemate.

Last week, DOLE also asked both sectors to submit their position papers on the issue but they failed to comply, forcing them to just come out with a revised and “harmonized” version of the department order, he added.

Maglunsod said the revised version to be submitted for Bello’s approval today would include a list of jobs prohibited from the contractual arrangement scheme.