MANILA – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is supporting the passage of the Senate version of the Security of Tenure bill, which was certified as urgent by President Rodrigo Duterte.
In an interview of Super Radyo dzBB on Saturday, Labor secretary Silvestre Bello III said the DOLE sees Senate Bill No. 1826 or “Act Strengthening the Workers’ Right to Security of Tenure” as having more provisions on penalizing erring employers.
“Mas maraming provision ang Senate version na nagpo-provide ng remedy kung saka-sakaling hindi sumusunod ang employers natin sa Security of Tenure,” Bello said.
On Sept. 21, Duterte certified as urgent Senate Bill No. 1826 in a letter to Senate President Vicente Sotto III.
“I hereby certify to the necessity of the immediate enactment of Senate Bill 1826…in order to strengthen workers’ security of tenure by prohibiting the prevalent practices of contractualization and labor-only contracting which continue to immerse our workers in a quagmire of poverty and underemployment,” the President said in the letter.
Once passed into law, the measure would remove the ambiguities in the Labor Code, which is the source of circumventions, and:
(a) prohibit labor-only contracting, and provide penalties for violation;
(b) limit job contracting to licensed and specialized services;
(c) classify workers into regular and probationary employees—and treat project and seasonal employees as regular employees;
(d) provide security of tenure;
(e) clarify standards on probationary employment; and
(f) provide “Transition Support Program” for employees while they are not at work or transitioning in between jobs. (GMA News
