MANILA – The Department of Labor and Employment finds the regularization program of fast-food giant Jollibee Foods Corp. too small and too slow.
“In fairness, Jollibee is now regularizing. Pero hindi pa ako masyadong completely happy dahil maliit ang kanilang regularization program. Sabi ko, please, up your ante,” Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said at a press briefing in Malacañang.
“They’re offering to regularize 3,000 a year. Sabi ko kulang. Ang SM kako 10,000 a year. Baka puwedeng pantayan niyo. They will study,” he added.
GMA News Online has sought comment from Jollibee but has yet to receive a reply as of posting time.
Jollibee had topped the list of companies that the DOLE found earlier this year to be engaged in labor-only contracting arrangements.
The DOLE had directed Jollibee to regularize 6,482 workers deployed by its two contractors and 704 workers under the Burger King franchise.
Jollibee Foods chairman Tony Tan Caktiong said in June that the company outsourced or contracted its manpower needs because it gave them the flexibility to deploy personnel.
The company said it was committed to complying with the law and DOLE Department Order 174, which prohibited labor–only contracting.
Under labor-only contracting arrangements, the contractor recruits, supplies or places workers to perform a job for a principal under employment arrangements which according to DOLE is designed to circumvent the right of workers to security of tenure.
Government data showed 411,449 workers were regularized as of October 2018 as the department cited its strict implementation of measures against illegal forms of contractualization has been bearing fruit.
At least 70 percent of workers were voluntarily regularized by employers, while 30 percent were regularized as a result of the department’s compliance inspections. (ABS-CBN News)
