(Eagle News)– Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Silvestre Bello III said they will issue a policy on contractualization before the end of the year.
“We will come up with a policy or guidelines that will be enforced by the Department before the year ends. We will decide whether we will amend, revise, or repeal Department Order No. 18-A,” he said.
Department Order No. 18-A lays out the policy for the registration of contractors. Amending it and issuing a new one will allow implementation of reforms if approved by Congress.
Bello said major officials of DOLE will meet next week to review the proposals of labor and employers’ groups.
“Our goal is to remove illegal forms of contractualization, including ‘endo’ and ‘SSS,'” Bello explained.
Employers’ groups, in coordination with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), are proposing a “win-win structure.” Under this system, workers will be hired as regular employees with full benefits by their contractors but they will get deployed or re-deployed to principals once needed.