Bello: Big malls ‘willing’ to regularize workers
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III on Wednesday faced Inquirer editors and reporters in the paper’s headquarters in Makati City. ANTHONY Q. ESGUERRA/INQUIRER.net
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III on Wednesday said the management of some big malls in the country have expressed their intention to regularize employees, amid public clamor to end labor contractualization as promised by President Rodrigo Duterte in the campaign trail.
READ: Rody tells firms: End ‘endo’ or close shop
“Big malls approached us and they are willing to regularize. In fact they are asking for a meeting with me,” Bello said in an Inquirer Live interview, when asked about the unfair practice of “endo” or “end of contract” prevalent in malls and fast-food restaurants.
READ: No contractualization in SM group, conglomerate says
Malls are known for the so-called “5-5-5” hiring scheme, or the repeated hiring of employees for a short time with the same or different contractors.
Bello said the Department of Labor and Employment may be forced to declare contractual mall workers as regular employees entitled to benefits if management will not comply.
Maintaining that “endo” is an illegal practice, Bello said the management side was “willing to comply with the legal provision in this issue.”
With the Department of Trade and Industry’s “win-win proposal,” Bello said an employer-employee relationship can now exist between workers and service providers or agencies.
Bello was referring to the proposal wherein workers will be hired by service providers and agencies as regulars and will be receiving full benefits, while companies have the flexibility to either directly hire workers as regular employees or outsource them through service agencies in case of seasonal jobs.
Asked about contractualization in the government, Bello said the concern should be raised to the Civil Service Commission, but noted that a service-aimed government agency should be distinguished from a profit-oriented business establishment. TVJ
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