Employers buck ‘bridging’ plan for workers in between jobs

The country’s umbrella organization of employers does not want to pay for a proposed three-month “bridging program” meant to financially support workers in between jobs, warning that this violates the basic principle of “no work, no pay.”

The Employers Confederation of the Philippines (Ecop) is opposing House Bills 4706 and 5482, both of which aim to create a Labor Empowerment Assistance Program (Leap), which would basically help workers make ends meet while in between jobs.

The call for the program, which Ecop called “inequitable,” comes amid efforts to address abusive labor practices such as “endo,” or the practice of hiring employees consecutively for successive short-term periods. The identical HB 4706 and 5482 were introduced months apart by Quezon City 5th District Rep. Alfred Vargas and BH party-list Rep. Bernadette Herrera-Dy, respectively.

This program would be funded from three sources: The registration of contractors and subcontractors, 10 percent of the gross contract levy from the principal employer for every outsourcing contract entered, and finally a slice from the national budget.

Under the proposal of both bills, Leap would serve as a three-month bridging program for workers in between jobs, linking them to additional skills training to be covered by the Technical Education and Skills Authority (Tesda).

This would include financial support in the form of a monthly cash card or stored value card for basic necessities, which the bills said should not be lower than the minimum wage. These cards would then be distributed and monitored by labor organizations in the National Tripartite Industrial Peace Council, which is the main consultative and advisory body for the Department of Labor and Employment.

According to a copy of Ecop’s position paper sent to media, the bridging program was “inequitable and violative of the basic principle of ‘no work, no pay’.”