The Senate yesterday gave its nod to the bill ending the abusive practice of labor-only contracting or “endo.”
Voting 15 for and none against, senators approved on third and final reading Senate Bill 1826 which seeks to strengthen workers’ right to security of tenure and amend provisions of the Labor Code.
The bill was certified urgent by President Duterte, allowing senators to do away with the three-day legislative rule after passing measures on second reading.
Sen. Joel Villanueva, chairperson of the Senate Labor Committee and sponsor of the bill, manifested his elation following the approval of his pet bill. “We longed for this day to come, especially our workers who have suffered because of the evils of ‘endo,’ a practice which corrupts the dignity of labor,” Villanueva said, thanking his colleagues for supporting the bill.
“We want to give all workers peace of mind when it comes to their employment status, that no worker can be dismissed without just or authorized cause, and due process. We listened to the concerns of various stakeholders, and took these into account in putting together this bill. We believe this measure protects the interests of all parties concerned,” he added.
SB 1826 prohibits the abusive practice of labor-only contracting and limits such to licensed and specialized services.
Under the proposed measure, labor-only contracting exists when:
- The job contractor merely supplies, recruits, and places workers to a contractee.
- The workers supplied to a contractee perform tasks and activities that are listed by the industry to be directly related to the core business of the contractee.
- The contractee has direct control and supervision of the workers supplied by the contractor.
Under the proposed law, contractors should obtain a license from the Department of Labor and Employment to be able to engage in job contracting.
Villanueva said requiring contractors to secure licenses would allow the DoLE to scrutinize their capacity to adhere to existing labor laws and regulation, and gauge their ability to provide for their employees. (Vanne Terrazola)
