Biz heads back calls to blacklist erring service providers

CEBU’S business leaders welcomed the government’s request for the private sector to blacklist service providers that would not comply with the government’s drive to stop the abusive practices of labor contractualization and the end of contract (endo) scheme.

Ted Locson Jr., head of the external affairs division of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), said business welcomes the strict compliance on this labor issue.
“Abusive practices should be stopped and workers (should be) given what is due them,” Locson told Cebu Daily News in a phone interview yesterday.

Win-win structure

In an Inquirer report, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said the proposed “win-win” structure by the government is seen to ensure Filipino workers’ security of tenure, but companies need to police the compliance of service providers in terms of giving full benefits to workers, including retirement pay, for the proposal to be successful.

Lopez said principal companies must conduct due-diligence and review the breakdowns of its fees to service providers to ensure the benefits would be complete and remitted to workers.

He added that the association of legitimate service providers must police its ranks to ensure compliance.

Hire or outsource

Under the planned structure, companies would either directly hire employees or outsource certain services from accredited providers.

These service providers, however, would be required to take in their hires as permanent employees who will receive full benefits such as SSS, Philhealth, 13th-month pay and even a retirement or separation package.

A worker is regularized or granted permanent status even under the service provider under the proposed structure while workers can lose their jobs if the contract between the companies and service providers is terminated under the current practice.

“Secretary Lopez was actually correct in asking business establishments to ensure that they outsource their workers to legitimate contractors who are complying with the Labor Code,” said Locson.

Ng, Joseph, Soco react

CCCI President Melanie Ng, for her part, said they are closely coordinating with the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DTI) and Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion regarding the issue.

Cebu Business Club President Gordon Alan Joseph said the proposal was only easy to suggest.

Whether this would work was a totally different story, Joseph said.

“If the price is right, most businesses will always choose the least expensive option,” he said.

Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) President Glenn Soco said that he supported the idea of blacklisting service providers that would not comply with the government’s proposal.

Streamline industry

“We even propose that the requirements to secure the certification from DOLE (Department of Labor and Employment) to be a service contractor be made more stringent to streamline the industry,” Soco said.

He added that companies that engage service providers should also be monitored as it is the joint responsibility of principal and contractor to take care of workers.

On the other hand, he said workers should also perform by the standards set by the company and not be abusive with their regularization as productivity and efficiency would promote better working conditions, better business and more employment.

Tripartite undertaking

“In the end, it should be a tripartite undertaking and responsibility among the principal, the contractor and the employee to have a sound business and labor policy,” said Soco.

Philip Tan, MCCI past president, said he supported this initiative 100 percent.

The government’s call to blacklist non-complying service providers would encourage principals to only deal with legitimate contractors.

He also said this would help weed out “bad” service providers from the good ones.

The DOLE targets to cut abusive contractualization practices in the country by half at the end of 2016 and put an end it fully by 2017.