Labor secretary, in consultation with tripartite council, may declare activities which can be contracted out :EO

May 2, 2018

President Rodrigo Duterte's executive order, which calls for the protection of the right to security of tenure, still allows contractualization, provided it has the approval of the secretary of labor, in consultation with the tripartite council.

"The Secretary of Labor and Employment may, by appropriate issuances, in consultation with the National Tripartite Industrial Peace Council under Art. 290 (c) of the Labor Code, as amended, declare activities which may be contracted out," read EO 51, which Duterte signed on May 1, Labor Day.

The EO applies to all parties including cooperatives engaged in any contracting and subcontracting arrangement.

The Order reiterated the "strict" prohibition against illegal contracting and subcontracting when undertaken to circumvent the worker's right to security of tenure, self-organization and collective bargaining, and peaceful concerted activities pursuant to the 1987 Constitution.

Security of tenure refers to the right of employees not to be dismissed or removed without just or authorized cause and observance of procedural due process consistent with the Constitution, Labor Code, as amended, and prevailing jurisprudence, the EO said.

"The principal engaged in any arrangement in violation of this Order shall be considered the direct employer of the contractor's or subcontractor's workers for all purposes," it said.

In his Labor Day message, Duterte warned companies engaged in illegal contracting and subcontracting  their days are numbered.

He also urged Congress to overhaul the 1974 Labor Code to fully end the issue on contractualization as demanded by labor groups. Celerina Monte/DMS