Philippines Labour Department wants 2,000 more inspectors

The chief enforcer of labour laws across the Philippines is calling for a higher budget and greater resources "on the ground".
By: | August 31, 2018
Topics: Employment Law | News | Philippines

The Philippine Department of Labour and Employment (DOLE) has announced its intention to hire 2,000 labor inspectors who will examine the compliance to labor laws of business establishments in the country — but will first need additional resources to do so.

However, Labour Secretary Silvestre Bello III said his office cannot proceed with the hiring unless lawmakers in the Phillippines House of Representatives increases DOLE’s budget allocation.

Currently, the labour department employs 800 labor inspectors who are tasked to check 900,000 business establishments to ensure that they comply with the labor laws.

From June 2016 to April 2018, DOLE was only able to inspect only 99,526 companies out of the 900,000 establishments nationwide due to manpower constraints.

Bello said the department needs more budget to hire labor law compliance officers if the government wants to implement the labor standards and labor laws.

DOLE has also been tasked to check if there are companies still implementing ‘contractualisation’ employment practices, which the current administration is committed to eradicate.