GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 22 Nov) – Thirty-four more establishments or employers in Region 12 were slapped with various sanctions for failing to comply with the government’s general labor standards.
Ofelia Domingo, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Region 12 director, said Friday the erring establishments were specifically found to have violated provisions on the occupational health and safety standards (OSH) and social welfare benefits of workers in random inspections conducted by the agency since last month.
She said the inspections were part of the agency’s intensified efforts to enforce proper compliance on general labor standards among private industries, companies, business establishments and other employers in the region.
Domingo said the inspections specifically covered 114 establishments that employ some 8,644 workers.
She said a total of 80 establishments or 70.2 percent were found compliant with the general labor standards, specifically on the OSH and social welfare benefits.
The 34 erring establishments comprise 29.
8 percent of those covered by the random inspections, she said.
The official said 18 of the 34 establishments have not registered their companies or establishments with DOLE.
As defined in DOLE’s Rule 1020, employers should “register their companies or businesses with regional labor offices or authorized representatives having jurisdiction thereof to form part of a databank of all covered establishments.”
The establishments, “regardless of size of economic activity, whether small, medium or large scale in one single location, shall be one registrable unit,” it said.
Domingo said five establishments failed to submit their annual accident/illness reports while seven others did not enroll their workers with the Social Security System, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation and the Pag-Ibig Fund.
She did not cite the penalties imposed on the erring establishments but most of them have already started to rectify or work on their compliances with their violations.
From January to October this year, DOLE-12 has already inspected a total of 1,029 establishments covering 41,563 workers in the region regarding their compliance with the general labor standards.
Such figure was 29 more or has breached by 2.9 percent the agency’s target of 1,000 establishments for this year.
Of the 1,029 establishments, Domingo said 736 or 71.
5 percent were found compliant with the general labor standards, OSH and social welfare benefits.
To date, she added that a total of 37 companies have made corrections at plant level, with restitutions amounting to P2.
719 million benefiting 256 workers.