The chair of the House Committee on Labor and Employment has sought to amend Presidential Decree 442 or the Labor Code of the Philippines, as amended, to provide regular employment to workers repeatedly hired on probationary status.
Deputy majority leader Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles of Davao City in House Bill 5806 stressed the need for Congress to craft a measure that will address the issues blurring employer-employee relationship and the circumvention of the law on security of tenure through numerous employment engagements such as probationary, project, fixed term, casual, seasonal, temporary and extra, which result in 5-5-5 work arrangement or contractualization.
“This bill seeks to define and classify employment relationship, amending Articles 279, 280 and 281 of Presidential Decree 442, to secure compliance with Constitutional and statutory guarantee on the right to security of tenure,” Nograles said as he pushes for the passage of the measure during the last session days of Congress which will resume on May 23.
“All employees irrespective of employment status or position shall not be dismissed without cause and due process,” he stressed.
Under the measure, an employee, who is dismissed without cause and due process, shall be entitled to reinstatement without loss of seniority rights, full back wages and benefits.
The benefits, Nograles said, shall comprise of allowances, commission including the coverage of Social Security System, PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG and all other remunerations provided by law, company policy and collective bargaining agreement, computed from the time compensation was withheld up to the time of actual reinstatement.
Under the measure, all employees are deemed regular except those under probationary employment or those under industry-specific work arrangement the secretary of the Department of Labor and Employment may determine through tripartite approval.
Nograles’ bill provides that the engagement of the same employee after the expiration of the probationary employment or contract of employment in industry-specific work arrangement would render the employment regular.
Probationary employment shall not exceed six months from the first day of service regardless of the nature of work to be performed. The probationary employee shall automatically become a regular employee after meeting the standards stipulated in the written contract of probationary employment.
The rights, terms and conditions of employment of a probationary employee shall not be lower than the minimum standards set by laws or regulations. His or her job description and qualification standards to qualify for regular employment shall be in a written contract and made known by the employer to the employee at the time of his or her engagement.
The services of a probationary employee may be terminated for just and authorized cause under the Labor Code, or when he or she fails to qualify as a regular employee. However, the employer shall have the burden of proving that the termination is with cause and due process.