DOLE to step up business compliance monitoring system

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Monday said they will step up efforts to inspect business compliance with general labor standards and safety and health regulations prescribed by law. DOLE Acting Secretary Danilo Cruz said the agency will begin implementation of the Working Conditions Information System (WCIS), to ensure the compliance of companies with labor regulations. Some 50 personnel from DOLE regional offices were trained recently to handle the inspection system which will be fully implemented next July, Cruz said. "The trained personnel would develop, maintain, and update the WCIS as a computerized database of relevant information on inspection activities of all DOLE regional inspectors," he said. Cruz added that the compliance inspection system will allow DOLE to monitor and speed up the conduct of inspection and corrections in establishments with violations. Under the program, Labor field inspectors will monitor establishments with 10 to 199 workers and subject them to routine inspection. Companies must comply with existing minimum wage and social welfare benefits regulations such as SSS registration and remittances, PhilHealth and Pag-Ibig, DOLE said. Brenda Villafuerte, director of DOLE’s Bureau of Working Conditions, said technical safety inspection on pressure vessels, internal combustion engines and mechanical and electrical installation also forms an integral part of the inspection activities. She said the efficient enforcement of the labor laws is in line with the implementation of the labor standards enforcement framework. The framework requires companies with a workforce of 200 and above, as well as those with collective bargaining agreements, to use a self-assessment approach jointly conducted by the management and union representatives. “Those (companies) which will not submit self-assessment reports will be subjected to regular inspection," Villafuerte stressed. On the other hand, the department will help businesses with nine workers or less in mapping out development plans to improve working conditions and allow them to comply voluntarily with applicable laws. — JMT/VS, GMA News