Philippines pushes to ban unfair employee contracts

Philippines’ President Rodrigo Duterte is pushing for an “urgent” bill to eliminate the practise of “endo” or contractualisation by employers and guarantee staffers’ tenure.

Endo refers to an employment practice where companies give workers temporary employment that lasts them less than six months and then terminating the contract just before it reaches full term in order to avoid costs and other obligations.

The practice has led to a sharp rise in the number of employees not holding “regular” positions and a slowdown in productivity.

Once passed into law, the measure would remove any loopholes in the Labour Code that allows the practice and penalise violating employers.

The president added that the government should amend the “outdated” Labour Code.

It would also limit job contracting to licensed and specialised services, classify workers as “regular” and “probationary” employees, and treat project and seasonal employees as regular employees, reported the Manilla Standard.

The measure would also provide security of tenure, clarify standards on probationary employment, and provide a “Transition Support Program” for employees while they are not at work or transitioning between jobs.

The president had first proposed to congress a complete ban on short-term employment but decided to prioritise a law that provides security of tenure for employees instead as a “Labour Day gift” to workers.