The International Labour Organization (ILO) Country Office of Pakistan and the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Pakistan recently visited the Philippines for a study visit on labour inspection reforms. ILO Manila tapped the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) to present its initiatives and best practices on labor inspection.

The study visit sought to learn strategies in enhancing involvement of employer representatives in the inspection process; and the capacity-building of the Philippines’ Labour Inspectorate. ECOP reported on the labor inspection process vis-à-vis current labor issues such as wage increase, contracting and subcontracting, and social protection schemes. ECOP laid down its efforts in labor inspection. Aside from lobbying, ECOP conducts capacity-building for its member companies. In October, ECOP will launch the certification course on workplace compliance and inspection in partnership with DOLE. ECOP also engages in social partnerships – one of which was the conduct of two (2) seminars on labor standards and inspection in Sta. Rosa, Laguna and Clark, Pampanga in partnership with ILO Manila.

Some members of ECOP also presented proactive approaches in ensuring labor laws compliance. Aside from GLS and OSHS compliance, Ms. Dina F. Gotis of Daiwa Seiko Philippines Corporation cited their labor-management conference – a mechanism to discuss matters of mutual interest that are not within the scope of collective bargaining and grievance handling. Atty. Krysma Guyala of Nestle Philippines, Inc. also cited efforts at the policy level. Nestle conducts an annual contempo audit that determines compliance with market domestic laws and Nestle policies.dq Nestle also implements the compliance assessment of human resources, safety, health,  and environment (CARE) audit. Both companies reinforce the role of employers in the labor inspection process, and the role of self-assessments in labor laws compliance.

When asked about the general impression of employers on the labor inspection process, Atty. Guyala answered, “It is a challenge that we want to hurdle…we want to make sure that the inspectors understand and are fully aware of our operations and our legitimate outsourcing practices including the internal controls and audits conducted by the company to have compliant business partners working with us. It is likewise a challenge for the company to adopt measures that are sustainable; and which would pass scrutiny from any inspection, whether internal or external.”