Senate Bill No. 1826 sponsored by Senator Joel Villanueva which would strengthen the rights of the workers to security of tenure is pending its deliberation at the Senate Committee on Labor and Employment and Human Resource Development. The Bill is intended to substitute Senate Bill Nos. 117, 174, 217, 302, 329, 1061, and 1116.
The Bill started out by giving a definition of what constitutes Labor-Only Contracting but failed to state what constitutes legitimate job contracting. ECOP proposed that the definition of legitimate job “contracting” under D.O. 174 be included before expressly providing for prohibited acts which constitute Labor-Only Contracting. The Bill also imposes excessive fines of up to five million pesos to employers who are found to be labor-only contractors to which ECOP commented that imposing an excessive fine of five million pesos to employers is violative of Sec. 19 of the Bill of Rights.
Furthermore, ECOP also opposed the provision in the Bill which states that compliance orders affirmed by the Secretary are immediately executory since it deprives the Secretary of his powers and functions expressly provided under the Labor Code and at the same time, unconstitutional for violating a person’s fundamental right to due process.
ECOP also maintains that fixed-term employment, which will be prohibited by the Bill, is recognized by the law as a legitimate type of employment and prohibiting such violates the freedom of contract of both parties who knowingly gave consent to the execution of the contract.
To this end, ECOP noted that it has been established through jurisprudence that the exercise of management prerogative is not subject to interference so as long as it is done in good faith and to abolish all forms of contracting out is a clear violation of the Constitution, jurisprudence, and existing laws.