The number of establishments that have been compliant with the government's health and safety protocols increased this year, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said Friday, Dec. 17.
DOLE Assistant Secretary Ma. Teresita Cucueco said that compared to last year, the inspected companies' initial compliance for safety and health guidelines this 2021 is already more than 70 percent.
"Mas gumanda na po kasi last year I can recall iyong initial, kapag unang inspect ay nasa 50 percent or 60 percent lang ang compliance rate (It's now better because last year, during the initial inspection, the compliance rate is only around 50 percent or 60 percent)," Cucueco said in a public briefing.
Cucueco added that the figures continue to improve after DOLE's inspection, adding that the Department has been guiding the firms to help them comply with the government's coronavirus disease (COVID-19) protocols.
For general labor standards, Cucueco noted that compliance was always good even in the previous years.
According to Cucueco, they have already surpassed the 75,000 target establishments to be inspected for compliance with general labor standards, occupational safety, and COVID-19 monitoring for 2021.
"Ngayon ay umaabot na kami ng 90,327. So humigit na po kami sa almost sa 120 percent sa nainspeksyon po natin sa mga lugar-paggawa at maganda naman po iyong nakikita natin sa mga compliance nila (We are now at 90,327. We are over 120 percent on firms inspected and all are compliant)," she added.
The DOLE earlier issued an order to suspend all labor inspection activities this December to allow the agency to dispose of all pending labor standards cases and prepare the inspection program for 2022.
Meanwhile, Cucueco urged both employees and employers to continue following the general labor standards and the health and safety protocols to help in the continuous revival of the economy.
"We should all do our part and as we go through , when everyone is safe we will all be safe and our economy will be now be revived," she said.