The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) supports fully the passage of House Bill No. 2173 on the proposed Security of Tenure Law which would provide “additional protection to laborers by prohibiting unfair labor contractualization and imposing stiffer penalties for unjust employee dismissals.”
The CHR said the bill, filed by the Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives, would ensure that employees enjoy better work conditions, protection, and benefits that are crucial to their job security and overall welfare.
"Ensuring the welfare and economic well-being of workers is essential to their dignity and the value of their work in line with the right to security of tenure and just employment," CHR Executive Director Jacqueline Ann de Guia said in a statement.
"Gainful and secure employment is integral to workers' performance and productivity, which helps keep a robust labor sector and contributes to greater national economic output in the long term," she said.
De Guia said the CHR has long frowned upon the practice of "endo" or unlawful contractualization. Many employers have shirked from their responsibilities towards workers through this practice of ending the contract of workers before they are deemed as regular employees, she said.
Because of "endo," De Guia pointed out that these employers are able to skip out on paying benefits and prevent unionization.
"Laborers contribute to the growth and success of businesses and organizations but many continue to be deprived of just compensation and benefits of permanent employment," she said.
Thus, she said, an "urgent action" is needed to deal with this decades-old issue that pushes laborers to the brink of financial and job uncertainty -- especially now that Filipinos are dealing with a volatile economic period.
"At the same time, it is equally important to strike a healthy balance that will enable businesses to recover from the aftermath of the pandemic toward ensuring genuine inclusive growth that addresses the plight of all, particularly the most vulnerable," she added.