The COVID-19 pandemic has long surpassed a healthcare and governance crisis— it is also a human rights, inequality, and labor issue. IDEALS has responded to the specific needs of vulnerable and marginalized communities in Metro Manila, Mindoro, and Mindanao.
Project Team
Atty. Carlo Brolagda Editor/Project Coordinator Veronica Lago Ivan Valcos Writer Prof. Glenda T. Litong, Ll.M. Atty. Mario Maderazo Research ConsultantsADR Alternative Dispute Resolution
BPO Business Process Outsourcing
CLEAR
COVID-19 Legal Assistance and Response for Human Rights
COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease 2019
DOLE Department of Labor and Employment
D.O. No. Department Order Number
IDEALS Initiatives for Dialogue and Empowerment through Alternative Legal Services, Inc.
NCMB National Conciliation and Mediation Board
NLRC National Labor Relations Commission
OFW Overseas Filipino Workers
OWWA Overseas Workers Welfare Administration
POEA Philippine Overseas Employment Administration
RFA Request for Assistance
SEAD Single-Entry Assistance Desk
SEADO Single-Entry Assistance Desk Officer
SENA Single-Entry Approach
ULP Unfair Labor Practices
WBO World Bank Organization
The ongoing pandemic and the consequent lockdowns put in place have undoubtedly made an impact on the workforce. Several businesses have either scaled down their operations or have implemented temporary closure to prevent future losses on a bigger scale. In April 2020 alone, the unemployment rate increased to 17.5%1 from 5.3% in January 2020.2 By February 2021, the unemployment rate eased to 8.8%, which is still higher than the 8.7% in the last quarter of 2020 published in January 2021.3 In numbers, the 8.8% unemployment rate is translated to 4.2 million Filipinos who do not have work to support themselves and their families. Changes in the dynamics of the workplace and the status of employment have been seen as among those economic impacts brought about by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic.
while small or medium-sized businesses are more likely to close and cease operations over the duration of the pandemic. These numbers echo a household survey conducted by the World Bank Organization5 where it was shown that the highest rate of job losses was in Luzon. The WBO also found that 65% of farm and non-farm businesses experienced a decline in revenue, and 60% of households received less or no remittances from the government since the community quarantine was implemented. Overall, the effects of the pandemic on the labor force are clear and measures must be strengthened and enforced to be responsive to the needs and conditions of employees.
In line with this continuing predicament faced by the workers in the time of the pandemic, the Initiatives for Dialogue and Empowerment through Alternative Legal Services, Inc. created the COVID-19 Legal Assistance and Response for Human Rights, a project that aims to assist the affected workers by bridging them to legal units that will actively monitor labor rights violations during quarantine and provide immediate legal assistance to victims of the same. The end-goal is to provide legal services to the workers and to recommend policies to the Department of Labor and Employment currently being implemented by the DOLE. To achieve these objectives, it is important to review and analyze the legal bases of the mechanisms. Thus, the following legal provisions need to be emphasized.
Section 3, Article XIII of the 1987 Constitution provides:
A study conducted by the Philippine Business Coalition for Women Empowerment and Investing in Women4 shows how the economic effects of COVID-19 differ based on gender, industry, and business size. In summary, 60% of the respondents have experienced either an increase or decrease in their work hours or salary, or a change in the permanency of their position. According to the study, men are more likely to experience either a change in working hours or termination from employment, while women are more prone to temporary cessation from employment or a decrease in salary. It is also worthy to note that, as pointed out by the same study, the effects on both genders vary depending on the industry and the scale of business. For example, the telecommunications industry has been greatly affected,
“The State shall afford full protection to labor, local and overseas, organized and unorganized, and promote full employment and equality of employment opportunities for all.
It shall guarantee the rights of all workers to self-organization, collective bargaining and negotiations, and peaceful concerted
1 Philippine Statistics Authority. Employment Situation in January 2020. https://psa.gov.ph/content/employmentsituation-january-2020-0#:~:text=e) %20Unemployment%20rate%20was%20estimated,million%20underemployed%20in%20January%202020%20. Last accessed on January 20, 2021.
2 Ibid
3 Philippine Statistics Authority. Employment Situation in February 2021. https://psa.gov.ph/statistics/survey/laborand-employment/labor-force-survey/title/Employment%20Situation%20in%20February%202021. Last accessed on April 5, 2021.
4 Hill, Elizabeth, Baird, Marian, and Seetahul, Suneha. The Philippines and COVID-19: Impact on the private sector July 2020. https://asiapacific.unwomen.org//media/field%20office%20eseasia/docs/publications/2020/08/iwphilippines-report_final-28aug.pdf?la=en&vs=2915. Last accessed on January 20, 2021.
5 World Bank Organization. Impacts of COVID-19 on Households in the Philippines. http://pubdocs.worldbank.org/en/ 109011605520157559/pdf/Results-from-the-Philippines-COVID-19-Households-Survey-conducted-in-August-2020Presentation.pdf. Last accessed on January 20, 2021.
activities, including the right to strike in accordance with law. They shall be entitled to security of tenure, humane conditions of work, and a living wage.
They shall also participate in policy and decision-making processes a ffecting their rights and benefits as may be provided by law.
The State shall promote the principle of shared responsibility between workers and employers and the preferential use of voluntary modes in settling disputes, including conciliation, and shall enforce their mutual compliance therewith to foster industrial peace.
The State shall regulate the relations between workers and employers, recognizing the right of labor to its just share in the fruits of production and the right of enterprises to reasonable returns on investments, and to expansion and growth.”
By virtue of the said provision, it is established that the State has a duty to promote the use of voluntary modes in settling disputes in the labor sector. In line with this, Article 211 of the Labor Code states that it is the policy of the State “to promote and emphasize the primacy of free collective bargaining and negotiations, including voluntary arbitration, mediation, and conciliation, as modes of settling labor or industrial disputes”6 and “to provide an adequate administrative machinery for the expeditious settlement of labor or industrial disputes.”7
These guiding principles, which are enshrined in the labor laws, along with the Alternative Dispute Resolution Act of 20048 and the Order Instituting the Use of ADR in the Executive Department of the Government,9 led to the formulation of the DOLE Department Order No. 107-10. The D.O. No. 107-10 created the Guidelines on the Single-Entry Approach Prescribing a 30-Day Mandatory Conciliation-Mediation Services for All Labor and Employment Cases. It was later institutionalized as Republic Act No. 10396 in 2013.
The SENA10 refers to an administrative approach to provide a speedy, impartial, inexpensive, and accessible settlement procedure of all labor issues or conflicts to prevent them from ripening into full blown disputes. Conciliation-mediation process shall be utilized as
immediate intervention to effect amicable settlement among the differing parties.11 This process has long been established by the DOLE, through its Single-Entry Assistance Desks that can be found in the DOLE Central, Provincial, and Field Offices, as well as its attached agencies. To cope with the demands of its clients, DOLE also started an online portal where the employees and the employers alike can file their request for conciliationmediation assistance.
Pertinent rules provide that the administrative approach starts with the filing of a Request for Assistance to be initiated at any SEAD or unit in the region, province, district, or field office where the employer principally operates.12 Likewise, a complaint or RFA may also be done through a letter sent via email or by referral.13 Afer the filing, the SENA Desk Officer shall assign a docket number using a prescribed format and shall immediately schedule an initial conference. 13
The SEADO may hold as many conferences as may be necessary within the 30-day conciliation-mediation period, and the resetting of any scheduled conference may only be allowed upon justifiable grounds, which shall be held not later than three days from the original scheduled conference. Lastly, the 30-day period may be extended for a maximum of seven days provided the parties agree to such extension.
The appearance of all parties shall be mandatory considering that parties may amicably settle their disputes within the conciliation-mediation period. However, if upon the expiration of the 30-day period without both parties having come to an agreement regarding their dispute, a withdrawal of the complaint due to disinterest, non-appearance for two consecutive conferences, resistance to the conciliation-mediation process, or upon full compliance with the settlement agreement, the SENA proceedings shall be terminated or shall be referred for filing to the respective DOLE or National Labor Relations Commission offices, as the case may be.18
In 2020, the National Conciliation and Mediation Board19 reported a total of 26,527 RFAs filed across all DOLE implementing agencies of the SENA. These offices include the DOLE Regional O ff ices, NLRC, NCMB, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration. From this number, a total of 24,966 (94.12%) have been disposed of through settlement, withdrawal of the RFA, lack of interest by the parties, or referral to other agencies. By the end of 2020, a total of 1,561 (5.88%) of the total RFAs were still undergoing conciliation-mediation proceedings through the SENA.
To cope with the challenges of the pandemic, the DOLE administered the conduct of the SENA by using various communication channels. The agency was able to maximize the online platform, as well as the telephone and cellphone communications and face-to-face conferences, to dispose of the RFAs. They also used a blended approach, or a combination of both face-to-face and online conferencing, depending on the preference and capacity of the parties. In sum, a total of 21,204 (86.12%) of the total RFAs filed were still disposed of within the 30-day process, 1,249 (5.07%) were ended within the allowable 30–45-day process, while 2,169 (8.81%) extended beyond the policy-mandated period.20
CLEAR also aims to promote decent work in the workplace despite the pandemic. As a signatory to numerous labor conventions and agreements, it is the duty of the State to ensure that there is decent work in the workplace. As the United Nations21 defines it, decent work means opportunities for everyone to get work that is productive and delivers a fair income, security in the workplace, social protection for families, and better prospects for personal development and social protection for families, and better prospects for personal development and social integration. It is also important that all women and men are given equal opportunities in the workplace 22
19 NCMB Report on SENA Accomplishments (January to December 2020).
• DOLE Labor Advisory No. 03, series of 2021Guidelines on the Administration of COVID-19 Vaccines in the Workplaces;
• No cost of vaccination in the workplace shall be charged against or passed on, directly or indirectly, to the employees.
• Covered establishments and employers shall endeavor to encourage their employees to get vaccinated. No vaccine, no work policy shall not be allowed.
• D.O. No. 213, series of 2020 - Prescribing Guidelines in the Prescription of Actions and the Suspension of Reglementary Periods to File Pleadings, Motions, and other Documents;
• Administrative Order No. 30, series of 2020: Guidelines on the Interruption of Periods for Filing Documents and Cancellation of Proceedings
• Interruption: March 16, 2020
• Expired or expires during community quarantine: deemed granted an extension of 30 days from lifing of community quarantine.
• D.O. No. 215, series of 2020 - Rule Amending Section 12 of Rule I, Rules Implementing Book VI of the Labor Code on Suspension of Employment Relationship;
• “In case of declaration of war, pandemic, and similar national emergencies, the employer and the employees, though the union, if any, or with the assistance of the Department of Labor and Employment, shall meet in good faith for the purpose of extending the suspension of employment fora period not exceeding six months; Provided, that the employer shall report to the Department, through the regional offices, the extension of the suspension of employment ten days prior to the effectivity thereof, subject to inspection; Provided, however, that the employees shall not lose employment if they find alternative
employment during the extended suspension of employment, except in cases of written, unequivocal, and voluntary resignation; Provided, further, that should retrenchment be necessary before or afer the expiration of the extension of suspension of employment, the affected employee shall be entitled to separation pay as prescribed by the Labor Code, company policies, or collective bargaining agreement, whichever is higher; Provided, finally, that the retrenched employees shall have priority in the re-hiring if they indicate their desire to resume their work not later than one month from the resumption of operations.
• This notwithstanding, by mutual agreement of the employer and the employees, through the union, if any, or with the assistance of the Department of Labor and Employment, employees may be recalled to work or retrenched, subject to the requirement of notice and separation pay, any time before the expiration of the extension of suspension of employment.
• The extension of suspension of employment shall not affect the right of the employees to separation pay. The first six months of suspension shall be included in the computation of the employees’ separation pay.”
• Effectivity date: November 7, 2020
• Labor Advisory No. 17-B, series of 2020 - Guidelines on Employment Preservation upon the Resumption of Business Operation;
• Labor Advisory No. 28, series of 2020 - Guidelines on the Payment of Thirteenth Month Pay; and
• Labor Advisory No. 31, series of 2020 - Payment of Deferred Holiday Pay during the National Emergency Arising from the COVID-19 Situation.
This policy note seeks to assess the cases handled by IDEALS from August 1, 2020 to April 15, 2021. All the cases cover labor rights violations involving workers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This means that only those workers whose employment, in one way or another, have been affected by the restrictions on quarantine measures imposed by the government, or whose employers have decided to terminate employees, are qualified to become a client. With the use of the Tisya Hustisya Project23 of IDEALS and through referrals from partner organizations, the clients for this project were selected if their issue involved labor disputes in the time of the pandemic and if they sought legal assistance from IDEALS. Specifically, the following labor disputes or cases were considered:
1. Violation of Labor Standards - non-payment/underpayment of the following: wages, 13th month pay, nightshif differential, service incentive leave, overtime pay, holiday pay, and contributions to the Social Security System, the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, and the Home Development Mutual Fund (commonly known as Pag-IBIG Fund);
2. Illegal Dismissal - Non-payment/underpayment of separation pay, constructive dismissal, and forced resignation; and,
3. Both violations of Labor Standards and Illegal Dismissal.
The graph above shows that 47 out of 59 clients (79.66%) sought assistance for their illegal dismissal cases, six clients (10.17%) for both illegal dismissals and violations of labor standards, and another six (10.17%) complained of violations of labor standards.
This policy note also aims to focus on the assessment of the current settlement of labor disputes involving the SENA, specifically if it is achieving its goal for a speedy disposition of cases in the time of the pandemic. It also seeks to evaluate the effects of the quarantine restrictions on the administrative processes in the DOLE implementing agencies and the logistical limitations of the offices.
The graph shows that the most common assistance requested by the clients is through the SENA. The CLEAR project has assisted 21 (35.59%) of the total 59 clients through the SENA. 20 individuals (33.90%) have decided not to file any case before the DOLE and have settled their disputes afer IDEALS had provided legal assistance. 12 (20.34%) have been assisted in their complaint before the Labor Arbiters, while six (10.17%) sought comprehensive legal advice.
Finally, this policy note seeks to point out the similarities and differences in the implementation of the SENA. It is worthy to note that the SENA, as a program, is being managed by the NCMB, yet there are several implementing bodies within the DOLE Central and Regional Offices. Majority, or 37 out of 59, of the clients come from the National Capital Region while some come from the nearby provinces and a small number come from Mindanao.
General Data
The following are the data points gathered for this study:
IDEALS was able to provide legal assistance to a total of 59 clients. 29 of them are female, while 30 are male. Based on the above data, the main concern of female clients (24 out of 29) involved illegal dismissal from their employers, which includes mostly non-payment of separation pay and constructive dismissal. 10 out of the 29 female clients sought legal assistance regarding violations of labor standards, such as non-payment of overtime, holiday, or 13th month pay, payment of salary below minimum wage, and other violations of labor standards.
Meanwhile, 29 out of 30 male clients complained about their illegal dismissal from their employment, while two out of the 30 male clients sought assistance for violations of labor standards. It is also noteworthy that there were three clients who complained about being discriminated from their work afer recovering from COVID-19.
Although it cannot be concluded that gender played a role in the violation of their labor rights, it is still evident that illegal dismissal and violation of labor standards are the primary issues of the workers in these trying times. Despite the DOLE Issuances since the start of the community quarantine periods, labor disputes arising from violation of the labor laws still became rampant. The following are the types of jobs of these laborers:
Table 1. Sex Classification of Clients and their Labor IssuesFrom the foregoing, it can be established that the most affected and most vulnerable sector of labor is the service sector.24 The nature of work covered by this sector includes call center agents, bus conductors, tailors, plumbers, security guards, language teachers, and the like. 49 out of 59 clients are employed in the service sector, while the remaining 10 are employed in the industry sector. This type of employment includes utility workers, air and water attendants, senior sales and marketing administrators, gaming supervisors, and factory workers.
Moreover, the above data shows that the majority (52 out of 59) comes from the rank-and-file positions and only seven are in supervisory to managerial posts. This information shows that workers in the service sector who are holding rank-and-file positions are more likely to experience labor disputes with their employer in the time of pandemic. Despite the mandate of the Constitution25 and the numerous laws and issuances to protect labor, there are still conflicts between the employees and the employers.
Overall, there have been 35 cases filed either with the DOLE or with the NLRC since the project started. 20 of these cases are currently pending before the NLRC and DOLE Offices, while the other 15 have been tagged as exit cases. Of these 20 on-going cases, 11 of these are SENA cases: six of which are before the DOLE, while five are before the NLRC. On the other hand, nine cases are pending before the Labor Arbiter with the NLRC of their respective regions.
24 According to the Philippine Statistics Authority’s Employment by Major Industry Group October 2020, the Service Sector includes wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, transportation and storage, accommodation and food service activities, information and communication, financial and insurance activities, real estate activities, professional, scientific and technical activities, administrative and support service activities, public administration and defense, compulsory social security, education, human health and social work activities, arts, entertainment and recreation, other service activities, activities of extraterritorial organizations and bodies.
25 Sections 2 and 3, Article XIII of the 1987 Philippine Constitution.
From these numbers, the cases received and handled by IDEALS have been or are being resolved initially through the SENA since it has been mandated by law as a preliminary procedure for settling certain labor disputes speedily and inexpensively. They make up most of the pending cases currently handled by IDEALS. It can be inferred that the SENA, as an initial approach for settling labor disputes, has been effective in its policy considering that 12 out of 23 cases filed before the SENA have been terminated on that phase.
On another note, this table does not reflect that most of the cases pending before the SENA have remained unacted upon since the date of filing either for lack of conference scheduling or follow up on the part of the SEADO. In addition, there are cases which have been brought before the Labor Arbiter due to absences of the employer in the mandatory conferences before the SEADOs. For cases that have been settled or have been terminated in the SENA phase, most of the cases had an average duration of two months prior to their termination -- the shortest time being three weeks. This may also show the efficiency and speed of the SENA process in resolving labor disputes.
For a client who filed his complaint for illegal dismissal and non-payment of statutory benefits at the DOLE Trece Martires, Cavite Field Office, he first filed his RFA on July 14, 2020. However, he did not receive any notice for the next steps within 30 days. Hence, he re-filed his RFA in the same office on September 14, 2020 with supporting documents. He did not receive any reference number and was only informed that he will be contacted once a schedule for the first conference is set. The first conference was scheduled on October 9, 2020; however, no settlement was reached because the employer did not attend. The second and third conferences were held on October 13 and 20, respectively, where no agreement was met.
The same client was an employee of a security agency in Cavite. He was not aware of the size of the enterprise of their agency, but he was certain that they did not have any organized labor group. He appreciated the SENA process and its intent to achieve a speedy settlement of the dispute and he icers were well-trained. Although there were icers who handled the second and third conferences, they ective in facilitating the conciliation-
Another client is situated in Zamboanga and, prior to seeking assistance with IDEALS, already had a lawyer. In her case, she was constructively dismissed er four years of service with her employer. However, upon demand of their rightful money claims, the employer refused to settle the separation pay, which was equivalent to four years of service. Instead, the employer insisted on paying an equivalent of one year service only. This was the core issue of
For this client, the SENA process was not of much help because she felt that during the process the SEADO was being partial and biased in favor of the employer. To note, the company she was working with is a big company, although the client does not have a rough estimate of how many employees are currently employed. Moreover, considering that the employer is an influential person in the area, she believes this may have affected the treatment of the SEADO of her case during the SENA process. As for the effect of the enforcement of the quarantine measures, considering that she filed her case a few days before the community quarantine was imposed, she believes this made her situation worse. She filed her case on March 11, 2020 and up until now her case is still pending before the Labor Arbiter, waiting for its resolution.
On a different note, two other clients experienced drastically different responses from the SENA branch of the DOLE. For one client, who was a call center agent in one of the leading Business Process Outsourcing companies in the country, she was being forced to either resign or undergo swab tests as a condition for continued employment afer she showed symptoms of COVID-19. But because the client did not have sufficient resources to undergo the tests, she refused. Instead, she insisted that the Barangay Health Certificate previously presented to the employer is valid proof that she did not contract COVID-19 and that she be readmitted for work.
In her case, no mandatory conference was conducted within the 30-day period from the time she filed her RFA with the SENA. Because of the lapse of the conciliation period and without any conference being conducted, the SEADO informed her that she may already request a referral for filing before the Labor Arbiter - a process which is also mandated by law. Consequently, the client obtained the referral and filed a formal complaint before the Labor Arbiter. Her complaint is currently pending before the said body.
The company comprises 500 - 3000 employees; however, unions or associations are not usually organized in BPO companies. Therefore, no other assistance was given to the client prior to asking for legal assistance from IDEALS. No assistance was likewise given on the part of the management.
Lastly, a client situated in Pasig is a Retail Operations Executive, a supervisory position in the company. He was originally placed on floating status due to the pandemic and the enforcement of quarantine measures. Come June 2020, when the community quarantine restrictions were eased, some of the co-employees of the client were asked to report back to work; however, on the part of the client, his work-issued phone was confiscated, and he was likewise removed from email threads and was not included in Zoom meetings. The client would merely receive second-hand news from his coemployees. Thus, he is considered as being constructively dismissed.
In his situation, the SENA process went by smoothly. Afer a month from the filing of the RFA with the SENA, the client attended his first mandatory conference wherein he was able to settle his dispute and his claims with the employer. Subsequently, a week afer, a check was already issued and handed to the client as payment for his claims. It is worth noting that although other employees also encountered the same experience, it was only the client who initiated a legal process against the employer.
IDEALS was able to interview Executive Director Maria Teresita Lacsamana-Cancio of the NCMB. She admitted that there were differences in the implementation of the SENA program before and during the pandemic. Since the conciliation-mediation proceeding is basically a relationship and trust-building endeavor that relies mainly on face-to-face interaction, she mentioned that settling labor and management issues are difficult to achieve if parties do not see each other personally. However, as mentioned before, the agency has developed a mechanism to still pursue the proceeding while following public health protocols.
The NCMB also provided a summary of the 2020 SENA Program accomplishments. A total of 26,527 RFAs have been filed nationwide across all DOLE implementing agencies. Of the 26,527 total RFAs, 24,018 have validated information on employment size. 12,212 (50.85%) RFAs involve small enterprises, 6,079 (25.31%) come from large enterprises, 3,344 (13.92%) are from micro enterprises, and 2,383 (9.92%) come from medium enterprises.
In the same report from NCMB, they classified the common issues involved in the RFAs handled as: 1) Violation of labor standards; 2) Illegal dismissal; 3) Overseas Filipino Workers money claims; 4) Grievable issues; and 5) Unfair labor practices. Among the five main issues, the violation of labor standards received the highest number of RFAs filed consisting of 64.61%, illegal dismissal with 14.68%, OFW money claims with 13.83%, grievable issues with 6.74%, and ULP with 0.14%.
SENA is an effective administrative approach to provide a speedy, impartial, inexpensive, and accessible settlement procedure.
According to the said NCMB report, 94.12% of the total RFAs filed for SENA in 2020 were disposed of by the DOLE implementing agencies. This shows that despite the pandemic, the SENA implementers still developed a mechanism to cope with the challenges of the situation and have either settled, referred, or dropped the RFAs due to lack of the interest of the parties to resolve the issues. NCMB also reported that the combined rate of 91.19% of the 2020 RFAs were disposed of within the 30-day process cycle time and some within the allowable 45-day extension. This information was gathered from the reports of all DOLE implementing agencies nationwide.
Even if the SENA can be considered as an e ff ective means to provide a speedy, impartial, inexpensive, and accessible settlement procedure, the following steps are recommended to further improve the service:
1. Express lane for Covid-related concernsconsidering the severity of the impact of the pandemic in the workforce, it may be best to consider having an express lane or a specific response desk for employees who are affected by closure of businesses, retrenchment, illegal dismissal, and other concerns brought about by the pandemic. In that way, the labor force will be encouraged to seek administrative remedies and the administrative body will be apprised of the different violations or concerns springing from the effects of the pandemic and the enforcement of quarantine measures.
2. Additional manpower for SENA officers - as mentioned in the analysis of Table 3 illustrated above, some cases lef pending in the SENA are due to the inaction of the SEADO. One reason for this may be the lack of manpower on the part of the administrative bodies concerned in keeping tabs and following through with the procedure. Consequent to setting up a specific lane to address COVID-related concerns, the accessibility
of administrative remedies will ideally increase the number of cases brought before the SENA of the respective offices.
3. Regular training for SEADOs - based on client interviews, clients had varying experiences based on the region or location where they sought the assistance of the SENA. The different SEADOs attending to the same parties in di fferent conferences also a ffect the output of the conferences. Despite the changes in the handling officers, the procedure remains the same. Thus, it would be best if the training module for all SEADOs are regularly updated. Likewise, it would also serve as a good measure to prevent SEADOs from dropping cases and referring to another SEADO, which raises the likelihood of confusion in the process on the part of the clients.
The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to labor disputes between employer and employee.
Based on the plight of the clients, it is evident that the community quarantine measures and the pandemic have immensely affected the balance between the needs and demands of both the employers and the employees. It was also identified in the NCMB report that the most affected size of enterprise is the small enterprise. Moreover, the service sector has been concluded as the most affected industry with the rank-and-file employees being the most vulnerable. As such, the following preventive measures may be performed by the government, the private sector, and civil society:
1. Labor rights education - in these trying times, it is very important to remind the employers and the employees about their rights. Given the volume of new DOLE issuances, the government should partner with other stakeholders to educate employers and employees alike. Information materials may also be published online to inform the workers about the labor standards and the rightful payment of their wages. The information materials should target the identified types of enterprise, work sectors,
and employment positions gravely affected by the pandemic.
2. Anti-discrimination in the workforce - a new D.O. should be issued regarding discrimination against workers who became COVID-19 patients. The DOLE should ensure that these workers will still be allowed to work afer they recover from their sickness and that discriminatory acts or treatment must be avoided. Likewise, the lack of vaccination should not be the basis for the unjust termination of an employee and that discriminatory treatment should also be prevented against those employees who refuse to be vaccinated.
Financial challenges for both the employees and the employers affect the existence of labor disputes in the workplace.
Since the start of the pandemic, it has been established that one of its main impacts to society is having a higher unemployment rate as compared to the previous years. The various declarations of community quarantine guidelines and lockdowns also put a toll on businesses and workers alike. As such, the following recommendations may help prevent further disputes in the workplace:
1. Financial assistance - the government must provide additional cash aid to workers who have been terminated from their employment because of the pandemic. The government should also assist micro, small, and medium enterprises that are severely affected by the pandemic by giving loans and/or tax exemptions.
2. Further study and additional resources - an additional study dealing with the effects of the pandemic in the financial situation of micro and small enterprises may be further conducted. The scope of the study may have a broader range of clientele and this may be done through partnerships with other non-government organizations or possibly with the DOLE. Other factors may likewise be considered, such as the frequency of seeking legal assistance from a certain company, the number of assistances sought from a specific industry, and other factors which may be deemed relevant for a more holistic study in line with the recommendations.