The views expressed in this paper are the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the

views or policies of the Asian Development Bank ADB), or its Board of Governors, or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this paper and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. The countries listed in this paper do not imply any view on ADB's part as to sovereignty or independent status or necessarily conform to ADB's terminology.

Carolyn I. Sobritchea Gender Specialist

Overarching policies Important policy provisions for womens employment

Application of particular policies to enhance womens work and conditions

Micro and Medium Businesses Social Protection Health Training for work

PDP Magna Carta and Implementing Rules and Regulations

Concluding remarks and recommendations

Philippine Development Plan 2010-2016 Philippine Plan for Gender and Development (PPGD) 1995-2025 Philippine Labour and Employment Plan 2011-2016 Jobsfit DOLE 2020 Vision Magna Carta of Women RA 9710

Urban bias in program design to be reduced to favor more rural, agribased initiatives; Gender issues in work and in workplaces are to be adequately addressed; Access to capital, to common resources, technology for the vulnerable groups are to be greatly improved; Labor market intermediation aided by technology to increase geographic, occupational and social mobility, are to be promoted; Mechanisms to facilitate transit of small-scale entrepreneurs from the informal to the formal sectors; Social protection as it positively impacts on equity, redistribution and social justice contributes to sustainable growth in the long-term; given differing work and representation requisites, human resource systems are to be available for both domestic and overseas workers; Source: Republic of the Philippines. 2011. Philippine Development Plan, 2011-2016. Manila.

Anchors the agenda of economic growth on the generation of jobs that are spread out widely. It takes into account public-private partnerships in the development of human resources, labor market flexibility for competitiveness of enterprises, and the balanced promotion and protection of the basic rights of workers through adequate social safety.

Moreover, the labor policy framework calls for fair and speedy labor justice to promote sound industrial peace and favorable climate for investments.
Source: DOLE, 2011. Labor and Employment Policy Reforms and Program Implementation for the First 100 Days of President Benigno Aquino III Administration 30 June- 08 October 2910. http://www.dole.gov.ph/fndr/bong/files/First 20100 20Days 20with 20additonal 20reports 2014 20October 202010 2011am.pdf

Magna Carta of Women (RA 9710). -Gender mainstreaming approach to ensure the

gender responsiveness of all government plans, policies, programs and services. - Identifies the human rights of women and spells out the policies that can protect and promote them . These include. among others, the rights to decent work , livelihood, credit and capital .

Micro and medium Businesses

Republic Act No. 9501 of 2008 or the law to Promote Entrepreneurship by Strengthening Development and Assistance Programs to Micro, Small Medium Scale Enterprises, provides policies that enable women and other marginalized groups access to microcredit. It requires all lending institutions to set aside at least 8% of their total loan portfolio for micro and small enterprises

Womens right to decent work shall be progressively realized through: equal access to livelihood, credit, capital and technology, (2) provision of services to protect them of occupational and health hazards, taking into account womens maternal functions, (3) establishment of day care centers and breastfeeding stations at the workplace, and (4) full implementation of the maternity leave benefit as spelled out in the Labor Code.
(1)

Sources: Republic Act 9710, An Act Providing for the Magna Carta of Women, Chapter IV Rights and Empowerment, Sections 27-35; Labor Code,

Recent studies indicate that most microfinance clients are not poor, by official definition. The majority of microfinance funds have gone to urban areas in the richest part of the country, while comparatively little has gone to the poorest provinces. The challenge, therefore, is to bring microfinance resources to the rural areas where most of the poor reside.
Source: Napleon P. Micu, 2010. State of the Art of Microfinance: A Narrative. Manila: PinoyY ME Foundation, Ninoy and Cory Aquino Foundation, and Hanns Seidel Foundation/Germany, page 21.

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Other Social Protection Measures for Women The equal treatment and access of women to (i) the titling of land and issuance of stewardship contracts and patents; (ii) agrarian reform support programs; (iii) information and assistance in claiming rights to land; (iv) enjoyment, use and management of land, water and other natural resources within their ancestral domains; (iv) use and management of fisheries and aquatic resources; and (v) economic opportunities in indigenous communities, particularly access to market of produce.

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Health Programs and Services

Health insurance coverage, Pre-natal services, delivery and post-natal services Breastfeeding and proper nutrition for lactating mothers Responsible, ethical, legal, safe, and effective method of family planning Family and State collaboration in youth sexuality education Reproductive tract cancers STIs, HIV and AIDS Prevention of abortion and management of pregnancy-related complications Violence against Women Infertility and sexual dysfunction. Care of elderly women Mental health management, treatment and interventions

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The failure to enact the reproductive health bill has hampered efforts to provide especially poor and vulnerable women access to health information and services; Membership of individually paying Philippine Health Insurance (PhilHealth) members, among which are informalsector workers, numbers 3.33 million, a mere 17% of total membership.

Source: Department of Labor and Employment website: http://www.dole.gov.ph/, accessed December 22, 2011.

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Education and Training . Prohibition of expulsion and non-readmission of

women faculty and students due to pregnancy outside marriage (DepEd, CHED, TESDA to monitor and ensure compliance}; Development and promotion of a gender-sensitive curriculum and gender-fair instructional materials (DepEd, CHED, TESDA); Women friendly vocational and technological courses by TESDA; Livelihood and business development training programs for poor women by DSWD, DOLE, etc.

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There has been an increase over the years in number of women entering what were once traditionally male dominated vocational and technological work ; However, there is a need to make these training opportunities more accessible to poor communities especially in the rural areas.

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Considerable progress has been made in developing a sound framework of policies and principles to assist employment of women in recent years, especially within the various government departments. However, there is still a need to translate these policies into action in the delivery of gender effective services to the broader community or in enhancing employment opportunities for women in the private sector. There needs to be a more targeted strategy with accompanying programs to be developed in order to assist employment of women, particularly the urban poor and rural poor communities.

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While the GAD policy and gender mainstreaming approach, there is need to show (i) show concrete and practical results at the outcome and impact levels, (ii) transformative aims (lest it gets reduced to being just another welfare-type strategy), and (iii) and address a wider range of development issues, emerging ones included, such as economic restructuring, trade liberalization, globalization, information and communication technology, migration, and climate change.(1) There is need to continue with current technical assistance efforts to government agencies and the private sector in the preparation or results-based GAD plans and accomplishment reports through the use of various GAD toolkits.

(1) ADB, 2008. Paradox and Promise in the 148 Philippines: A

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The BPO sector had a total work force of 708,000 in 2011, 350,000 of which were in call centers. In 2010, it also provided 1,325,000 indirect employment. While these figures constitute approximately 1.6% only of the total employment in the Philippines, it nonetheless improved the access of the underemployed (8%) and unemployed (10.%) skilled sector and graduates of tertiary education. With the predicted increase of industry earnings, the BPO sector can generate more direct employment for women in decent work conditions during challenging times; it may induce job opportunities in other sectors in the economy through forward and backward linkages.

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IT-BPO Road Map 2011-2016 predicts that the BPO industry will expand to as much as $270 billion by 2016. According to national business leaders, the countrys share of this market can generate some $25 billion annually. Around 65% of the services are exported to the US, 25% to other ASEAN countries (e.g., India, PRC, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Japan and Taipei,China). The remaining 10% goes to Europe (United Kingdom and Germany). Other markets include the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Emerging markets are Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

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The 2011 Investment Priorities Plan (IPP) importantly lists the industry among the 13 priority sectors for local and offshore expansion in the coming years.

The other sectors include, among others, agriculture/agribusiness and fishery, commercial production and processing, irrigation, and post harvest facil

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Income tax holiday, Duty free importation of capital equipment, Use of multiple entry visa privilege. Investors are also exempted from expanded Wthholding tax, reduction of the rates of duty on capital equipment, spareparts and accessories. For non-fiscal incentives, the government offers: (i) simplified customs procedures for importation, (ii) importation of consigned equipment, and (iii) the privilege to operate a bonded manufacturing/ trading warehouse subject to customs rules and regulations.
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The BPO industry is characterized by young, single, mostly female employees (54%) and 80% are college graduates from social sciences, engineering or business courses. The preference for female employees in BPO comes from the popular perception that they are more focused, and committed, to their work and that they generally possess a high tolerance for stress and a soothing voice quality.

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A large percentage of middle to senior management positions are also held by women. However, females are mostly customer service representatives, technical support representatives or client business analysts. Males are technical support engineers, team leaders or quality officers. There is a significant difference of 13% in average wages between males and females, mainly due to the different jobs performed by each and the higher wages paid to males. This inequality calls for examination particularly on the employment practices. The reasons for pay differentials between the jobs should also be scrutinized.

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The continuous growth in number of employed persons in the BPO industry over the years is accompanied by an average annual attrition rate of 60%. The highest attrition rate is related to large call centers, and this is in part related to workers being relatively young, often overqualified, and that they regard the employment as being temporary. By contrast, smaller local companies appear to have a greater retention rate.

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Reasons for job resignation include complaints of physical fatigue due to shifts in the body clock and the monotony of the job (i.e. following scripts, highly structured daily schedule). Stress is perceived as a significant concern by employees due to verbal harassment by irate callers, lack of recreation facilities and a lack of bonding between supervisors and employees.

There is also a concern about the poor promotional opportunities.

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The problems that women commonly face as a consequence of working in the BPO industry have to do with health and safety. This is especially true for those in the evening shift.

They include urinary tract infection (UTI), eye strain, back aches and pains, headache, and other related muscular pains due to prolonged sitting, as well as lack of time for rest and relaxation.
The study of Keitel, del Rosario and Ledesma (2009) also mentions the rise in cases of HIV infection and pregnancyrelated concerns especially for those employees working night shifts. They are more vulnerable to physical and sexual harm due to lack of safety measures in transport stations and along the roads they traverse in going to and from their work places.

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1.There is a need to enhance the strategic development of policy among the government, the BPAP, employers in relevant economic sectors and other stakeholders. The policy should be able to identify new and improved areas in the IT industry. In addition, it is crucial that BPO sectors be identified as well that will help develop the labor force in the long-run.

2. Laws should be developed that could enhance the competitive edge of the BPO industry in the global market.
3. Benefits should be provided to small Philippine-owned companies who may wish to enter the field. These benefits should be comparable to those incentives given to foreign investors.

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4.

Short, medium and long term plans should be developed that will help provide matching skills to jobs. Presently, some of the services are relatively low-skilled and carried out by overqualified workers. Thus, balance is needed to match the needs with the skills required.

5. Competency skills, both written and spoken English, of the present and future labor force should be improved continuously.

6. Develop better career prospects, noting that there are presently limited career perspectives with the best opportunities being in the IT sector.
7. Address the attrition rate within the industry by responding to employee concerns. In addition, it is also necessary to give consideration to development of a Code of Ethics within the

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. Examine the common practice of stereotyping of roles, which appears to exist in some of the sub-sectors. In particular, facilitate the entry of females in the areas presently dominated by males, such as hardware and software technology- based jobs.

9. Identify added risks to those working in night shifts, noting that special measures may be needed to protect especially female employees from harm. This may include the provision of transportation/shuttle service and housing facility/dormitory close to the workplace.

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10.

Address the serious lack of an employee voice and representation within the industry, as well as respond to employees need for social dialogue with regard to grievances, complaints and conditions of employment through union participation.

11. Respond to health and safety issues within the industry by providing thorough assessment of working conditions followed by integrated and strategic measures to address them. 12. Review the regulatory standards of BPO companies and put in place appropriate monitoring mechanisms, particularly those related to health issues. Basic remedies may include use of ergonomic chairs, tables and keyboards.

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