ILLEGAL TERMINATION AND Violation of Labor

Laws and General

CONTRACTUALIZATION Labor Standards
POINT OF VIEW
This case is presented from the point of view of NutriAsia
management and B-Mirk Operations Manager Rey
Apolinario.

NutriAsia, Inc maintains that the strikers are not their

contractual employees but are regular and permanent
employees of their contractors. The company insists that it
has no employee-employer relationship with the said
workers and, therefore, can’t be held liable for alleged
violations of workers' rights and unfair labor practices.
They accuse the affected workers of barking up the wrong
tree.
DEFINITION OF THE PROBLEM
•Illegal labor only contractors
•Unreguralized workers of the company
•Irregular overtime pay
•Salaries of workers are less than their 13th month pay
•Terminated workers because of clapping
•the company and its contractors liable for several
violations of labor laws and standards.
STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES
•To know how NutriAsia was able to hide its real status as
an employer and how illegal contractualization occurs.

•To know what other labor laws and general labor

standards NutriAsia has violated.

•To form recommendations on how to avoid the said issues.

AREAS OF CONSIDERATION
External factors

•Practice and Existence of Contractualization in the

Philippines

•Ineffective Government Policies and Practices

Internal Factors
•Lack of Human Resource professionals and Legal Counsel

•Lack of Concern of Management for Employees' Safety

•Employees' Lack of Knowledge Regarding their Rights

•Workplace Culture
ALTERNATIVE COURSES OF
ACTION
END CONTRACTUALIZATION OF LABOR
Many policymakers believe that mere legislation to abolish
labor-only contracting would be enough to eradicate the slave-
like practice of selling labor to the end-users known as
employer-beneficiaries.
It has resulted in the rapid increase in the hiring of workers
supplied by labor-only contractors who systematically violate the
minimum wage law, fail to remit their withholding tax and
SSS/Philhealth contributions, and short-circuited their
constitutional rights to security of tenure and to form labor unions
to collectively bargain for their common welfare.
Stricter Implementation of Labor Laws

The strict labor standards stresses not the welfare of poor

workers, but simple economic self-interest. A trading partner
that fails to enforce basic protections for its workers can gain
an unfair trade advantage, boosting its market
competitiveness against countries with stronger labor
safeguards. Including labor standards in trade deals can
encourage countries in a free trade zone to maintain worker
protections rather than abandoning them in a race to the
bottom.
Termination of Subcontractor Agreement
Definitely illegal and subversive of public interest is
“endo” or “5-5-5,” the scheme of hiring employees for
only five months and replacing them with another batch
also for five months, to evade the law requiring
regularization after six months of service.
RECOMMENDATION
The proponents of the study recommend a stricter policy
implementation and harsher punishment for the violation of
the rules and regulations regarding the Labor Laws and
General Labor Standards. By doing so, the issue, together
with the violence that ensued, that NutriAsia Inc. is currently
facing will be avoided in the near future. Also, the first
and foremost reason for the said recommendation is for
the protection of the employees’ or workers’ rights against
unjust and unethical business operations.
PLAN OF ACTION
The Philippines' Department of Labor and Employment
(DOLE) should review and continuously monitor all existing
policies on labor contracting and subcontracting and all
other related issuances as the department moves to put a
stop to the illegal practice of contractualization. DOLE
regional directors should strictly implement the labor law
compliance system to ensure full protection to contractual
workers and ensure that their rights are upheld.
POTENTIAL PROBLEM
ANALYSIS
If the review of all existing policies and strictly
implementation are not enough, the Bureau of Working
Conditions should prepare a profile of contractors and
subcontractors based on results or findings of labor law
compliance officers. This will enable them to come up with
a reliable and credible background of contracting and
subcontracting in the country and to come up with
recommended solutions or causes of action to remedy
violations identified.
FALLBACK ANALYSIS
NutriAsia should consider outsourcing wherein a company
taps a service provider or an agency for the supply of
workers on a project basis.

In this setup, the workers will be hired by the service

providers and agencies as regulars, receiving full benefits
such as leave credits, 13th month pay as well as
retirement, social security and health insurance plans,
among others
END