Finally: Solon files bill ensuring BPO workers’ welfare, protection

In a move seeking to protect workers of the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry from labor abuses, KABATAAN Representative Mong Palatino today filed a bill that would allow BPO workers to join and form unions, institutionalize an occupational safety and health policy, and ensure just compensation for BPO workers who attend work during non-working holidays.

House Bill 6921 or the BPO Workers’ Welfare and Protection Act of 2009, Palatino said, seeks to ensure the welfare and protection of BPO workers and recognize of rights as provided by the Labor Code of the Philippines. Palatino also said his office has also been receiving a steady stream of reports and complaints on violations and abuses by BPO companies from call center workers.

Citing a data from the National Labor Relations Committee, Palatino said 327 cases were filed against BPOs involving 408 workers in Metro Manila. During the first semester of 2009, 124 cases were filed against BPOs involving 175 workers.

“There is an urgent need to pass a law that would ensure the rights of our BPO workers especially since the BPO industry touted by the government as the sunshine industry. Despite our labor laws, violations and abuses are repeatedly committed by companies, who put premium on ensuring profits at the expense of our workers’ rights and welfare,” Palatino said.

The young solon said, “We should not be distracted from the fact that even if this is a dollar earning industry, our mandate, especially the mandate of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), is to protect the workers in this sector. I think it will be advisable for the DOLE to immediately come up with a proposal to establish programs or even a committee within the department with the major intention of advancing the welfare of BPO workers,” Palatino said.

Data from the DOLE shows that there are already 500,000 workers in the BPO sector, and government predicts that the number will increase to one million by the end of 2009.

Under the proposed legislation, erring companies shall be punished with a fine of not less than Ten Thousand Pesos (P10,000) and/or imprisonment of not less than two (2) months but not more than one (1), or both at the discretion of the Court.

Meanwhile, Palatino said Kabataan Partylist would launch a series of fora and symposia among call center workers to inform them about their rights as workers of the BPO industry.

Full text of the bill can be read here.