Atty.

Benjo Santos Benavidez, Director of Bureau of Labor Relations, facilitated the

briefing on the changes made and the salient points of the new Department Order,
which will govern the implementation of Articles 106 to 109 of the Labor Code, as
amended effective April 3, 2017, 15 days following its publication in newspaper of
general circulation.

Director Benavidez was part of the team that drafted the Department Order No. 174,
s. of 2017, after series of meetings and consultations with all stakeholders. This new
Department Order seeks to regulate the contracting/subcontracting arrangements
between the principal and the contractors/subcontractors, to guarantee that the rights
and benefits of workers under the existing labor laws will not be undermined,
including their right to security of tenure.

The Right to Security of Tenure will guarantee that workers will not be separated or
terminated from work without just or authorized cause as provided for under the
Labor Code of the Philippines. For workers, this means they will never lose their
jobs on account of expiration of short-term contracts.

The common practice of some industries of repeatedly hiring and re-hiring due to
expiration of short-term contracts of employees performing jobs that are directly
related to the employer’s main line of business is an arrangement prohibited under
prevailing laws, rules and jurisprudence.

Four (4) notable changes have been made on the new Department Order. The
previous Php 3 million pesos required capitalization for contractors/subcontractors
was raised to Php 5 million. The registration fee of Php 25,000 was raised to
Php100,000, while the registration’s validity was reduced from three (3) to two (2)
years.

D.O 174 likewise reduced the period upon which an employee may be placed on
floating status or the period before an employee may be separated on ground of
redundancy after payment of separation pay. The six (6) months period under D.O
18-A has been reduced to three (3) months under the new regulation. END/James
Oliver Punay