Bucio, Regine J.

Diploma in Industrial Relations

IR 204 Midterm Paper

A. Ratified ILO Convention of the Philippines

1) Salient Features of ILO 111

Convention 111 of the International Labor Organization discusses discrimination in respect of
employment and occupation. This was ratified by the Philippines last November 17, 1960. Based on the
Article 1 of the Convention, discrimination includes (a) any distinction, exclusion or preference made on
the basis of race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin, which has the
effect of nullifying or impairing equality of opportunity or treatment in employment or occupation; (b)
such other distinction, exclusion or preference which has the effect of nullifying or impairing equality of
opportunity or treatment in employment or occupation as may be determined by the Member concerned
after consultation with representative employers' and workers' organisations, where such exist, and with
other appropriate bodies. It also mentioned that any distinction, exclusion or preference in respect of a
particular job based on the inherent requirements thereof shall not be deemed to be discrimination.

To align with such ratification, The Labor Code (enacted last May 1, 1974) was promulgated with a
basic policy to ensure equal work opportunities regardless of, inter alia, sex, race or creed. It makes it
unlawful for any employer to discriminate against any woman employee with respect to terms and
conditions of employment solely on account of her sex. Further, it prohibits discrimination against any
person on account solely of his/her age.

There are two forms of discrimination: direct and indirect discrimination. Job advertisements that
exclude or overtly discourage applications from married workers or people over a certain age or a certain
colour are some of the examples of direct discrimination. For the purposes of this paper, the main
concentration would be on the age discrimination which was often left out even on the very definition of
ILO 111. Such was addressed after Republic Act No. 10911, otherwise known as the “Anti-Age
Discrimination in Employment Act” was passed into law in the Philippines last August 2016, 30 days
after the both Houses passed the measure. The Department of Labor and Employment issued the
implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of RA 10911 through Department Order No. 170 Series of
2017.

The law aims to promote the employment of persons based on their skills and qualifications, not their
age, and prohibits arbitrary age requirements in their employment, training and promotion. The IRR

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enumerates the acts relating to age discrimination that are prone to be committed by employers, labor
contractors and labor organizations before, during and after employment.

2) Deficiencies
Over the past two decades, the Philippines has undertaken a range of initiatives to make equality at
work a greater reality. These moves were guided by the ILO Convention 100 and 111 which were ratified
in 1953 and 1960 respectively (Gust, G. 2006). Attention was given to non-discrimination of women,
migrant workers, persons with disabilities, people living with HIV/ AIDS, indigenous and tribal peoples
and sexual harassment. I noticed that age discrimination hasn’t been brought up into the open despite the
outcry of labor forces aged from 30s and up.

Prior to the implementation of the RA 10911, several groups lobbied for the passage of the Bill.
According to Susan Ople (former DOLE Undersecretary) on her online article entitled Fighting age
discrimination in the Philippines, with the high unemployment rate in the Philippines, highest among all
ASEAN member states, it is truly a “buyers’ market” with companies able to dictate the age, height,
gender, and even the physical appearance of desired applicants. An extreme bias for younger job
applicants among hiring companies is evident when one takes time to read the classified ads.

According to an article published by Samuel P. Medenilla last May 2, 2017 in the Manila Bulletin, a
senior citizen named Benito Parman, 60 years old and a high school graduate who attended a job fair last
May 1, 2017 during the Labor Day Job Fair of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the
implementation of the Anti-Age Discrimination Law in the Philippines is still not being followed by
employers because there are three participating companies in the event who refused to accept his
application due to his age.

One of exceptions of the RA 10911 under Section 5 is that it shall be lawful for an employer to set
age limitations in employment if age is a bona fide occupational qualification reasonably necessary in the
normal operation of a particular business or where the differentiation is based on reasonable factors other
than age. This is almost the same on Article 1 Section 2 of the ILO 111 stating that “any distinction,
exclusion or preference in respect of a particular job based on the inherent requirements thereof shall not
be deemed discrimination. This is the part that is abusive, just as the “and other tasks that may be
assigned from time to time” on the job descriptions of almost all employees. How do we know that
certain qualities such as physical appearance or age are a primary requirement of the job? I believe RA

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10911 has to be more elaborate in stating several positions wherein age is a basic requirement in fulfilling
the job.

Since the Anti-Age Discrimination Law in the Philippines was only passed recently, there are no
available data as to answer such question and to measure the effectiveness of the law but based on the
anecdotal evidences, Philippines has a long way to go before it can achieve a free from age discrimination
stature in employment.

3) Analysis
In an online article entitled Age Discrimination in Employment: Will the Real Third World Country
Please Stand Up?, the adoption of the Philippines of the Anti-Age Discrimination Law, in some important
respects, is even stronger than that of United State’s Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1964.
One good example is that under the newly enacted law of the Philippines, it is illegal for employers to ask
applicants to divulge their birth day information during application. Under the ADEA of US (EEOC), it is
not illegal to ask applicants of their age.

Pinoy-OFW.com, in its online article, emphasized that while the government is proud to announce
thousands of jobs awaiting Filipinos repatriated from distressed places, it might as well ensure that
returning OFWs will at least be considered for the position regardless of age. Otherwise, Filipinos will
never consider the Philippines as a future career destination because of two reasons: low pay and the
dreaded age discrimination.

I have the assumption that the problem for age discrimination in the Philippines is not just because it
is being practiced by recruiters during the initial stages of recruitment but also because of the colonial
mentality of Filipinos. We always prefer foreign brands over our local brands and consider Western as
being beautiful. That is probably the reason why most of the companies in the sales industry prefer to hire
sales and marketing people who are good looking and young and they adjust to the Filipino’s taste and
preferences.

Another is that since majority of the unemployed is in the ages 15 to 24, employers probably take
advantage of it and also because they associate youth with being strong and productive.

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4) Recommendations

Gust, G. (2006) mentioned on his Working Paper that older workers face challenges that may amount
to a form of direct or indirect discrimination include Recruitment and Training and Development. In
terms of recruitment, older workers in general find it difficult to find a job that suits their capabilities and
expectations. Although the advertisements stipulating specific age limits will already be penalized
through the enactment of RA 10911, employers still discriminate older workers in the form of filtering
them in the initial stages of the recruitment process. Still, in the real world, recruitment is often guided by
preferential treatment according to sex, age, religion, family connections or other criteria unrelated to the
ability of the individual to perform the job.

In terms of Training and Development, Gust mentioned that limited budgets may prevent firms
and organizations from investing in the retraining of older workers. Obsolescence of skills and decline in
motivation may feed stereotypes of older workers’ low productivity.

In relation to such statements, I recommend to conduct studies with the implementation of the RA
10911 as to its effectiveness and hear the voices of the middle-aged labor force. Correlate if lack of
training is the main reason why older workers are being discriminated for employment. If such could be
the reason, the government has also to conduct skills advancement trainings for the middle-aged workers
to not just meet the skills mismatch but also refrain from recruitment discriminations and remove the
stigma that older workers produce lower outputs than younger workers.

Also, the government cannot achieve its goals without the cooperation of the masses. If only the
media and other high influencers could promote local, then we could probably change the mentality of
Filipinos and soon see middle and old aged workers being the frontliners in the retail industry together
with the young workers, having the same job description and receiving equal treatment and privileges.

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B. Not Yet ratified convention in the Philippines

1) Salient Features of ILO Convention 181

Convention 181 of the International Labor Organization discusses about the Private Employment
Agencies which means any natural or legal person, independent of the public authorities, which provides
one or more of the following labour market services: (a) services for matching offers of and applications
for employment, without the private employment agency becoming a party to the employment
relationships which may arise therefrom; (b) services consisting of employing workers with a view to
making them available to a third party, who may be a natural or legal person (referred to below as a "user
enterprise") which assigns their tasks and supervises the execution of these tasks; (c) other services
relating to job seeking, determined by the competent authority after consulting the most representative
employers and workers organizations, such as the provision of information, that do not set out to match
specific offers of and applications for employment. It is also stressed out in Article 11 that a country
member shall, in accordance with national law and practice, take the necessary measures to ensure
adequate protection for the workers employed by private employment agencies in relation to (a) freedom
of association; (b) collective bargaining; (c) minimum wages; (d) working time and other working
conditions; (e) statutory social security benefits; (f) access to training; (g) occupational safety and health;
(h) compensation in case of occupational accidents or diseases; (i) compensation in case of insolvency
and protection of workers claims; and (j) maternity protection and benefits, and parental protection and
benefits.

2) Importance

For the purposes of this paper, the main focus would be on the second type of private
employment agency which provides services consisting of employing workers with a view to making
them available to a third party, who may be a natural or legal person (referred as a "user enterprise")
which assigns their tasks and supervises the execution of these tasks. According to the Philippines
Statistics Authority’s biennial Integrated Survey on Labor and Employment (ISLE), 54% of the estimated
31,277 establishments with at least 20 workers have employees hired through manning agencies. Based
on the records of DOLE’s Bureau of Working Conditions, there are a total of 4,552 registered contractors
and subcontractors in the Philippines.

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 According to Figure No. 1, Typology of Legislation, the Philippines have opted to adopt specific
law of Convention 181 covering only certain types of Private Employment Agencies which is the
overseas employment due to the abundance of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). The Philippine
Statistics Authority estimated that the total number of OFWs who worked abroad anytime during the
period April to September 2016 was around 2.2 million. Probably, this is the reason why
contractualization issue which can be associated with the second type of private employment agency
(which we would refer to as the labor contractors), was not yet properly addressed by the Duterte
administration despite his promises during Presidential elections.

Villena, C. (2015) mentioned that due to the significant developments in the Philippine business
brought about by higher remittances and incomes from the business process outsourcing sector, there has
been a big boost on the retail industry which has generated job opportunities for the Filipinos. However,
despite this situation, it is still surrounded by a number of issues and concerns, especially those
concerning the implementation of contracting and subcontracting policies. The following were the
conclusions of Villena’s study:
1. Some establishments with over 20 workers do not comply with the government-prescribed
minimum wage rate.
2. Repeated hiring of workers under an employment contract of short duration with the same or
different agency is prevalent in NCR, especially in large retail establishments.
3. Some job contracting agencies do not exercise their right to control over the performance of
their workers. This is especially common among workers assigned to supermalls. Supermarket; in
this case, the management of the mall/ supermarket evaluates and supervises these contractual
workers.
4. Several issues and concerns were elicited from retail workers employed in companies owned
by a foreigner.
5. Despite a labor provision describing a worker’s right to security of tenure, this benefit is not
granted to the majority of retail workers included in this study, particularly those workers who
have rendered at least 6 months of service.
6. Retail workers are not well-informed of the beneficial effects of unions/ labor groups in the
workplace. This finding is evidenced by the low number of retail workers who reported being
union members.
7. Retail workers in NCR are doubtlessly very productive despite some of them being paid below
the minimum wage rate and without security of tenure. The services of these workers are

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 necessary and desirable to their employer because these services contribute to the business’
sustainability.

The above mentioned results of the study of Villena were the negative impact of employing staff
under manpower agencies (labor contractors). Despite that, manpower agencies also serve as beneficial to
our economy.. In an article in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, it has been noted that job contracting in the
Philippines has helped create employment for job applicants that would otherwise not qualify for jobs in
large multinationals. The PALSCON immediate past president Butch Guerrero even noted that the
Boston Consulting Group estimated job contracting has helped 61 million workers worldwide to gain
access to the labor market. In the Philippines alone, contractual workers exceeded 600,000 in 2014.

Outsourcing as a work arrangement takes place everywhere. It is allowed by law and offers
business advantages. But it carries its own germs of conflict. (Azucena, C. 2010). With the mixed signals
of labor contracting in the Philippines, ratification of ILO Convention 181 will help address the above
mentioned issues.

3) Analysis

It is important to note the developments towards the ratification of ILO Convention 181 in the
Philippines. Below are the information gathered:

Last July 2010, The Consultation with Stakeholders on Recruitment and Placement and Job
Contracting was conducted under the auspices of the DOLE’s Bureau of Local Employment (BLE), the
Institute for Labor Studies (ILS), and the Task Force on the International Labor Organization’s (ILO)
Convention No. 181. During the consultation, the then Undersecretary Lourdes Trasmonte emphasized
that upgrading the country’s PRPAs must jibe with the ongoing study and consultation on ILO
Convention No. 181, otherwise known as the Private Employment Agencies Convention of 1997, adding
that this will boost significantly “the DOLE and the social partners’ efforts to push for the ratification of
the Convention by Congress.”

According to an article published on the Philippine Daily Inquirer which was retrieved from the
Press Reader online, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed last 2011 involving the Philippine
Association of Local Service Contractors Inc. (PALSCON) and UNI-Philippine Liaison Council (PLC),

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Uni Apro and UNI Global Union which would pave the way for the conduct of periodic global and
national social dialogue to negotiate conditions of work for those deployed by Service Contractor and
Placement Services as well as conditions for hiring by the Service Contracting and Placement Services
Industry. On the global level, the partnership has vowed to work with the International Labour
Organization (ILO) to promote the ratification of ILO Convention 181 and the application of the
Recommendation 188, both of which pertain to private employment agencies. The MOU was an offshoot
of the dialogue on outsourcing initiated by UP SOLAIR’s Center for Labor Justice which brought
together labor leaders from UNI-PLC, UNI Apro and PALSCON.

On my analysis, the extensive promises to end contractualization (which is associated with labor
contractors) of Presidential candidates during their campaign last 2016 have had an an impact as to why
the advocacies of PALSCON and other organizations to push for the ratification of ILO 181 was put at
parking bay. On the applicants’ perspectives, they view labor contractors as evil on every triangular
relationships (worker-subcontractor-principal) which was even aggravated during such campaigns.
Legitimate labor contractors were generalized to be labor-only contractors, the type of employment that is
prohibited by the Labor Code and the Department Order 174. The side of this sector was not properly
heard; the positive impact of this employment was blocked off by the negativity brought about by
illegitimate labor contractors (or LOCs). I conclude that the previous proliferation of LOCs in the
Philippines was caused by unstable laws to govern Private Employment Agencies. If ILO Convention 181
will be ratified by the Philippines, we can have a win-win situation both for the employers and workers.
Business flexibility would still be available to companies to become competitive and be able to keep pace
with globalization while providing the rights and privileges due to each of their workers, towards
providing decent jobs and inclusive economic growth in the Philippines.

4) Recommendations

The International Confederation of Private Employment Agencies (CIETT) submitted a position

paper to the International Labour Conference, 95th Session in 2006 which brought together 33 national
federations of private employment agencies and 6 of the largest staffing companies worldwide. Their
main focus, when put into the Philippine context, is contractualization. I concur with the article that the
Duterte Administration should encourage the triangular relationship but has to strictly ensure the
adherence of private employment agencies to the provisions of the ILO Convention 181. According to

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CIETT, workers in countries that have ratified International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 181
on private employment agencies enjoy greater protection.

Ratifying Convention 181 requires double efforts of the government in reaching out the Filipino
workers most especially labor unions (Kilusang Mayo Uno or Trade Union Congress of the Philippines)
to make them understand the importance of the private employment agencies (or labor contractors and
subcontractors) towards addressing business needs to be flexible in the dynamic markets and keep pace
with globalization.

Recently, with the Department Order 18-A being superseded by Department Order 174, there
have been more stringent rules concerning the operations of labor contractors. The government should be
able to show statistics as to the improvements of the Filipino workers who were previously affected by
“endo” or 5-5-5 scheme so that they will be able to get the trust of the masses. By doing so, it would be
easier to ratify Convention 181 because we know that the labor sector is excited to have the policies
implemented on our country.

I also believe that it would be good to require all HR practitioners of labor contractors to undergo
a licensing or certification training just to assure that they promote the rights of agency workers, just as
how direct workers are being protected and taken care of. It is so disgusting that the agency workers
doesn’t know where to go to and can’t identify as to who shall take care of their well-being (based on the
qualitative study conducted by the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines). It is high time that HR
practitioners of labor contractors become fully aware of their duties.

As an HR practitioner working in the manpower agency for almost 3 years already, I promote for
the ratification of ILO Convention 181. I believe labor contractors can make a difference to our labor
force and to our economy. I’ve seen the dynamics of the business and we set up a Compliance Team just
to ensure that we are not just profitable but compliant as well to the labor laws and standards. We assure
that the rights and privileges of our deployed people are realized.

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C. List of References

Azucena, Cesario Alvero. “Employment and Outsourcing under the Philippine Law”. Manila 2010.

Gust, Gert A. “Equality at Work: Philippines”, Working Paper 12. ILO. Manila August 2006.

Villena, Ivan Cassidy F. “Examining Issues On Contracting Arrangements in the Philippine Retail
Industry: A Case Study on the Working Conditions of Contractual Workers in
Supermalls and Supermarkets”. Monograph Series 2015 – 09. Institute for Labor Studies. Manila
2015.

Castaneda, Christine Joyce. “One in Seven business establishments engage in outsourcing: PSA”.
Business World Online. Manila March 05, 2018 retrived from
http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Labor&title=one-in-seven-business-establishments-
engage-in-outsourcing-psa&id=129779

Cecilia, Ernie O. “Job Contracting 101”. Inquirer.Net. Retrieved from

http://business.inquirer.net/209948/job-contracting-101

Department of Labor and Employment. “Tripartite partners join DOLE consultation”. Manila. July 17,
2010. Retrieved from https://www.dole.gov.ph/news/view/922

Department of Labor and Employment. Department Order 170-17 Series of 2017. Implementing Rules
and Regulations of Republic Act No. 10911 otherwise known as the “Anti-Age Discrimination
Employment Act”. Retrieved from https://www.dole.gov.ph/files/DO%20170-
17%20Implementing%20Rules%20and%20Regulations%20of%20the%20RA%20no_%2010911%20oth
erwise%20known%20as%20the%20ANTI-
AGE%20DISCRIMINATION%20IN%20EMPLOYMENT%20ACT.pdf

Department of Labor and Employment. Department Order No. 174 Series of 2017. Rules Implementing
Articles 106 to 109 of the Labor Code, as Amended. Retrieved from
https://www.dole.gov.ph/files/DO%20174-
17%20Rules%20Implementing%20Articles%20106%20to%20109%20of%20the%20Labor%20Code,%2
0As%20Amended(1).pdf

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Filipiknow. “12 Annoying Attitudes of Filipinos We Need To Get Rid Of.” Retrieved from
https://www.filipiknow.net/negative-traits-of-filipinos/

International Labour Organization. “C111 - Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention,

1958 (No. 181)” NORMLEX. Information System on International Labour Standards. Retrieved from
http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:C111
Manila Bulletin. “Contractualization 101”. Manila. June 17, 2016. Retrieved from
https://www.pressreader.com/philippines/manila-bulletin/20160617/281934542233613

International Labour Organization. “C181 - Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181)”
NORMLEX. Information System on International Labour Standards. Retrieved from
http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_INSTRUMENT_ID:312
326

Pasion, Patty. “More than half of PH businesses employ agency-hired workers - PSA”. Rappler. January
03, 2018. Retrieved from https://www.rappler.com/nation/192823-philippines-businesses-employ-
agency-workers-psa

Philippine Daily Inquirer. “Fair Conditions seen in service contracting industry with MOU”. Manila
2011. Retrieved from
https://www.pressreader.com/philippines/philippine-daily-
inquirer/20110728/282162172881523

Philippine Statistics Authority. “Overseas Filipinos”. Retrieved from

https://psa.gov.ph/tags/overseas-filipinos

Trade Union Congress of the Philippines. “Different views on labor contractualization”. April 30, 2012.
Retrieved from http://tucp.org.ph/2012/04/different-views-on-labor-contractualization/

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D. List of Figures and Tables

Figure No. 1 : Typology of C181 Legislation

Source: International Labour Organization. “Guide to Private Employment Agencies. Regulation,

monitoring and enforcement”. Special Action Programme to combat Forced Labour. Geneva 2007

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 Table 1. Registered
Contractors/ Subcontractors
in the Philippines
Source: Department of Labor
and Employment – Bureau of
Working Conditions

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