By Ferdinand Patinio/PNA
MANILA — The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Tuesday announced the suspension of labor inspection activities nationwide to prevent illegal activities involving Labor Laws Compliance Officers (LLCOs) for one month.
In an administrative order, DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello III directed regional offices to defer all labor inspection activities from Dec. 15, 2018 to Jan. 15, 2019.
He noted that suspending the activities during the Christmas season was aimed at preventing the chances of inspectors being bribed during the holidays.
“It is our duty to ensure the continued effectiveness of DOLE’s enforcement of labor laws and standards and uphold the integrity of our labor inspection activities, specially this season with heightened chances of bribery and suspicions,” Bello said in a statement.
The period of suspension, he said it must be utilized for the disposition of all pending Labor Standards (LS) cases and preparation of the Department’s labor laws compliance monitoring program next year.
Bello noted that complaint inspections, technical safety inspections, and Occupational Safety and Health Standards (OSHS) investigations, as well as the urgent inspections of establishments directed by the Labor Secretary, are not covered by the suspension.
DOLE data showed that its LLCOs have inspected 134,263 establishments nationwide this year.
It covers a total of 8.306 million workers.
There are over 900,000 establishments across the country.
The DOLE has more than 500 LLCOs, along with some 215 volunteer inspectors.
