MANILA — Some 830 workers of a fast food chain’s central commissary in Laguna will soon get regular employment status.
This after the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) issued a compliance order to Zenith Foods Corp. and its two service contractors — Staff Search Asia Service Cooperative and Sikap Cleaning and Sanitation Services — to regularize their workers after the department found them to be engaged in labor-only contracting activities.
Zenith Foods is the central commissary of Jollibee Foods Corp., which operates a food processing plant in Calamba, Laguna. It serves more than 800 Jollibee and Greenwich stores in and outside the Philippines.
In their assessment, labor law compliance officers noted that among the company’s violations is the lack of substantial capital on the part of the contractors, as the employees use the principal’s equipment and tools in the actual performance of outsourced services.
They also found the principal and the contractors to be violating general labor standards for non-payment of workers’ statutory benefits.
The DOLE’s compliance order directed the principals to exercise control and full authority in the performance of the work of the deployed workers, who work alongside their regular employees and are performing the same functions that are directly related to the main businesses.
The department also ordered Zenith Foods and Staff Search Asia Service Cooperative to pay about PHP1.2 million to 868 workers as a refund for the illegal deduction on their wages for the annual physical/medical examination. (PNA)
