DOLE bans inspections to prevent ‘caroling’

No inspections please during the Christmas holidays.

The Department of Labor and Employment banned yesterday the inspection of commercial establishments during the holiday season in an effort to curb corruption disguised as caroling.

Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas said regular labor inspections of commercial firms nationwide are suspended effective immediately until Jan. 4, 2002.

The suspension, however, exempts investigations on labor standards complaints and inspections to ensure technical and electrical safety of commercial establishments.

Concerned DOLE regional offices are also required to seek approval from the labor secretary before conducting inspections in cases of worksite accidents.

In her directive, Sto. Tomas ordered all labor inspectors to use the five-week period of suspension to dispose of labor standard cases pending before the department.

She also instructed the 260 labor inspectors to assess and improve the labor standards enforcement monitoring system and to formulate more effective inspection strategies.

Due to lack of labor inspectors, DOLE could only inspect five percent of the estimated 800,000 commercial establishments, resulting in numerous labor standard violations.

DOLE records showed that more than half of the more than 10,000 establishments inspected from January to July this year were found to be not complying with labor rules.

Since it is impossible for DOLE inspectors to visit all the establishments nationwide, Sto. Tomas said, the department is implementing various programs that would promote employers’ compliance with the law. – Mayen Jaymalin