DOLE: More protection, benefits for informal workers

MANILA, Philippines - Vendors and other informal workers can now look forward to more benefits and better protection.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz yesterday reported that different government agencies are now closely working together to provide additional social protection and better working conditions for informal workers nationwide.

“We are implementing the government’s intervention in four identified areas for informal workers through convergence of our social protection programs and partnership building to maximize limited resources and effect greater impact,” Baldoz said.

She identified the four areas as labor market intervention, social insurance, social welfare, and social safety nets.

Among the projects to be implemented, Baldoz said, is the Community-Based Employment Program aimed at creating jobs that provide income to vulnerable workers and their families.

Another program to be implemented by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) would be the Integrated Livelihood Program towards Community Enterprise Development (DILP-CED).

“We also coordinate our efforts with the Social Security System, PhilHealth, and Pag-IBIG to expand informal workers’ access to social security, health, and other benefits,” Baldoz said.

She said different national government agencies are expected to come up with their joint commitment of support to the informal sector and would present their responses to the various needs of informal sector workers based on the salient features of the proposed Magna Carta for Workers in the Informal Sector.

The government is rigorously implementing social protection strategies to address limited social protection coverage, expand access to employment opportunities, and enhance the quality of employment of the estimated 16.6 million informal workers in the country, according to Baldoz.

“Side by side with the 20.537 million wage and salaried workers comprising the formal sector, the informal sector contributes significantly to the country’s economic growth and resiliency,” she said.

Informal sector workers include those employed in unincorporated household enterprises, informal own-account enterprises, and enterprises of informal employment basically owned and operated by own-account workers, either individually or in partnership with members of the same or other households.