DOLE-7 awards P173 million of workers’ claims in 6 months

CEBU, Philippines — The Department of Labor and Employment-7 has awarded over ?173 million to 2,904 affected workers just for the first six months of the year under the Single Entry Approach (SEnA) program.

DOLE-7 said the amount covered various monetary claims that revolved around underpayment of wages, maternity claims, and non-payment of thirteenth month pay, holiday pay, night shift differential, service incentive leave, and overtime pay, among others.

DOLE-7 Regional Director Lilia A. Estillore said that the positive outcome of SEnA, as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism, is the result of the DOLE-7’s different field offices’ collective efforts.

For the first semester of the year, DOLE-7 handled a total of 1,379 requests for assistance (RFAs) with a settlement rate of 84.70% and a disposition rate of 97.75%.

DOLE-7 OIC-Assistant Regional Director Emmanuel Y. Ferrer urged both workers and employers who are aggrieved to take full advantage of the SEnA whereby conflicts arising from employer-employee relationship are expected to get settled within 30 calendar days through conciliation and mediation proceedings.

The month of May registered the biggest amount awarded to some 1,136 workers at around ?103.5 million. March has 887 affected workers who were awarded with ?43.7 million. In February, about ?11.8 million was released to some 405 workers. January tallied 221 workers who benefited the amount of P8.1 million. The month of June had P3.9 million awarded to 159 workers and about ?1.7 million paid to 96 workers in April.

Estillore lauded all the Single Entry Assistance Desk Officers (SEADOs) for exerting best effort in making sure that the requests for assistance received from clients, either from the online SEnA or from the walk-in clients, are resolved within 30 calendar days or even earlier than the prescribed process cycle time.

From January to June 2023, DOLE-7 on the average disposed of the handled requests for assistance in 5 to 6 calendar days.

The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-7 has awarded 11 establishments representing strategic areas in Region VII were recognized as 2023 Productivity Olympics Regional Winners.

The Productivity Olympics is a biennial search for micro, small, and medium establishments in the service, industry, and agribusiness sectors that have effectively implemented their productivity improvement programs, resulting in higher and better productivity.

This year’s search carries the theme: ‘From Striving to Thriving: Reset and Reposition for Impact.” It recognizes establishments that withstood the challenges of the Pandemic, were able to adapt and innovate in order to keep up with the challenges of the times.

The winner for industry micro category is JN Cacao Food and Beverage Store in Cebu City, for small category is Jainin’s Cakes and Pastries of Siquijor Island, and for medium category is Ina Micro Opto Corporation in MEPZ 2, Lapu-Lapu City.

The winners for service micro category are Dubby’s Ultimate Burgers Burger Food House of Alang- Alang, Mandaue City, Pillow’s Hotel in Cebu City, Seasalt Café and Grotto at KM49 in Catmon, Cebu; for service small category are Anjo World Theme Park, Cebu’s First world-class theme park located at Minglanilla, Cebu, Bantayan Resource Management & Development Corporation in Bantayan, Cebu; Golden Prince Hotel and Suites, and ZV Fishing and Construction Supplies of Siaton, Negros Oriental, and for service medium category are Fortune Agrivet Supply in Bohol.

According to RTWPB-7, the Productivity Olympics entries of the 11 winners are already forwarded to RTWPB’s mother agency, the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC), as they will compete with the winners from other regions.

One national winner will be declared per category, the awarding of which is set on October 2023 in celebration of Productivity Month. — (FREEMAN)