CEBU, Philippines — The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)-7 has urged establishments that have resumed operations to submit the Return to Work Establishment Report, as the agency wants to keep track of the notices of shutdowns, retrenchments or the establishments implementing flexible work arrangements in Central Visayas.
DOLE-7 Regional Director Salome Siaton said that reliable data is needed for them to come up with informed decisions and craft policy directions that will help address the plight of affected workers.
“We are now accepting establishment reports and collating data so that we will have a clearer picture of the extent of the impact of the ongoing pandemic not only to businesses but more importantly to the workers here in Region-7,” Siaton said, in a statement.
“We make the forms accessible by everyone. Just visit our website, ro7.dole.gov.ph and from there, one can download the editable versions of the establishment report forms. Instructions are also indicated to guide in the filling out of necessary fields,” Siaton said.
Since Cebu City has been reverted to an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), establishment reports, she said, must be sent to [email protected].
DOLE-7 has started accepting establishment reports on June 1, 2020 and the data is now being polished taking into consideration the inputs provided by the different field offices.
The DOLE still encouraged companies to make use of work schemes in the workplaces, which she said could help prevent the outright closing down of companies or termination of workers.
Apart from the work-from-home arrangement, other alternative work arrangements include (1) Transfer of employees to another branch or outlet of the same employer; (2) Assignment of employees to other function or position in the same or other branch or outlet of the same employer; (3) Reduction of normal workdays per day or per week; (4) Job rotation, alternately providing workers with work within the workweek or within the month; (5) Partial closure of establishment where some units or departments of the establishment are continued, while other units or departments are closed; and (6) Other feasible working arrangements considering specific peculiarities of different business requirements. GAN (FREEMAN)
Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon (The Freeman) – June 22, 2020 – 12:00am