Firms should commit 200 working days this year to cut job losses

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine companies should commit 200 working days, excluding weekends, within the year to reduce job cuts, the local European Chamber of Commerce said. The said period – of the total 270 working days – will allow for a “working arrangement within the year" that would allow a “workable solution to the current economic slowdown in the country," an official of the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) said in a statement. This was announced after two weeks after the Labor Department issued advisory no. 2 also known as “Guidelines on the Adoption of Flexible Work Arrangements." The rules allow for a shortened week to be applied for six months under reduced workdays scheme. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will also allow companies to implement compressed workweeks, worker rotation, forced leaves, broken time, and flexi-holidays schedules. The same agency sought employers’ cooperation in seeking alternative labor arrangements to cushion the potential income losses for employees. “We want to keep the people we trained. But we also want flexible hours in difficult times," ECCP executive vice president Henry Schumacher said, adding that most big companies do not want to cut jobs. The ECCP has more than 700 member companies in the country that employ more than 40,000 workers. - GMANews.TV