DOLE to fast-track hiring of 372 safety compliance officers

The Department of Labor and Employment will fast-track the hiring of 372 new labor compliance officers to make sure employers abide by laws that protect the welfare of workers.   DOLE Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz ordered the speedy hiring of the 372, which she said will increase the department's present roster of labor inspectors to 596.   “The number of existing labor inspectors is clearly disparate to the number of establishments that, ideally, should be inspected once every year. For instance, the National Capital Region has only 31 labor inspectors accounting for 28,000 companies,” Baldoz said.   She also pointed out President Benigno Aquino III, in his Labor Day message last May 1, had announced he is adding 372 new labor inspectors.   For now, the DOLE is screening would-be labor compliance officers who will undergo extensive training on labor laws and safety and health standards.   Applicants should meet the following requirements:   - be a college graduate; preferably a licensed mechanical, civil, or electrical engineer - have knowledge of applicable labor laws, department policies and procedures, proper inspection techniques and procedures - have the ability to interpret laws and apply them to a particular situation.   The DOLE said its Human Resource Development Service is in charge of the recruitment and training of labor inspectors, together with the Bureau of Working Conditions.   Baldoz said the inspectors will ensure the effective implementation of Department Order 18-A and enforcement of general labor standards (GLS) in companies nationwide.   Labor compliance officers have three days in a week to carry out their inspection duties, and the remaining two days to draft compliance orders and related documents.   “The President is not only keen on beefing up the DOLE’s labor inspector corps but is also after the efficient and speedy reportorial and monitoring process by providing these frontliners with the latest technology to enable them to work fast and accurate with their inspection,” Baldoz said. — ELR, GMA News