DOLE orders subcontractor of Kentex workers to pay P8M

The Department of Labor and Employment has ordered the CJC Manpower Services to pay P8.3 million to the 99 employees of the Kentex Manufacturing company for unpaid benefits and other labor violations.

According to a report on GMA News' “News TV Live” on Friday, the DOLE Regional Office 3 discovered the labor violations following the fire in the Kentex Manufacturing factory last May that left 72 people dead.

Some of the violation were labor-only contracting, salaries lower than minimum wage, and not giving workers benefits like cost of living allowances and the law-mandated 13th month pay.

Aside from this, the workers were not registered with SSS, PhilHealth and Pag-IBIG even though the supposed contributions to these agencies were still being deducted from their salaries.

The DOLE will also release an order this week where it instructs Kentex Manufacturing company to pay an initial P2.5 million to the families of the workers who perished in the fire there.

Last May 13, a fire engulfed the Kentex Manufacturing factory in Valenzuela City after chemicals were allegedly ignited by a spark from welding activities.

The incident prompted the Bureau of Fire Protection and the government to conduct fire safety inspections and review the country's fire code. —Andrei Medina/KBK, GMA News