On 14 November 2011, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) issued Department Order No. 18-A, which becomes effective fifteen (15) days after completion of its publication in a newspaper of general circulation. Considering that Department Order 18-A was published on 19 November 2011, it shall take effect on 4 December 2011.

Last year, we noted that the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is trying to address the problem of at least a million “discouraged workers“, or jobless people available for work but are not actively seeking employment, as well as the prevailing skills mismatch among workers. According to a report, “jobseekers have difficulty finding jobs [...]

A probationary employee is one who, for a given period of time, is being observed and evaluated to determine whether or not he is qualified for permanent employment. A probationary appointment affords the employer an opportunity to observe the skill, competence and attitude of a probationer. The word “probationary”, as used to describe the period [...]

The title of this post should have been in the form of a question, intended to solicit your opinion: Do you agree with Malacanang’s policy to discontinue the holiday economics of the previous administration? You could go direct to the bottom of the post to write down your opinion. Or you can read on.

Malacanang has declared 30 August 2011 (Tuesday) as a national non-working holiday (per Proclamation 234). This is another occurrence of a rare long weekend among the 2011 Philippine holidays under the administration of President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino.

I received an interesting email asking if tattoos would adversely affect the chances of getting good employment, specifically, whether there’s any legal provision that prohibits an employer from discriminating against individuals who have tattoos. A tattoo is an expression of individuality. The more serious ones treat this skin art as a mode self-expression, as it [...]

Women were generally not allowed work during night time. This was the rule before the enactment of Republic Act No. 10151. Article 130 of the Labor Code (Presidential Decree No. 442) contains the general prohibition while Article 131 spells out the exceptions.  Congress recently passed R.A. 10151, signed into law by President Benigno Aquino on [...]

On 16 June 2011, the government, worker and employer delegates at the 100th annual Conference of the International Labour Organization [ILO] adopted a set of international standards to improve the working conditions of domestic workers worldwide, estimated to be around 52.6 million. The Convention shall take effect after ratification.

Good news for workers: June 20 is a holiday, which means that we’re heading into a rare long weekend (June 18 to 20). While we’re at it, even if it’s already the middle of the year (time flies really fast), here’s the full list of regular and special holidays for 2011.

An additional P22 cost-of-living allowance (COLA), effective 26 May 2011, is granted to workers in the National Capital Region (NCR). The P22 COLA is contained in Wage Order No. NCR-16 (full text) issued on 9 May 2011 by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-National Capital Region (RTWPB-NCR) and published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer [...]