The theme for the 6th Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Research Conference reflects the thrust that the Institute for Labor Studies (ILS) has taken: “Incisive, Innovative, and Significant Researches for a Strong, Prosperous and Stable Life of the Filipino Worker.”
Tasked as DOLE’s policy research and advocacy arm as articulated in Section 3 of DOLE Executive Order No. 251, the ILS was able to produce a total of 15 researches anchored on Secretary Silvestre H. Bello’s 8-Point Labor and Employment Agenda, and aligned with the Department’s goal “to have responsive, enabling, and equitable labor policies, laws, and regulations.”
This year’s ILS researches are focused on programs and policies of DOLE as they seek to tackle policy and implementation gaps and recommend possible courses of action to address them. Topics include the Philippine qualifications framework, employment facilitation program addressing displacement of workers, labor inspection, contracting arrangements, disposition of cases, workplace productivity, design thinking as applied to regional operations, OFW reintegration, child labor, occupational safety and health in mines, social amelioration of sugar workers, and employment of Persons With Work-Related Disabilities (PWRD), among others.
The researches, in fulfillment of the DOLE Research Agenda (2017-2022) were presented during the DOLE ResCon on December 12-13, 2017 held at Hotel Jen in Pasay City. The conference continues to serve as a venue for members of the DOLE Inter–Agency Committee on Research and Statistical Matters (IAC-RSM) to highlight their research findings in contribution to policy and program enhancement in the Department. They are centered on gaps across the four pillars of decent work: rights at work, employment opportunities for all, social protection and social dialogue.
The ILS has served as the Secretariat for the DOLE IAC-RSM since its inception in 2011. The IAC-RSM has been able to monitor and support the development and completion of researches in the various areas of labor and employment, all contributing to policy discourse and has even resulted in the creation of various laws such as the “Green Jobs Act,” with the end goal of achieving decent work for all.
The Institute for Labor Studies (ILS) is the policy research and advocacy arm of the Department of Labor and Employment. For more information on this story, please contact the Advocacy and Publications Division at 527-3490.