Policy Briefs
Policy Briefs are papers that seek to recommend policy solutions to labor and employment issues. The analysis is primarily derived from data in previously completed ILS working papers and is presented to respond to these questions: 1) what is the decent work issue: 2) why is it a decent work issue; 3) what are the evidence of issue; 4) what are the solutions to address the issue. Policy briefs are directly distributed to DOLE officials. In 2014, ILS produced the following policy papers: Disaster Risk Reduction and Management: Improving Labor Market Resilience and Employment Recovery; Impact of the Current Interpretation of BIR of Tax Laws on the Income of Workers: A Study on Tax Distortion, De Minimis Benefits Expansion, and Labor Dispute Awards Taxation; A Rapid Assessment of the Community Based Employment Program; An Assessment of Firm-Level Practices on Decent Work in the Furniture Industry; Decent Work in an Integrated ASEAN Context: The Case of the Philippine Sugarcane Industry; A Study on Decent Work of Tuna Hand Lien Fishermen in the Philippines; Exploratory Research on Policies and Practices Regarding Filipino Offshore Workers; Enabling Expert Returnees to Contribute to National Development: Case Studies of Returned Migrants Engaging in Brain Gain/Knowledge Transfer Activities; Reinforcing Labor Relations Through Responsive Regulations: An Assessment of the Regulatory Areas of Book V of the Labor Code; Anti-Age Discrimination in the Workplace; and Defining the Social Protection Floor Using An Incomes Approach.
Documenting Practices in Human Resources Development Planning
Recognizing the importance of a skilled workforce to attain productive, innovative and competitive industries, many industry stakeholders have identified human resource development (HRD) as a key cross-sectoral issue of concern for Philippine industrialization. In view of this, the Board of Investments (BOI) of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has requested the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to spearhead the crafting of HRD…
Examining the “5-5-5” Arrangement in Contractualization: A Study on the Repeated Hiring Practices of Firms in Selected Industries
The implementation of labor contracting in the Philippines has created issues and concerns. Foremost in these issues is the “5-5-5” arrangement where contractual workers are terminated after five months, and then re-hired again for another five months. Regardless of the prohibition on the repeated hiring of contractual workers, reports of contractors and principals circumventing the law on security of tenure have surfaced. This arrangement…
Cost-Benefit and Cost-Effectiveness Analyses of the Regulatory Areas in Book VI of the Labor Code
This brief puts forward the highlights of the working paper entitled, “Is the Regulation on Security of Tenure More Labor Market Restrictive than Employment Protective?”: Cost-benefit and costeffectiveness analyses of the regulation on security of tenure with the aim to assess whether or not the regulation is more labor market restrictive than employment protective, as indicated by the ratio of total benefits gained as a measure for…
A Rapid Assessment of the Special Program on Employment of Students (SPES)
In the Philippines, youth unemployment and the difficulty of transiting from school to work has been a persistent and significant problem. Thus, the government and policymakers have identified policies and programs which can increase the probability of finding work for these jobless youth and raise their productivity. The Special Program for Employment of Students (SPES) is one of the government’s interventions promoting youth employment. SPES…
A Tracer Study of the DOLE Kabuhayan Para sa Magulang ng mga Batang Manggagawa (KASAMA) Program
As one of the major components of the DOLE Child Labor Prevention and Elimination Program (CLPEP), the DOLE Kabuhayan Para sa Magulang ng Mga Batang Manggagawa (KASAMA) Program aims to contribute to the goal of the Philippine Labor and Employment Plan (LEP) of strengthening measures to reduce exploitative child labor by providing families of child laborers with access to livelihood and entrepreneurship opportunities. This study of the KASAMA…
DOLE Roadmap to Managing ASEAN Integration in 2015
This paper examines the readiness of the Philippines in terms of worker mobility and free flow of services and skilled labor within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). This paper aims to assist the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in developing and framing the DOLE Roadmap to managing the policy transition toward integration of ASEAN economies in 2015 particularly on areas that affect worker mobility. This paper likewise…
Disaster Risk Reduction and Management: Improving Labor Market Resilience and Employment Recovery
Description
In the likely context of intensified disaster and climate-induced risk, this policy paper
discusses a strategy framework that highlights the employment dimension of disaster experience and
recommends that the government should provide resilience-building supports as a foundation for reducing, if not
eliminating, the probability and severity of disaster risk. The framework further proposes strategies for
preventing massive and…
Impact of the Current Interpretation of BIR of Tax Laws on the Income of Workers: A Study on Tax Distortion, De Minimis Benefits Expansion, and Labor Dispute Awards Taxation
Description
This policy brief attempts to dissect tax-related issues by revisiting specific Tax Code (as
amended) provisions and rules on the exemption of minimum wage earners, as well as those pertaining to de
minimis benefits, the exemption ceiling, and taxation of labor dispute awards. It uses the perspectives elicited
from the tripartite-plus partners and stakeholders through the conduct of a roundtable discussion to come up
with…
A Rapid Assessment of the Community-Based Employment Program (CBEP)
Description
This policy brief highlights the issues that constrain CBEP from maximizing its potential as a
social protection scheme. The issues discussed in this brief were raised by CBEP focal persons themselves during
an ILS-sponsored roundtable discussion. These include targeting leakages, limited institutional capacity of
implementers, absence of community involvement, and lack of sustainability for poverty reduction.
Correspondingly,…
An Assessment of Firm-level Practices on Decent Work in the Furniture Industry
Description
The Philippine furniture industry has rapidly evolved over the years. From its being a mere
rattan pole and wicker export supplier in the 1960’s, the industry was able to expand and become one of the top
suppliers of a wide range of well-designed furniture not only in Asia but in the world. However, because of the
nature of work in the industry are prone to occupational hazards and work-related issues. This policy…