Groups urge firms to take better care of workers’ health #Burnout

WITH BURNOUT NOW CLASSIFIED AS A MEDICAL CONDITION

INQUIRER.net stock photo

MANILA, Philippines — Labor groups urged employers on Tuesday to see past their profit margins and look after the well-being of their workers, especially now that the World Health Organization (WHO) had already considered burnout due to work as a legitimate medical condition.

But the vice president of the Federation of Free Workers (FFW), Julius Cainglet, admitted that employers might find it hard at first to provide for their workers’ health needs.

“This is a big challenge since a lot of employers find it difficult to comply with existing basic standards such as having enough doctors and nurses depending on the firm’s size and having full-time safety officers. The occupational safety and health culture really have to change,” Cainglet said.

On Monday, the WHO included burnout in its International Classification of Diseases, which is widely used to make a diagnosis on patients. It defined burnout as “a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.”

READ: WHO recognizes burnout as medical condition

The syndrome is characterized by “feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job; and reduced professional efficacy.”

The WHO stressed, however, that this condition was specific to the occupational setting and “should not be applied to describe experiences in other areas of life.”

In the Philippines, for example, Cainglet said burnout was most common among call center employees, who deal with irate customers, and manufacturing workers, who try to meet their quotas.

Welcome development

The Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa hailed as a welcome development the classification of burnout as a medical condition, especially since this has long been shrugged off by employers “who can’t see beyond their profit margins.”

Josua Mata, Sentro secretary general, said that, apart from improving the occupational safety and health program in the workplace, the best way to address burnout is for Congress to pass the proposed security of tenure law.

“After all, what could be more stressful than worrying about being unemployed due to lack of job security?” Mata said.

For the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP), the WHO classification brings to light the need for employers to provide their workers not only with recreational activities but also treat them to routine paid rest.

To better protect workers, ALU-TUCP spokesperson Alan Tanjusay urged the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to come up with guidelines on how to treat employees who would report feeling burned out.

The Bureau of Working Conditions of the DOLE noted though that the condition as a psychosocial concern could already be addressed in the occupational safety and health standards law as well as by the mental health law. - By: Jovic Yee - Reporter / @jovicyeeINQ (Editor: Alexander T. Magno)

Showdown seen over ‘End of Endo’ at bicam

ALU-TUCP Spokesman Alan Tanjusay (Photo from DWIZ)

LABOR leaders on Thursday said they will be ready to counter possible attempts from government economic managers and business groups to derail the passage of the Security of Tenure (SOT) bill as it goes through the bicameral conference next week.

In a statement, Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) Vice President Louie Corral said it is wary of a possible intervention from the Department of Finance (DOF) to derail the SOT.

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III had already rejected the House version of the bill before it was passed on third and final reading with an overwhelming vote of support from congressmen in 2017, Corral recalled.

“We still fear that DOF Secretary Dominguez will move to kill the worker’s bill as it goes to the Bicameral Conference Committee next week,” Corral said.

He said similar opposition may also be raised by the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (Ecop) and the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce.

Corral said they are now preparing to quash such attempts with sound data and mass mobilization during the bicameral conference.

“Our research team will be doing quick-response table studies and position papers to counter the false and misleading legal and economic arguments being advanced by DOF,
Ecop and the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce,” Corral said.

He said other members of labor coalition Nagkaisa will also continue their lobby during the last phase of the passage of the SOT bill.

This was confirmed by Nagkaisa Spokesman and Partido Manggagawa Chairman Renato Magtubo.

“We will fight it out in the bicam,” Magtubo told the BusinessMirror in an SMS.

No compromise

TUCP said they are perplexed by the opposition of business groups on the SOT bill since it will not outlaw the contractual scheme, but only restrict its practice.

This, TUCP Spokesman Alan Tanjusay said, was already a big compromise for labor leaders, who were initially demanding for the outright abolition of contractualization.

“We have already taken a crucial step backward from [an] absolute, total ban of ‘Endo’ position to permissive and allowable job contracting because we recognize employers and business flexibility,” Tanjusay told the BusinessMirror in an SMS.

“We cannot and we will not take more step backward. We will stand our ground. No more compromise,” he added.

The SOT bill has been dubbed “End of Endo” bill because it was seen as a way of curbing the widespread practice of hiring workers under short-term contracts (hence, Endo for “end of contract”) which expire before they qualify for permanent employment under existing law.

Labor groups are optimistic the SOT bill, which was certified as urgent by President Duterte, will be finally enacted into law after the Senate passed its own version of the legislation on Wednesday.

This has been the farthest the bill has been in being made into a law since it was first proposed two decades ago.

“This is a major victory for workers today…We should maintain the momentum and work double time so that the Bicameral Conference Committee could submit a version of the bill that could be ratified at once by both chambers of Congress,” Nagkaisa Chairman and Federation of Free Workers President Sonny Matula said in a statement.

Based on the estimates of labor groups, around 15 million workers in contractual work arrangements will benefit from the passage of the SOT bill. - By Samuel P. Medenilla

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Who are we?

• We represent workers. - The TUCP Party-List was established to represent the interest of labor and workers in Congress through the party list system of representation. Recognizing the fact that the plight of the Filipino workers continue to worsen, we are committed to challenge the biases of elite democracy as we strive to represent 40 million Filipino workers, their families and communities. Popular campaigns to create a critical mass to pass pro-labor laws continue to be our main thrust while we seek to assist in unifying the labor movement through coalitions such as the NAGKAISA

• We fight for labor rights. - With over 700,000 members nationwide, the we focused our legislative agenda in ensuring universal observance of the basic labor rights and so-called core labor standards which includes:
1) The effective abolition of child labor;
2) The elimination of discrimination in employment and occupation;
3) The elimination of all forms of compulsory labor;
4) Upholding respect for freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining; and
5) Respect for the right of workers to undertake concerted action (boycott and strike)

• We advocate peace in Mindanao. - Since the 14th Congress, we have been advocating legislation for peace in Mindanao. We also have been pushing the creation of decent work for both the young out-of-school Muslims and Christians and the promotion of investments and jobs by using the peace dividend as a developmental launch pad. We are also pressing for lower electricity rates in order to attract investors in Mindanao.

• We push for allied progressive concerns. - We are also working to push allied progressive concerns such as:
(1) To promote economic equity;
(2) To ensure universal healthcare;
(3) To defend women’s rights;
(4) To defend indigenous people’s rights;
(5) To develop universal education;
(6) To continue agrarian reform;
(7) To balance rural and urban development;
(8) To conserve natural resources along the lines of sustainable development;
(9) To enhance local autonomy;
(10) To enact electoral reform; and
(11) To ensure freedom of information

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