Labor Policies and Implications in the Philippine Settings

Abstract

The study determines the implications of labor laws from the 1987 Philippine constitution up to the implementation of labor laws to the lives of both the capitalist and working sectors. This time immemorial clashes between the labor groups and the owners of the businesses persist today even to the modern industrial economic countries and more so to the developing countries like the Philippines. Through a number of policies, the government adopted and tried to equalize the relationship between the capitalist and working groups. It is a common legal maxim that “don’t kill the hen that lays the golden eggs,” this pertains to the rights of the business because they contribute this much to the development of the economy. The Supreme Court of the Philippines, in a case, held that the job or work of the employee is considered property within the context of the law; hence it may not be taken from him without due process of law. These policies anchored impliedly with the famous quotes of the late President Magsaysay that “Those who have less in life should have more in law.” The research used a case study method to determine the implications of these labor policies to the labor and enterprise sectors. The objectives of the study are the following: What are the bases of Philippine Labor laws? How does the government implement labor laws? What are the effects of labor laws on the workers and businesses? What are the benefits of government, private enterprise, and the labor sectors? The finding of the study: Government must give equal opportunities and incentives for local and foreign companies in the light of ASEAN 2015. The government must secure the preference of Filipino workers over other nations. Revisit the law that encourages the business to include the workers in the policymaking process. The government must strictly watch over the widespread abuse of contracts in order to avoid the regularization of employees. The study will present the legal bases of the policies on labor through the available data, primarily government documents. The scope of the research concentrates on the policies affecting the business and labor sectors to compare and analyze through the records, media interviews and jurisprudence. A case study is appropriate for this study because researchers have used the case study research method for many years across a variety of disciplines. Social scientists, in particular, have made wide use of this qualitative research method to examine contemporary real-life situations and provide the basis for the application of ideas and extension of methods. Researcher Robert K. Yin defines the case study research method as an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident. Multiple sources of evidence are used (Yin, 1984, p. 23).