PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER
The country’s information technology and business process management industry is a major component of the economy. However, the industry’s big economic contribution is not enough reason to put the safety of BPO workers at risk.
MANILA – Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma ordered last week the investigation of 98 business process outsourcing (BPO) companies for allegedly forcing their employees to work on-site despite heavy flooding, travel hazards, and power outages caused by Super Typhoon Uwan.
Laguesma was acting on a request by the BPO Industry Employees Network (BIEN Philippines) to look into these firms’ possible violation of the law on occupational safety and the Department of Labor and Employment’s (Dole) guidelines on work suspension during inclement weather.
As Uwan battered Luzon, many BPO firms required their workers to report on-site and were issued a notice to explain if they skipped work, the labor group said. BIEN said it received numerous reports from BPO employees who had to wade through floodwaters and risk their safety after being ordered to physically report for work. Some employees, it added, were forced to use leave credits or threatened with sanctions for staying home during the storm.
The IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP), which counts more than 400 member-companies in the IT and BPO industries, defended its members’ actions, pointing out that essential BPO firms, particularly those catering to the health care and banking industries, had to continue their operations to meet the demands of their international clients.
Not weather-proof
It pointed out that the ability of its member-firms to sustain operations even during emergencies is part of the industry’s responsibility to both its employees and its clients.
The country’s information technology and business process management industry is a major component of the economy, providing jobs and generating foreign exchange given its predominantly foreign clientele. IBPAP expects the industry to generate $42 billion in revenues by 2026, or about 5 percent more than this year’s revenue forecast of $40 billion. It expects to employ 1.97 million Filipinos by 2026 to service its major foreign customers in banking, financial services, health care and digital customer experience.
However, the industry’s big economic contribution is not enough reason to put the safety of BPO workers at risk. They are not weather-proof. They are as vulnerable to the dangers of inclement weather as those in other industries. As BIEN’s national president Mylene Cabalona described it, what transpired in the wake of Uwan only showed that “many companies continue to prioritize business operations over worker safety.”
Imminent danger
In times of calamities, workers’ welfare should always be the primary consideration over anything else. Common sense dictates that employees should not be required to work on-site when a calamity endangers their safety. Under Republic Act No. 11058, or the Philippine Occupational Safety and Health Law, workers have the legal right to refuse work if they reasonably believe it poses an imminent danger to their health and safety.
IBPAP had argued that the BPO firms acted within the bounds of law, citing a memorandum circular from the Office of the President that gave the private sector the discretion to suspend work. However, while private sector work suspension is often left to the employer’s discretion, such discretion must prioritize worker safety.
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