AN official of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has expressed disapproval to the proposal of some business groups for working hours to be expanded beyond the usual eight hours.
In a televised public briefing, Labor Assistant Secretary Dominique Tutay said workers should not be mandated to go beyond their regular eight-hour work duty because of their physical and mental limits.
“There is a reason why the Labor Code states that there are only eight hours of work,” she said, adding that adding more working hours will not automatically result to more workers being hired.
“If we extend the hours of work of our employees, it will not, in any way, help in terms of employment creation or generation. Instead of hiring more workers, we will just extend their hours on duty,” she said.
Under the Labor Code of the Philippines, the normal hours of work an employee has to render must not exceed eight hours a day.
Some business groups, however, have urged the government to expand the official working hours as a means of creating more jobs.
