The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) announced on Thursday that private establishment labor inspections have resumed this month.
Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma authorized DOLE personnel to conduct labor inspections beginning Feb. 1 in Administrative Order No. 31-2023, which was made public on Thursday.
The order activates the inspector corps of the department, which consists of labor inspectors (LIs), labor inspection auditors (LIAs), technical safety inspectors (TSIs), hearing officers (HOs), and sheriffs.
Each inspection unit, a system that is replicated down to its regional and field offices, is given a "general authority," which is a list of the minimum qualifications and standards of conduct that qualify an inspector to conduct an inspection.
Labor inspectors have authority only if they have completed the basic training course, have at least the rank of Labor and Employment Officer III (LEO III), and do not have any pending administrative or criminal cases.
Technical safety inspectors, on the other hand, must be registered professional engineers with a Professional Regulation Commission license and the necessary safety inspection training.
Only designated hearing officers are permitted to conduct inspection hearings for mandatory conferences. The order also defined sheriffs' duties, which traditionally include enforcing writs, serving garnishment notices, and carrying out final decisions.
It also authorized regional directors to issue "authority" to their respective labor inspectors.
The inspections are scheduled to end on December 31, 2023.
For the holiday season, the department suspended labor inspection to focus on resolving labor standard cases across the country.
