The Department of Labor and Employment – Region XI awarded the Labor Standards Compliance Certificate (LSCC) to the Bachelor Express, Incorporated and the Davao Holiday Transport Services Corporation in a simple ceremony on November 06, 2012 at the Royal Mandaya Hotel, Davao City.
The Board Members of the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-XI (RTWPB-XI) and the representatives of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority-XI (TESDA-XI), National Conciliation and Mediation Board -XI (NCMB-XI) and Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board-XI (LTFRB-XI) as partners in the implementation of DOLE Department Order No. 118-12 attended the awarding ceremony.
The LSCC is issued to bus companies found complying with DOLE DO 118-12 which is a requirement under LTFRB’s Memorandum Circular No. 2012-001 in the application for new Certificate of Public Convenience (CPC) or in the renewal of existing CPC.
Among the 6 bus companies whose compensation schemes were endorsed by the RTWPB-XI to DOLE for inspection/verification, only Bachelor Express, Inc. and the Davao Holiday Transport Services Corporation successfully complied with the part-fixed, part performance based compensation scheme and other labor standards such as the 8-hour rule, social security and welfare benefits and occupational safety and health as required by DO 118-12.
Under DO No. 118-12, the fixed component consists of an amount that is mutually agreed upon by bus owner/operator and the driver/conductor which shall not be lower than the applicable minimum wage while the performance based component shall be based on business performance, safety performance and other parameters.
The bus operators are required to submit their proposed compensation scheme to the RTWPB-XI for review if the same is in conformity with the Operational Guidelines on DO 118-12.
In the case of bus companies with existing Collective Bargaining Agreements, this applies to Bachelor Express, Inc., while implementing purely commission-based compensation schemes which ensure wages not lower than the applicable minimum wage (e.g. through the grant of wage subsidies) and providing performance incentives to workers shall constitute compliance to DO 118-12.
DOLE’s DO 118-12, series of 2012, “Rules and Regulations Governing the Employment and Working Conditions of Drivers and Conductors in the Public Utility Bus Transport Industry” took effect last February 1, 2012 and was implemented in the regions beginning July1 of this year.
Presently, the other 4 bus companies that are still awaiting for the DOLE issuance of the LSCC are: Davao Metro Shuttle Corporation, Del Norte Fighters, South East Mindanao Transport Multipurpose Cooperative (SEMTRAMPCO) and Island City Express, Incorporated.
The awarding ceremony was followed by the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) among the concerned government agencies namely DOLE-XI, RTWPB-XI, TESDA-XI, NCMB-XI and LTFRB-XI in the implementation of DO 118-12.
The MOU was entered into by the concerned government agencies upon agreement and commitment to work together in a collaborative way to fulfill its roles and responsibilities for a smooth and effective implementation of DO 118-12. The concerned agencies also agreed to adopt a consolidated process flow chart as a standard in implementing the DO in Davao Region.
END (with reporting from RTWPB-XI)
