[ Malaya.com.ph ] May 19, 2008
By IRMA ISIP
An antiquated labor law banning women from working night shifts has prevented business process companies from hiring more of them according to Oscar Sanez, president of the Business Process Association of the Philippines (BPAP).
Sanez said that under Article 130 of the Labor Code, women cannot be hired to do night work or from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
The law he said prevented women from being employed by an industry that will grow to $13-billion by 2010.
He said the ratio of women against men both in the managerial and staff levels is now 6 to 4, but companies are willing to hire more if the restriction is removed.
Sanez said that while BPO players manage to secure exemptions from this law, the presence of this provision itself turns off investors.
"Whenever investors see that law they … it’s not good for investments because even if you do get exemption, you have to go through a lot of paper work which is extra work for the investor," he said.
Sanez said the law was created years ago to protect women from illegal trade such as prostitution
"But we are a new industry, we represent a global industry where companies work in different timezones. Let us review, remove and amend it," he said.
He said there are over 200 labor-related bills filed in Congress but the industry is pushing for an omnibus or wholesale change in modernizing labor code to reflect the times.
Sanez said based on performance, women are just as qualified but compared to the attrition rate experienced in India, more Filipinas opt to work even after getting married.
For an industry, which pays one of the highest compensation rates in the country, the BPO business also pays a higher premium for night differential, at 20 to 30 percent of daily rate compared to the mandated 10 percent.
The industry employed around 320,000 as of 2007 and needs to augment its workforce by 600,000 in the next three years to meet its goal of 1 million jobs and $13-billion revenues in two years.
Meanwhile, Sanez said the BPAP is also working closely with Congress in coming up with legislation on data privacy and cyber crime to ensure data security for global clients of the BPO industry.
Right now, Sanez said, service providers self-police themselves, guided only by corporate and industry regulations.
"We have to come up with a law that would ensure security of information and accountability of service providers and in prosecuting those found guilty. Right now there is no law. Investors want to be protected," Sanez said.
He said at most, these crimes are treated as misdemeanors.
"We want something similar to the banking secrecy law but under a different scenario. Services providers have the access to information of their global clients – from mortgage to credit card accounts which need to be protected," he said.
Competitor countries are working on their own data privacy, which would make them more attractive as investment destination to global clients. India will pass its own soon while countries in South America and Eastern Europe are in the process of crafting their laws.
Sen. Edgardo Angara and Rep. Jun Abaya have so far filed bills addressing this concern.
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