During my stint as Plant Administrative Services Manager for the Robina Textile Mills, one of the companies under the Gokongwei Group of Companies, I was responsible for Labor Relations at the Plant level, to wit:
1. The Factory complex is on an 18-hectare property and there were 2 spinning mills as well as an Integrated Textile Mills. From cotton fiber imported from around the world, the Factory Complex produces spun and knitting yarn as well as fabric. (We were one of only two suppliers of denim to Levi's Philippines);
2. The Complex had 1,200 workers divided into 3 unions (one of which is considered militant);
3. The managers running the different Production departments were like a mini-United Nations as we has expatriates and technicians from Japan, Taiwan, then East Germany, West Germany, British and even French and naturally, work ethics in the Industrialized countries are so much different from the Filipino mentality and there were occasions that I had to mediate between the Expats and the Union shop stewards.
Since any work stoppage no matter how short is very costly for such a large facility, my orders were to prevent any disruption in operations and hence, I have had to interface with our Industrial Relations Manager based in Manila quite regularly. One of the contentious issues, at least for the Philippine setting, is Efficiency or rather the lack of efficiency as grounds for terminating an employee. And this is the sad part during my discussions with Industrial Relations Department at the time:
1. Inefficiency of an employee is the hardest to prove;
2. To prove Number 1, the Company should have done the following before terminating any worker for that reason:
a. The Work Standards must be posted throughout the Plant;
b. The Work Standards must have been explained to the worker during Day 1 of Hire;
c. There must be a record of worker evaluation every month and the results discussed with the worker;
d. Sufficient time and guidance must have been given to correct any deficiency.
e. Proof there was no bias on the part of the evaluating part (supervisor, foreman etc)
3. Never terminate an employee during an Election Year as the Department of Labor was very political in nature;
4. The local government would probable side with the worker as they are "Votes".
In a sense, it is because of the above why most companies prefer to hire contractuals and to let go before the 6-months probationary period of the new hire expires.
Sorry for the Company's Human Resources or Personnel department and the line managers who failed to do their homework.
By the way, I would like to invite you to visit my Sulit Homepage as there are some business opportunities that you guys might be able to help me out with. If you are interested, just click the Sulit Logo below:
1. The Factory complex is on an 18-hectare property and there were 2 spinning mills as well as an Integrated Textile Mills. From cotton fiber imported from around the world, the Factory Complex produces spun and knitting yarn as well as fabric. (We were one of only two suppliers of denim to Levi's Philippines);
2. The Complex had 1,200 workers divided into 3 unions (one of which is considered militant);
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| courtesy of listverse.com |
Since any work stoppage no matter how short is very costly for such a large facility, my orders were to prevent any disruption in operations and hence, I have had to interface with our Industrial Relations Manager based in Manila quite regularly. One of the contentious issues, at least for the Philippine setting, is Efficiency or rather the lack of efficiency as grounds for terminating an employee. And this is the sad part during my discussions with Industrial Relations Department at the time:
1. Inefficiency of an employee is the hardest to prove;
2. To prove Number 1, the Company should have done the following before terminating any worker for that reason:
a. The Work Standards must be posted throughout the Plant;
b. The Work Standards must have been explained to the worker during Day 1 of Hire;
c. There must be a record of worker evaluation every month and the results discussed with the worker;
d. Sufficient time and guidance must have been given to correct any deficiency.
e. Proof there was no bias on the part of the evaluating part (supervisor, foreman etc)
3. Never terminate an employee during an Election Year as the Department of Labor was very political in nature;
4. The local government would probable side with the worker as they are "Votes".
In a sense, it is because of the above why most companies prefer to hire contractuals and to let go before the 6-months probationary period of the new hire expires.
Sorry for the Company's Human Resources or Personnel department and the line managers who failed to do their homework.
By the way, I would like to invite you to visit my Sulit Homepage as there are some business opportunities that you guys might be able to help me out with. If you are interested, just click the Sulit Logo below:
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