DOLE – Department of Labor and Employment Philippines – Purpose, Functions and Responsibilities

The Department of Labor and Employment or DOLE is a government department in the Philippines responsible for the promotion of the social and economic welfare of workers, regulating labor and employment conditions, and protecting workers’ rights.

The DOLE is headed by the Secretary of Labor and Employment who is appointed by the President of the Philippines. The department has a workforce of employees working in its offices and field offices nationwide.

Also Read: What does OWWA Mean? Meaning of POLO-OWWA?

DOLE provides assistance to the country’s more than 40 million workers, who operate in the formal and informal economies, as well as the commercial and public sectors.

Workers’ organizations, employers and/or employers’ groups, non-government organizations (NGOs), and other government agencies, as well as the academe, other stakeholders, international organizations (e.g., ILO, IOM, UNDP, UNICEF), and the international community, including the host countries of our OFWs, are among the DOLE’s clients.

Overview

In 1908, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) was established as a small bureau. With the adoption of Act 4121 on December 8, 1933, it became a department. Today, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is the national government agency responsible with formulating policies, implementing programs, and serving as the Executive Branch’s policy-coordinating arm in the field of labor and employment.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) encourages meaningful employment and maximizes the growth and usage of the country’s human resources.

What is DOLE?

The Philippine government’s Department of Labor and Employment is one of the executive agencies tasked with formulating policies, implementing programs and services, and serving as the Executive Branch’s policy-coordinating arm in the field of labor and employment.

DOLE’s purpose is to empower gainful employment, develop human resources, safeguard and promote the welfare of workers, and maintain industrial harmony.

Some of the key functions and responsibilities of the DOLE are:

• To promote social and economic welfare of workers
• To regulate labor and employment conditions
• To protect workers’ rights
• To provide employment services
• To administer wage and salary administration
• To develop occupational safety and health standards
• To enforce labor laws and regulations
• To conduct research and development on labor and employment

Vision

DOLE’s vision states that they want Filipino workers, such as OFWs, to have better employment.

“Every Filipino worker attains full, decent and productive employment.”

Mission

DOLE’s mission for the coming years states that they desire to create employment opportunities and protect our Filipino employees as well as our OFWs when they are working abroad.

“To promote gainful employment opportunities, develop human resources, protect workers and promote their welfare, and maintain industrial peace.”

Functions and Responsibilities

• Assist OFWs with issues related to the employer-employee relationship.
• Economic, political, and labor market situations and policy developments in the host nation that may influence Filipino migrant workers and Philippine labor policies are monitored and reported to the Home Office (HO).
• Implement the DOLE’s overseas employment program in accordance with the government’s general policy objectives.
• Initiate a community development program and provide support for the government, host country, Filipino community organizations, and other entities’ socio-cultural activities.
• Reintegration programs should be developed and implemented.
• Verify employment contracts and other job-related documentation, such as foreign principals’ accreditation.
• As ordered by the Secretary of Labor and Employment, perform other duties.

Objectives

DOLE commits to carry out its assigned tasks in order to meet the following objectives:

1. To improve workers’ employability and MSMEs’ competitiveness by providing more responsive and accessible human resource development programs and employment facilitation services for an efficient match between skills supply and job vacancies, as well as promoting enterprise productivity to support job creation.
2. To protect workers’ rights and maintain industrial peace by enforcing labor standards, resolving labor disputes quickly and fairly, enhancing labor-management cooperation, and promoting labor education and tripartism in policy and decision-making in order to preserve jobs and improve employment quality in the country.
3. To improve social protection, especially for vulnerable workers and Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), by increasing access, ensuring benefits and other welfare services, and giving opportunity to transition into more productive and long-term employment.
4. By streamlining processes and making frontline services more sensitive to people’s needs, DOLE will continue to improve and become a more efficient, responsive, purposeful, and responsible institution.

Programs and Services

Here are some of the programs and services people can expect from DOLE office:

Career Guidance Advocacy Program

Career Guidance was created to help promote awareness and support for career advocacy and employment counseling, guiding youth and students in course selection to avoid skills mismatch and underemployment.

Career Guidance gives you the basics on the vocations that have been identified in the most recent labor market. It includes vocations and careers that will be in high demand in the next five to ten years. Its goal is to provide current information about specific jobs to help students and job seekers make informed decisions about their future careers.

DOLE Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program (DILEEP)

By maximizing community resources and skills, the DOLE Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program assist in the transformation of existing livelihoods into viable and sustainable businesses or community enterprises.

Through training on productivity improvement, worker safety and health, entrepreneurship development, and other topics, networking and business alliances, and social protection advocacy, improve, restore, and develops livelihood.

The integrated assistance will help the economic venture to evolve from a subsistence family livelihood to a community or micro-enterprise run by a community group.

DOLE Kabuhayan Starter Kit

The DOLE Kabuhayan (DK) Starter KITS Project is a livelihood-formation strategy aimed at improving the socio-economic well-being of employees in the informal economy, groups/sectors with particular issues, and displaced wage workers (both locally and internationally) and their families.

The project will provide a livelihood startup kit, which will include a package of services that will enable the project’s target beneficiaries to begin a livelihood venture and become self-employed fast. Its goal is to engage people in long-term self-employment through simple livelihood ventures.

Government Internship Program (GIP)

GIP is a DOLE program that aims to give young workers, particularly the poor and indigent, the opportunity to show their talents and skills in the field of public service, with the ultimate goal of attracting the best and brightest who want to work for the government, particularly in fields and disciplines related to labor and employment. Interns with the government are paid 75% of the region’s minimum wage.

JobStart

Jobstart Philippines is a DOLE initiative in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank and the Canadian government. It is being executed through the target areas’ local PESO offices.

Qualified “JobStarters” will receive ten days of life skills training, up to three months of JobStart-funded technical training, and another three months of work experience with a “matched” employer/establishment. In exchange, the interns will be paid at least 75% of the applicable minimum municipality’s wage.

Livelihood Assistance to Parents of Child Laborer

The DOLE livelihood aid to child laborers’ parents is a strategic reaction to prevent and eliminate child labor. The DOLE’s Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program (DILEEP) prioritizes parents of child laborers. Beneficiaries should not allow their children to engage in child labor, according to DILEEP guidelines.

National Skills Registration Program (NSRP)

The government’s online manpower database is known as the National Skills Registry Program, or NSRP. Workers around the country are being encouraged to register in the Public Employment Information System (PEIS) to make themselves more visible to employers.

The PEIS made it simple to find a list of available workers throughout the country, as well as a list of businesses having openings. PEIS will act as a clearinghouse for information on skills and accreditations, licenses, and local and international career opportunities.

Nego-Kart Project

Nego-Kart (Negosyo sa Kariton) is a project aimed towards ambulant sellers in the country’s largest cities. The project will help ambulant sellers turn their present livelihood ventures into lucrative and long-term businesses, bringing their income up to the level of minimum wage earners, at the very least.

Philippine Program Against Child Labor (PPACL)

The Philippine Program Against Child Labor (PPACL) strives to prevent and eliminate child labor by protecting, extracting, healing, and reintegrating child workers into a loving society, as well as supporting the alleviation of extreme poverty, which is the country’s principal cause of child labor.

Profiling of Child Laborers and Provision of Services to Remove them from Child Labor

In order to meet the child labor target set out in the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2017-2022, the DOLE began profiling child laborers in 2018. The goal is to locate and identify children who will be referred to appropriate agencies and organizations for the provision of necessary services to remove them from child labor.

Project Angel Tree

Project Angel Tree, which is part of the Department of Labor’s Child Labor Prevention and Elimination Program, provides a variety of social services to child laborers and their families, including food, clothing, educational assistance or school supplies, and even work and training opportunities made available by sponsors or benefactors (‘angels’).

Its goal is to improve the economic and social situations of child laborers and their families, as well as to raise the number of supporters and advocates for the prevention and elimination of child labor.

Public Employment Service Office (PESO)

The major goal of this program is to provide a timely and cost-effective transmission of employment services from companies to job seekers. The program also functions as an information hub for all government entities in the area’s various programs and services.

Seminars and training, counseling, career assistance, mass motivation, and value development activities are all part of its objective. PESO provides unique services such as Livelihood and Self-Employment Bazaars, the Special Program for Employment of Students and Out-of-School Youth (SPES-OSY), and Job Fairs, the most well-known service within the program that connects job seekers and businesses.

Sagip Batang Manggagawa (SBM)

The Sagip Batang Manggagawa (SBM) is an inter-agency rapid response mechanism designed to address situations of child labor under deplorable conditions. For finding, monitoring, and rescuing child laborers in hazardous and exploitative working conditions, it employs an inter-agency quick action team.

Special Program for the Employment of Students (SPES)

The Special Program for the Employment of Students (SPES), which is mandated in Republic Act 10917, is a program that aims to assist underprivileged but eligible students in finding methods to meet some of their financial needs. I

ts goal is to sharpen and develop the youth’s abilities and potential for the country’s benefit. Originally, the program was only available during the summer and December breaks, but due to increased demand, it is now available all year. Employers are responsible for paying 60% of the minimum wage, while DOLE is responsible for the other 40%.

National Council Against Child Labor (NCACL)

The National Council Against Child Labor (NCACL), established under Executive Order No. 92, issued on September 17, 2019, is charged with strengthening government efforts to protect the rights of vulnerable groups, particularly children, strengthen related institutional mechanisms, and implement additional measures to contribute to the prevention, reduction, and elimination of all forms of child labor.

Tulong Pangkabuhayan sa ating Displaced Workers (TUPAD)

DOLE TUPAD program is a community-based (municipality/barangay) package of aid that provides displaced workers, the underemployed, and the unemployed poor with temporary employment for up to 30 days, depending on the nature of the task.

One member of each household will be accommodated. A worker who has already worked under the TUPAD program is not eligible for future employment under the program.

Video: DOLE Philippine Labor Standards Guide

Check out this video guide about the general labor standards of the Philippines. If you think about DOLE, they handle all concerns about employment in the Philippines.

Visit the Department of Labor and Employment-IPS YouTube Channel to discover more about the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). They provide regular updates and respond to DOLE-related concerns.

Frequently Asked Questions

Please check out the following questions and answers Pinoys may have about the DOLE Labor office:

1. What is DOLE?

The Philippine government’s Department of Labor and Employment is one of the executive agencies tasked with formulating policies, implementing programs and services, and serving as the Executive Branch’s policy-coordinating arm in the field of labor and employment.

2. What are the benefits of DOLE?

Medical benefits for sickness/injuries, Disability benefits, Rehabilitation benefits, Death and Funeral Benefits, and Pension Benefits are just a few of the DOLE’s benefits.

3. What is the purpose of DOLE?

The main purpose of the Department of Labor and Employment is to promote social and economic welfare of workers, regulate labor and employment conditions, and protect workers’ rights. The department also provides employment services, administers wage and salary administration, develops occupational safety and health standards, and enforces labor laws.

DOLE’s purpose is to empower gainful employment, develop human resources, safeguard and promote the welfare of workers, and maintain industrial harmony.

4. Is there a difference between DOLE and OWWA?

Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) is a DOLE agency. Its primary function is to safeguard the interests of OFWs and their families.

5. How does DOLE help OFW?

Through POLO, the DOLE provides a variety of on-site programs and services to promote and defend OFWs’ rights and well-being. Workers’ training, case management, custodial services, repatriation support, and other welfare assistance are among the services provided.

6. Is it possible for me to apply for multiple DOLE programs and services?

Yes, you can apply for a wide range of DOLE programs and services if you meet their requirements.

7. Does DOLE assist OFWs?

Yes, DOLE assists OFWs under the OWWA program. They provide a variety of services that OFWs can take advantage of.

8. What does a weekly rest day entail?

After six days of work, the employer of the OFW should organize a day off of 24 hours after consulting with the employees.

9. What is wage and wage-related benefits?

Wage is the sum of money provided to an employee in exchange for completing a task, completing a piece of work, or providing a service to an employer. Overtime, night differential, rest day, holiday, and 13th month salary are all included. It also covers the fair and reasonable value of board, lodging, and other services provided by the employer on a regular basis.

10. How does payment of wages works?

Wages must be paid in cash, with legal tender, at or near the workplace. Payment may be made through a bank if a majority of the workers in establishments with 25 or more employees sign a written petition and the bank is within one (1) kilometer of the establishment. Payment will be paid to the employees directly.

Wages must be paid at least once every two (2) weeks or twice a month at intervals of no more than 16 days.

Summary

In a nutshell, if you are an employee/worker in the Philippines, and you have concerns about your employment, you have to refer to the DOLE labor law for reference, and you may contact DOLE for assistance.

DOLE, after all, is a national department tasked with formulating policies, implementing programs, and serving as the Executive Branch’s policy-coordinating arm in the field of labor and employment.

Under the OWWA program, DOLE assist OFWs. OFWs can take advantage of a variety of services provided by them. Medical benefits for sickness/injuries, disability benefits, rehabilitation benefits, death and funeral benefits, and pension benefits are only a few of the services offered.

Contact Information

DOLE Labor office
Address: Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Building, Muralla Wing cor. General Luna St., Intramuros, Manila, 1002, Philippines
Telephone Number: (02) 8527 8000
Website: https://www.dole.gov.ph/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/laborandemployment

Google Map Location

Here is a map guide to the main headquarters location of the DOLE labor office: