Labour law compliance system

Building the Capacity of the Philippines Labour Inspectorate

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) of the Philippines has undertaken initiatives to strengthen its Labour Law Compliance System (LLCS). The new LLCS promotes a culture of voluntary compliance on general labour and occupational safety and health (OSH) standards among companies, through the participation of both workers and employers in the joint assessments and implementation of corrective action plans.

A strong labour inspectorate system strengthens labour law compliance and promotes the rights of workers and employers. In the Philippines, there are 574 labour inspectors covering 906,344 establishments. An ILO technical audit of labour inspection in the Philippines pointed out the need address challenges in the labour inspectorate system. This included the need to enhance coverage due to the low number of labour inspectors and to improve inspector capacity.

The ILO’s Building the Capacity of the Philippines Labour Inspectorate, a project funded by the United States Department of Labor (US DOL), has implemented labour inspection reforms and contributed to enhancing the capacity of the labour inspectorate. The project works in partnership with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), along with key government agencies, workers' and employers' organizations and labour inspectors.

The project, which started in 2015 has two major components. The first component is to strengthen the capacities of DOLE to enforce a Labour Law Compliance System (LLCS) that is consistent with relevant international standards, in particular with the requirements of ILO Convention No. 81. Strategies under this component involve:
  • Reviewing DOLE’s internal procedures and protocols to improve the quality of data generated by inspection reports.
  • Finalizing the operationalization of the LLCS-Management Information System (MIS).
  • Training DOLE staff on the administration and use of the LLCS-MIS.
  • Training DOLE staff on programming work priorities and designing work plans using the LLCS-MIS.
  • Reviewing procedures and tools that support effective performance of Labour Law Compliance Offiders (LLCOs) roles.
  • Training other relevant bureaus of DOLE on the implementation of the LLCS.
  • Training relevant staff on how to carry out specialized inspections (including Occupational Safety and Health).
  • Informing tripartite constituents on the requirements for the ratification of ILO Convention No. 81.
  • Briefing officials and technical staff in the legislature on the proposed LLCS bill.
The second component of the Project is to strengthen the capacities of workers and employers to play a more active role in the implementation of the LLCS, in particular through joint assessments. Strategies under this component include:
  • Designing and disseminating information, education and communication materials on the new LLCS to social partners.
  • Training workers on their roles and responsibilities in joint assessments and in the LLCS as a whole.
  • Establishing trade union monitor networks.
  • Strengthening the capacities of employers’ organizations to attract new members and effectively participate in joint assessments and in the LLCS as a whole.
  • Enhancing the monitoring capacities of employers.
  • Identifying and disseminating good practices of joint assessments through tripartite consensus.

For further information please contact:

ILO Country Office for the Philippines (CO-Manila)
19th Floor, Yuchengco Tower
RCBC Plaza, 6819 Ayala Avenue
1200 Makati City, Philippines
Tel. +632 8580 9900
Fax +632 8856 7597
Email