By Leslie Ann Aquino With more workers set to return to work on Monday, June 1, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reminded employers and workers to follow the health protocols in the interim guidelines on workplace prevention and control of COVID-19) that it issued jointly issued with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III
(Keith Bacongco / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO) "See to it that all the things provided there to prevent the transmission of the coronavirus in workplaces must be observed strictly," Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said in a virtual press briefing on Friday. Released on May 1, the guidelines enumerated both the duties of employers and employees. Among the responsibilities of employers are: provide the necessary company policies for the prevention and control of COVID-I9 in consultation with workers; provide resources and materials needed to keep the workers healthy and the workplace safe such as masks; designate the safety officer to monitor COVID-19 prevention and control measures; and enhance health insurance provision for workers. Where feasible, employers are also urged to provide shuttle services or decent accommodation on near-site location to lessen travel and people movement; enjoin the hiring from the local community; and put up a COVID-l9 Hotline and Call Center for employees to report if symptomatic, and daily monitoring scheme of "suspect" employees’ condition. Employees, on the other hand, shall comply with all workplace measures in place for the prevention and control of COVID-I9, such as, frequent hand washing; observe proper respiratory etiquette; coughing and sneezing into tissue or into shift sleeve if tissue paper is not available;  disposing used tissues properly, and disinfecting hands immediately through proper washing with soap and water or alcohol-based sanitizer immediately after a cough or sneeze. Labor groups, meanwhile, said with Metro Manila and other urban centers to be placed in general community quarantine status, more workers will be returning to work with no guarantee to "safe work and transit," as no mass testing has determined the extent of COVID-19 infection in the country. “Now that even more workers will be trooping back to work come June 1, we are being forced to put our lives on the line just to keep industries and the whole economy going. Instead of getting the full support of government, we are being left to fend for ourselves, or worse, it is making things more difficult for us,” Atty. Sonny Matula, chairperson of Nagkaisa, said in a statement. "DOLE does not oblige employers to shuttle their employees from their residence to the workplace and back, while public transportation like jeepneys and busses—the most accessible means of transportation for workers, continue to be banned. Workers have really been left behind,” he added. KMU Chairperson Elmer Labog lamented how workers are now being placed in a very difficult and precarious situation. "The Labor Department should (perform) oversight on matters of health and safety of workers once they go back to work," he said. "Are their work places safe? Do they have safe means of transportation? Are their jobs and income secured? These are matters that should be guaranteed by government,” Labog added. The labor groups called for a “Balik Trabahong Ligtas” saying workers have the right to return to work only under safe and healthy conditions.