City Council wants clear scope of work

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu City Council has asked City Hall’s Human Resource Development Office (HRDO) to issue policies and guidelines to ensure that job order (JO) employees are not being utilized for jobs beyond their job description.

This request was approved following the filed resolution of Councilor Rey Gealon, chairman of the Committee on Laws and Styling of the City Council during the regular session last Wednesday, July 10, 2024.

The resolution carries an inclusion of the request to ensure that JOs do not perform functions that are not part of the job description of the existing regular employees, such as being deputized as a driver, inspector, and traffic enforcers, among others.

“Considering that JO workers are not considered as employee of the agency, and their job is limited only to special project which should be for a limited period of time, hence, duties and functions that involves enforcement of a law, and exercise of authority should not be made to be performed by a JO workers,” the resolution reads.

It further reads that requests for budget of uniforms and other benefits enjoyed by regular and casual employees should be prohibited as it is accordingly mandated by law.

The same resolution emphasizes that pursuant to Local Government Code (RA 7160) Section 77 it is the responsibility of the chief executive of every local government unit to be also responsible for HRDO in his unit and shall take all personnel actions in accordance with the constitutional provisions on civil service, pertinent laws, and rules and regulations.

It was also stated that JO refers to piece work (pakyaw) or intermittent or emergency jobs such as clearing of debris on the roads, canals, waterways, among others, after natural/man-made disasters/occurrences, and other manual/trades and crafts services such as carpentry, plumbing, electrical, and the like.

“These jobs are of short duration and for a specific piece of work,” it says.

“Hiring under contract of service shall be limited to consultants, learning service providers, and/or other technical experts to undertake special project or job within a specific period. The project or job is not part of the regular functions of the agency, or the expertise is not available in the agency,” it added.

The resolution further states that it is impractical or more expensive for the government agency to directly undertake the service provided by the individual or institutional contractor.

It also said that hiring of JO workers shall be limited to its job descriptions being mentioned beforehand while other trades and crafts, and manual tasks such as carpentry, plumbing, painting, electrical, and the like which are not part of the regular functions of the agency.

“The services of the contract of service and job order workers are not covered by Civil Service law and rules thus, not creditable as government service. They do not enjoy the benefits enjoyed by government employees, such as leave, PERA, RATA and thirteenth month pay,” it also said.