ALMOST a million workers have benefited from the simplified and fast resolution of labor disputes, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said.
In a speech, Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said DOLE has settled 265,846 labor cases with benefits reaching P65.138 billion to some 990,756 workers.
“The department also awarded P6 billion from the settlement of some 139,397 cases through the Single Entry Approach or SEnA, which benefited around 184,986 workers,” Bello said.
SEnA is a reform measure institutionalized by DOLE in 2010 for a faster, fairer, inexpensive settlement of labor issues.
This system prevents them from maturing into actual labor cases that will be elevated and resolved under the formal adjudication process.
Moreover, DOLE also facilitated the settlement of P606.323 million worth of claims and benefits to 9,684 workers in 1,573 cases.
Based on the 2018 data from the Bureau of Labor Relations Overview Report, the demand for SEnA services has been high.
Requests for assistance under the SEnA program of the department reached a total of 59,927 in 2018.
During the same period, the national disposition rate was 97 percent, or 58,298 requests for assistance were disposed.
Likewise, the national settlement rate was posted at 75 percent, meaning, 44,893 requests were settled.
Since SEnA prescribes a mandatory 30-day conciliation-mediation, the average number of days to settle cases is 15 days.