EMPLOYERS who will not give exact, legal wages, and benefits to their employees will soon be penalized with criminal charges as media personality and senatorial candidate Raffy Tulfo promised to push a bill should he be elected into office.
The wage theft bill, according to Tulfo, is his priority bill once seated in the Senate.
“Ang amo pwede nang kasuhang kriminal kapag hindi nagbayad nang tamang sweldo sa kanyang mga tauhan,” Tulfo said during his campaign sortie yesterday in Barangay Lapasan, this city.
In our current law, Tulfo added, an employer who didn’t give proper wages and benefits can only be filed a civil case. Worse, it can also be “negotiable.”
“Pag aayusin lamang kayo nyan sa DOLE o sa mga ahensya nang gobyerno para ibigay ang pera sa ‘yo. Pero ito pong gagawin ko, wage theft, na yong mga among hindi nagbibigay nang tamang pa sweldo, kumukupit sa sweldo nang mga mangagawa, ipapapreso ko,” said Tulfo.
Tulfo cited an incident where a certain ‘bodegero’ languished in jail because he stole something from the company he worked for. Tulfo said the employer should also have been put in jail for not giving the exact minimum wage due to his employees.
“Kung kayang ipakulong nang amo ang kanyang taohan na nagnakaw sa kanya, si amo na magnanakaw sa kanyang taohan pwede na rin nating ipakulong,” Tulfo promised.
