In response to one major issue in labour inspection where employers either appoint or try to influence the appointment of workers' representatives during the inspection process, the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) with the support of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Country Office for the Philippines (CO-Manila) has expanded its reach to ensure compliance to the labour laws standards by companies, especially the small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), through its chapters and other partner organizations. A training programme was designed and conducted aimed to: (a) contribute to better understanding of employers on their legal obligations to their workers; and (b) provide and recognize the minimum working conditions, as set by labour laws. Also, the training focused not just on the benefits of labour laws compliance from a national and international perspective, general labour standards and basic occupational safety and health standards, but also on legal criteria for determining employee-employer relationship and legal contracting and subcontracting, according to the Labor Code, relevant jurisprudence and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Department Order 174-17.

At the end of the training, all 30 participants developed their individual re-entry plans to re-echo the programme in their respective companies. The participants were divided into different regional chapters to develop chapter-specific action plans to promote ECOP and labour laws compliance in their respective regions and expected to be part of their new membership services programme, the ECOP Helpdesk.