Work immersion

Sexual harassment AT WORKPLACE: an overviewSexual harassment is an offence that contains numerous intersecting issues of human rights, gender equality, dignity, health, work conditions, productivity, freedom to practice and choose one’s profession, and the right to livelihood, to name a few, since it impacts all these areas. If workplaces are not made free of discrimination for women, then a community is set back. More importantly, it personalizes, silences, and makes invisible a systemic pattern of violations in the workplace and puts women at risk. In that sense, the importance of naming and censuring the problem in law cannot be understated.

Harassment is an action that is meant to or happens to cause discomfort for the victim. Bullying occurs when one individual or party socially degrades the victim either for the purpose of increasing their own self-comfort or for the enjoyment of others.

Types of Harassment

  • Workplace

  • Psychological harassment

  • Racial harassment

  • Sexual harassment

  • Religious harassment

Sexual Harassment

  • Physical contact and advances

  • Sexually colored remarks

  • Showing pornography

  • Sexual demands, whether by words or actions

Types of Sexual Harassment

  • Gender Harassment: Generalized sexist statements and behavior that convey insulting or degrading attitudes about women. Examples include insulting remarks, offensive graffiti, obscene jokes or humor about sex or women in general.

  • Seductive Behavior: Unwanted, inappropriate, and offensive sexual advances. Examples include repeated unwanted sexual invitations, insistent requests for dinner, drinks or dates, persistent letters, phone calls, and other invitations.

  • Sexual Bribery: Solicitation of sexual activity or other sex-linked behavior by the promise of reward; the proposition may be either overt or subtle.

  • Sexual Coercion: Coercion of sexual activity or other sex-linked behavior by threat of punishment; examples include negative performance evaluations, withholding of promotions, and threat of termination.

  • Sexual Imposition: Gross sexual imposition (e.g., forceful touching, feeling, grabbing) or sexual assault.

Forms of Sexual Harassment

  • Physical:

    • Touching

    • Unwanted massages

    • Patting, caressing, or fondling

    • Impeding or blocking movement

    • Standing closer than appropriate or necessary for the work being done, touching or rubbing oneself sexually around or in view of another person, or assault.

  • Verbal:

    • Sexual comments, slurs, jokes, or rumors

    • Verbal sexual advances, threats/propositions

    • Verbal abuse of a sexual nature

    • Making sexual comments – clothing/body/looks

    • Sexually degrading words used

    • Suggestive/obscene letters, notes/invitations

    • Turning academic discussions into sexual discussions

    • Asking sexual fantasies, preferences, or history

    • Asking questions about social or sexual life

  • Visual (non-verbal):

    • Leering (looking at someone in a sexually suggestive manner)

    • Making suggestive gestures

    • Displaying pornography, sexually suggestive pictures, cartoons, posters, or literature

    • Having sexually suggestive software on a work or academic computer

    • Suggestive or insulting sounds

Who are the victims?

Sexual harassment does not affect women alone, as men can also be victims. However, women are more vulnerable due to their position in society. Most sexual harassment is carried out by men against women. Sexual harassment affects victims regardless of age, relationship, disability, physical appearance, background, or professional status.

Implementing Guidelines

01 – Rationale

To achieve the above objectives, Work Immersion is thus a requirement for graduation from secondary education. Learners are immersed in actual work environments such as workshops, offices, and laboratories in which their prior training is relevant. These guidelines were formulated based on the rich experiences of modeling schools, tech-voc schools, partnership focal persons, industry partners, and youth development advocates. These guidelines can provide process support to field offices of the Department of Education (DepEd) in fostering relationships and strengthening partnerships so that learners will have access to suitable work immersion venues and other related resources.

02 - Objective of Work Immersion

Work immersion will help develop among the learners life and career skills and will prepare them to make decisions regarding post-secondary education or employment. Through partnership building, DepEd hopes that the Partner Institutions will provide learners with work immersion opportunities, workplace or hands-on experience, and additional learning resources. It aims to make the learners:

  • Appreciate the importance and application of the principles and theories learned in school;

  • Enhance their technical knowledge and skills;

  • Enrich their skills in communications and human relations; and

  • Develop good work habits, attitudes, appreciation, and respect for work.

By the time learners reach Senior High School, they will have already acquired almost all the competencies and skills that would prepare them for the curriculum exits (higher education, employment, middle-skills development, and entrepreneurship). Work immersion provides them with an avenue to test themselves and apply what they have learned in a non-school scenario. In work immersion, learners are not only able to apply their previous training but are also able to experience the social interactions in a work environment. Their experiences during work immersion will develop many skills and values that would help them as they transition from high school to real life.

To assure the achievement of the above objectives of Work Immersion, this policy serves to guide schools in:

  • Creating flexible work immersion arrangements for their learners;

  • Providing options for work immersion that are relevant to learners’ purposes and needs;

  • Organizing work immersion opportunities for learners that are consistent with the diverse human resource requirements of partner institutions for work immersion; and

  • Articulating the scope and limits of work immersion in the context of basic education when building relationships with work immersion partners.

03 – Duties and Responsibilities of Personnel

The successful implementation of Work Immersion will depend on the strong collaboration, support, and commitment of the school personnel and Partner Institution. These personnel shall always exercise due care and diligence in the performance of their duties. Below are additional duties and responsibilities to DepEd Order No. 40, series of 2015 (Guidelines on K to 12 Partnerships).

  • The School Head/Principal

    • Be the authorized person to sign the MOA with Partner Institution on behalf of the school and ensure that all provisions in the MOA are adhered to by both parties;

    • Assign a personnel/teacher to be the School Partnerships Focal Person if the school offers more than one (1) program;

    • Determine the number of teaching loads of the School Partnerships Focal Person and the Work Immersion Teacher subject to the nature of the track/strand for immersion, provided that provisions in the Magna Carta for Teachers are followed;

    • Sign the Travel Authority (TA) of the School Partnerships Focal Person/Work Immersion Teacher if work immersion tasks are conducted within the division. The Schools Division Superintendent will sign if these are conducted outside the division;

    • Report to the Division Office the activities in the Work Immersion Venue, including but not limited to the duration, provisions, and issues and concerns as applicable; and

    • Supervise the work of School Partnerships Focal Person, Immersion Teacher, and Learners.

  • The Work Immersion Coordinator

    • Is authorized to seek partnerships between DepEd and Partner Institutions following the processes mentioned in the guidelines. May be assigned from the school or division office; also may be the school Senior High School Coordinator.

    • Shall:

    • Manage the conduct of Work Immersion;

    • Establish/pursue and maintain the Work Immersion partnership between DepEd and Partner Institutions;

    • Use evaluation and monitoring results to recommend decisions on partnerships;

    • Coordinate with the Work Immersion Teachers regarding the placement of students in partner institutions;

    • Consolidate reports from work immersion teachers (If s/he is the Division SHS Partnership Focal Person, receives reports from schools); and

    • Conduct regular ocular inspections with the Work Immersion Teacher to ensure that the work immersion venue is safe, secure, and suitable for learning.

  • The Work Immersion Teacher

    • Is the school personnel/teacher assigned to supervise the learners at the Work Immersion Venue.

    • Shall:

    • Exercise supervision on learners doing Work Immersion in coordination with Work Immersion Partner Institution Supervisor;

    • Participate in the Joint Working Group of Work Immersion;

    • Coordinate with the School Partnerships Focal Person on learners’ activities and class and venue schedules;

    • Conduct the Pre-immersion and Post-immersion activities;

    • Conduct regular visits to the venue to ensure that learners’ activities are properly implemented; and

    • Submit reports regularly to the Schools Partnership Focal Person on the completion and performance of learners, performance of the Partner Institution, and issues and concerns.

  • The Work Immersion Partner Institution / Supervisor

    • Shall be identified in the MOA and serve as the counterpart of the Work Immersion Teacher.

    • Shall:

    • Exercise supervision over learners during the Work Immersion;

    • Participate in the Joint Working Group;

    • Coordinate with the School Partnership Focal Person and Work Immersion Teacher on Work Immersion venue schedules and capacities;

    • Provide input in the Pre-immersion and Post-immersion activities;

    • Schedule the learners’ activities in the Work Immersion venue together with the Work Immersion Teacher; and

    • Inform the Work Immersion Teacher on capacities, Work Immersion completion, performance of learners, and issues and concerns.

  • The learner

    • Attend Pre and Post Immersion Activities;

    • Report to the Work Immersion Partner Institution Supervisor during actual immersion;

    • Perform the duties and tasks as indicated in the prescribed template for work immersion list of tasks/activities; and

    • Prepare the documentation and reports required in the curriculum and by the Partner Institution.

RIGHTS OF WORKERS

Laws regulating labor in the Philippines can be found in the Labor Code of the Philippines and the Handbook on Statutory Monetary Benefits by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Bureau of Working Conditions.

01 – RIGHT TO RECEIVE JUST WAGES AND BENEFITS Art. 102 Art. 10302 – RIGHT TO SECURITY OF TENURE Art. 28103 – RIGHT TO SELF-ORGANIZATION Art. 24304 – RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN POLICY AND DECISION-MAKING PROCESS Art. 21104 – RIGHT TO A SAFE AND HEALTHY WORKPLACERIGHT TO FREEDOM FROM SEXUAL HARASSMENT Art. 162 R.A No. 7877RIGHT TO RECEIVE JUST WAGES AND BENEFITS Art. 102. Forms of payment. No employer shall pay the wages of an employee by means of promissory notes, vouchers, coupons, tokens, tickets, chits, or any object other than legal tender, even when expressly requested by the employee. Art. 103. Time of payment. Wages shall be paid at least once every two (2) weeks or twice a month at intervals not exceeding sixteen (16) days. If on account of force majeure or circumstances beyond the employer’s control, payment of wages on or within the time herein provided cannot be made, the employer shall pay the wages immediately after such force majeure or circumstances have ceased. No employer shall make payment with less frequency than once a month.

DOLE – Department of Labor and EmploymentOSHS – Occupational Safety and Health Standards (part of DOLE)DEPED – Department of EducationTIN – Taxpayer Identification Number (issued by BIR)PHIC – Philippine Health Insurance CorporationSSS – Social Security SystemGSIS – Government Service Insurance SystemBIR – Bureau of Internal RevenuePAGIBIG – Pagtutulungan sa Kinabukasan: Ikaw, Bangko, Industria at Gobyerno or HDMF – Home Development Mutual Fund (provides housing loans)OSHA – Occupational Safety and Health Administration (while OSHA is a US agency, the Philippines has its own OSHS)