Group Bats for Reproductive Health Services in Workplaces

Five years since the enactment of the landmark Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health (RPRH) Law, the unmet need for family planning, or the proportion of women who want to delay or stop childbearing but are not using any form of family planning, stands at 17%. According to the 2017 National Demographic and Health Survey, this unmet need is not only true for women with no education—16% of women with college education have also reported having unmet family planning needs.

Providing reproductive health services in the workplace is important in closing this gap, according to Benjamin de Leon, President of the Forum for Family Planning and Development. “The availability of these services in the workplace are intended to address the unmet need for family planning. We need to provide reproductive health services to where Filipinas are. In 2017, over 16 million Filipinas were part of the formal labor force, a significant increase from 20 years earlier, when only 11 million Filipinas were employed,” de Leon said.

The passage of the landmark RPRH Law in late 2012 enshrined the protection and promotion of women’s health, especially mothers, guaranteeing gender equality, women empowerment, and dignity as a health and human rights concern. Section 5.07 of its Implementing Rules and Regulations, on Family Planning Services at Establishments or Enterprises, states, “Pursuant to Article 134 of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Labor Code, as amended, establishments which are required by law to maintain a clinic or infirmary shall provide free family planning services to their employees which shall include, but not be limited to, the application or use of contraceptive pills and intrauterine devices.”

“The fundamental rights to life and health, including RH must be respected and realized. Relevant laws are already in place. The government has the duty to fully enforce them,” stated Eva Arcos, National Vice President of the Associated Labor Unions and Co-Chair of IndustriALL Global Union Women.

According to Arcos, one critical area of compliance is the workplace. “Decent work also demands social partnership with workers and labor unions. They should be engaged in the formulation and implementation of an integrated, comprehensive RH program to ensure that workers are not only productive, but that their basic rights are also protected,” Arcos added.

Today, most workplaces have yet to provide family planning and reproductive health services to their employees. “The reality for many Filipino women and their partners is that they don’t have time to go to public health centers or hospitals where they could have access to such services. Companies need to go beyond implementing extended maternity and paternity leaves, but instead look at more holistic ways in which they can support their employees,” said de Leon.

Providing employees with family planning and reproductive health services also makes business sense. The Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines, as early as a decade ago, has undertaken studies to show that enhanced access to such services in the workplace allowed companies to better plan and manage their resources.

“For a company, that can mean less disruptions and attendant costs due to unplanned pregnancies. More importantly, it can also mean having a talent force that is more engaged and satisfied, leading to increase in productivity and overall contribution to the company,” de Leon noted.

Enacting these relevant provisions and providing these services in the workplace are a significant step towards attaining the goals of the RPRH Law.

“The RPRH Law recognized that women have full control over their bodies and that they can and should make independent, well-informed choices regarding their bodies,” de Leon pointed out. “The law enables our people to plan for their futures and improve the quality of their lives, and this is best manifested in a supportive environment—and there’s no better way to start than to ensure that every Filipino’s RH needs are adequately supported in the workplace.”