An employers' group on Thursday said that talks on new regulations regarding contractual labor are back to square one.

The Employers Confederation of the Philippines said this after representatives from the labor and management sectors failed to agree on the draft department order presented to President Rodrigo Duterte last December.

The draft department order was supposed to regulate all labor contracting agreements.

"Just late this morning we received from DOLE a new draft. The story is we have to negotiate, discuss all over again," ECOP President Edgardo Lacson said.

Lacson said that the management sector wants to modify the types of workers who are qualified to be subjected to contractual labor, particularly those whose services are "necessary and desirable" to the business of a company.

"Actually ang nasa batas kasi, anything that is desirable and necessary cannot be contracted out. But we are trying to modify that, because all jobs in the company are necessary and beneficial," Lacson said.

He said ECOP has already compromised on a 40 percent cap on contractual workers in a company.

The labor sector likewise slammed the proposed department order for supposedly favoring business owners. They said that by regulating, and not eliminating contractualization, the government is allowing the institutionalization of abuse of workers by capitalists.

ECOP however said it expects President Duterte to soften his stand on contractualization following his meeting with business leaders last Tuesday.

"He has also to see the viewpoint of the employers, because once you end contractualization you are practically ending employment activities in the country," Lacson said.

In a separate interview, Labor Undersecretary Dominador Say said that although there will be changes in the draft order presented to President Duterte, the public could expect it to be only minimal.

Usec. Say, along with Undersecretaries Ciriaco Lagunzad and Joel Maglunsod, have submitted their own versions of the draft order to Secretary Silvestre Bello. Say said he expects a new Department Order to be out by the second week of February.