BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – A labor organization in Negros Occidental denounced the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) proposal to allow companies in “distress” to defer releasing their workers’ 13th month pay due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.
Wennie Sancho, secretary-general of the General Alliance of Workers Association (GAWA), said they were “extremely disappointed” by Labor secretary Silvestre Bello III’s pronouncement.
Bello recently proposed the deferment of the 13th month pay, considered as a Christmas bonus by many workers, for companies suffering from huge losses as a result of the pandemic.
But this move could affect around two million workers in the province, warned Sancho.
He branded Bello’s proposal as unfortunate as workers will become the “shock absorbers.”
Sancho said under the law, the 13th Month Pay Law or Presidential Decree No. 851, 1/12 of the basic salary of an employee within a calendar year shall be paid to him/her on or before Dec. 24 of every year.
Basic salary shall include all remuneration of earnings paid by an employer to an employee for services rendered but may not include the Cost of Living Adjustment.
“The 13th month pay cannot be deferred arbitrarily by DOLE because it is a law, unless the workers would waive their rights to claim,” Sancho said.
Sancho also said if business establishments would file petitions for exemption from the law, these have to be evaluated by DOLE regional offices and the authorization should only come from the DOLE chief.
The GAWA official pointed out the Constitution mandates that the State shall afford full protection to labor.
“The 13th month pay is an issue of social justice. It is also a social legislation. Doubts on it should be resolved in favor of the workers who are the primary social economic force,” he stressed./PN
