The Department of Labor and Employment reminded employers in the private sector to observe proper pay rules for Christmas, New Year, and Rizal Day, and to give their employees their 13th month pay on or before December 24.
The department said employers should give the 13th month pay to their employees who have worked for at least a month in the current year, regardless of the type of job or the manner by which the salary is being given.
Under the Labor Code, all rank-and-file employees are entitled to receive 13th month pay, which is equivalent to the total basic salary earned during the year divided by 12 months.
The department also advised workers who are not being paid the 13th month pay to go to the nearest DoLE field office and file a request for assistance.
In a statement, the DoLE said that President Rodrigo Roa Duterte declared December 25 and 30, 2017, and January 1, 2018 as regular holidays
Meanwhile, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello II said the government is winning the war to eliminate labor-only contracting and other forms of illegal contracting arrangements.
Citing a year-end report from Bureau of Working Conditions, Bello said that 125,352 workers are now benefitting from regular employment status, including those set for regularization towards the end of the year.
“We are ending this year with more workers enjoying stable employment status through our intensified labor inspections and voluntary regularization of collaborating establishments. As President Duterte has committed, we are pursuing the campaign to stop this pernicious practice with more vigor,” Bello said.
Based on the BWC report, 40,903 workers were regularized through regular labor assessments, and 27,144 more workers are set to be regularized based on Compliance Orders that had been issued.
BWC also reported that 8,697 workers have secured regular employment status through voluntary regularization while 48,286 other workers are expected to be regularized by their employers by yearend.
