The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) warned employers on Wednesday to pay their workers’ wages in full and at the right time and not in tranches, despite the coronavirus pandemic.
Labor Undersecretary Joji Aragon encouraged workers to report employers that violate the salary policy.
Under existing labor laws, wages shall be given not less than once every two weeks or twice within a month at intervals not exceeding 16 days.
“We don’t agree with the payment of salaries in tranches,” she said in a virtual press briefing.
Aragon said employees who report for work should receive what is due them every month or every 15 days.
The DOLE official said the department is open to accept complaints of workers as well as suggestions of employers over the matter.
Last month, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III called on private companies and other big enterprises “to take the extra mile” in assisting their workers during the crisis situation, instead of resorting to retrenchment amid the work stoppages, suspension of public transportation and restricted movement of people in the communities.
Bello likewise proposed subsidies for employers to avoid further job losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The government is studying a subsidy that would cover 25 to 50 percent of a company’s payroll on the condition that employers avoid retrenchment, he said.
The number of jobless Filipinos grew to 7.3 million in April as the unemployment rate surged to 17.7 percent at the height of the coronavirus lockdown.
Bello reminded employers that since government required non-essential establishments to physically close down their workplaces during the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ), only companies that did not adopt Flexible Work Arrangements (FWAs) and are legally required to temporarily close and/or suspend their operations are not required to pay salaries during the closure period, consistent with the principle of “no work no pay.”
“While such establishments were effectively placed on temporary closure by the ECQ, it is advised that such establishments report their temporary closures with the appropriate DOLE Office using the Establishment Report on COVID-19 prescribed under the COVID-19 Flexi-Work Advisory,” Bello said in a memorandum order.
Such temporary closures arising from COVID-19 and effective for the duration of the ECQ may be distinguished from a bona fide suspension of work operations allowed under Article 301 of the Labor Code, he said.
The article provides that the bona fide suspension of the operation of a business or undertaking for a period not exceeding six months will not terminate employment.
In all such cases, Bello said the employer must reinstate the employee to his or her former position without loss of seniority rights if the employee indicates his or her desire to resume work not later than one month from the resumption of operations of his or her employer.
During this period of temporary suspension, employees are placed on a “floating status” and are not entitled to any salary or financial benefit provided by law, the Labor Code says.
To implement a bona fide suspension of operations under Article 301 of the Labor Code, case law requires that the appropriate DOLE Office be notified at least one month prior to the effectivity of the suspension of operations, Bello said.