More than 2 million workers are under “floating status” or on “forced leave” because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said Wednesday.
The admission came a day after the World Bank said 2.7 million more Filipinos would join the ranks of the poor in 2020 due to the triple shock of the COVID-19 pandemic, the loss of jobs resulting from efforts to contain it, and a series of destructive typhoons.
Labor Undersecretary Benjo Benavidez the workers came from 96,000 establishments that are temporarily closed.
Benavidez said with the easing of quarantine guidelines which allow some establishments to reopen, the number of orkers under “floating status” should be reduced next year.
“We expect that those put on floating status have been notified already to return to work,” Benavidez said.
The labor official said under the law, the employer-employee relationship may be suspended in case of suspension of operation of the business or undertaking of the employer for a period not exceeding six months.
If not rehired after six months, Benavidez said, the employee placed on floating status must be provided with separation pay.
“The separation pay is equivalent to one half of pay for every year of service… That’s the amount the retrenched worker should receive,” he said.
“If they are not rehired or not given separation pay, they may file a case in any DOLE office,” he added.
He said the government has also allowed the extension of the rehiring policy for temporarily displaced workers for another six months.
He said the extension of suspension of employment shall not affect the “right of the employees to separation pay,” adding that the first six months of suspension of employment shall be included in the computation of the employees’ separation pay.
In an online briefing Tuesday, World Bank senior economist Rong Qian said the economy could contract 8.1 percent for the entire year, worse than the 6.9 percent decline in gross domestic product (GDP) it predicted in October.
She said the COVID pandemic was expected to slow down the pace of poverty reduction.
“The containment measures have disrupted economic activity resulting in income loss, decline in wage incomes, a slowdown in entrepreneurial activities, and a fall in remittances. The poor and vulnerable are
especially likely to experience significant welfare losses given their limited capacity to manage risks,” she said.
With the economy contracting and household income declining this year, poverty is estimated to increase from 20.5 percent in 2019 to 22.6 percent in 2020.
“The expected growth contraction in 2020 is likely to increase poverty in the short-term, resulting in 2.7 million additional poor people in 2020 compared to 2019 estimates, measured against the lower-middle-income poverty line of $3.2 a day,” Qian said.
