1.1-M State Workers Get Pay Increase

Around 1.1 million government workers will receive another salary increase one month earlier than planned, President Benigno S. Aquino III announced Sunday.

The President revealed the “substantial” salary adjustment for state employees ahead of the Labor Day celebration, saying this will be the fourth and final tranche of the implementation of the Salary Standardization Law III (SSL III).

“It is supposed to be a surprise for government employees on May 1 and the substantial number of zeroes. We are authorized by SSL III,” the President said in Filipino during a press conference here.

“The only question is if we can advance the next tranche which is the fourth tranche of the increase. We can complete the implementation of SSL III perhaps one month earlier than originally planned,” he said.

In the Labor Day celebration last year, the President also gave the salary hike for government workers on June, ahead of the July implementation of SSL III.

Aquino said he intends to hold a dialogue with labor groups on May 1 to address their various concerns. He said the government’s action plan on the concerns of labor groups will be finalized today.

Pay Rules

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has released the pay rules for those working on Labor Day, a regular holiday.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said employers in the country’s private sector are reminded of the following pay rules:

-If the holiday falls on an employee’s regular workday and the day is worked, the employee is entitled to 200 percent of his basic wage on the first eight hours; and for work in excess of eight hours, an additional 30 percent of his hourly rate on the said day.

-If unworked, the employee is entitled to 100 percent of the regular daily rate, provided he was present, or was on leave with pay, on the workday immediately preceding the holiday.

-If the day is the employee’s rest day and the day is worked, he is entitled to 260 percent of his daily rate on the first eight hours; and 30 percent for work in excess of eight hours on the said day. But if unworked, the employee is entitled to only 100 percent of his regular rate, provided he was present, or was on leave with pay, on the workday immediately preceding the holiday.

-In case the day immediately preceding the holiday is a non-work day in the establishment, or is the scheduled rest day of the employee, the DOLE said the employee shall not be deemed on leave of absence on that day, in which case he or she shall be entitled to the regular holiday pay.

Aquino III has affirmed May 1, 2012, Tuesday, as a regular holiday nationwide by virtue of Proclamation No. 295 he issued on Nov. 24, 2011 “Declaring the Regular Holidays, Special (Non-Working Days), and Special Holiday (for all Schools) for the year 2012.”

Heightened Alert

Police forces in Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon and Visayas will be on heightened alert status starting this afternoon in anticipation of the protest actions expected tomorrow.

Full alert status means all leaves of absences are cancelled to maximize police presence while heightened alert means at last 50 percent of the 140,000-strong PNP, along with its resources, must report for duty for peace and order operations.

Senior Supt. Generoso Cerbo Jr., head of the Philippine National Police-Public Information Office (PNP-PIO), said that Mindanao was not included since police forces in the area have not lowered its alert status, full alert, since the series of attacks by communist and Moro rebels and bandits groups a few years ago.

The police’s elite Special Action Force was also not included since it has been in the forefront of the campaign against the New People’s Army and members of erring Moro rebel group.

This year’s Labor Day celebration is the 110th in Philippine history and is being commemorated in honor of all Filipino workers on the theme, “Pagtutulungan. Pagbabago. Disenteng Trabaho.”

Tens of thousands members of militant labor and militant groups are expected to hold protest actions in Metro Manila and other key urban areas across the country to celebrate Labor Day.

Labor groups, for instance, have been demanding P90 to P125 wage increase following a series of increases in basic commodities and even transport fares due to the wave of oil price hikes in the past months. (With reports from Leslie Ann G. Aquino and Aaron B. Recuenco)

MB.COM.PH

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