DOLE: Workers who reported for duty despite Aug. 7 work suspension to get extra pay

Workers who reported for duty despite the suspension of work in areas hit by heavy rain and flood last Tuesday may get additional pay, the Department of Labor and Employment said Thursday.

This was contained in Labor Advisory No. 1 signed by DOLE Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz on Wednesday. The text of the advisory was posted on the DOLE website Thursday.

In the advisory, Baldoz said an employee who worked last Aug. 7 "shall be paid an additional 30 percent of the daily rate of 100 percent on the first eight hours of work."

Work done in excess of eight hours will entitle the employee to an additional 30 percent of the hourly rate on the said day.

For those implementing compressed workweek arrangements, the employee shall be paid an additional 30 percent for the agreed work hours on the same day.

But if the day is not worked, the advisory said the "no work no pay" principle will apply, except:

- when there is a favorable company policy or collective bargaining agreement granting payment of wages

- when the employee has accrued leave credits where his/her leave of absence shall be charged

The DOLE said the effectivity of the pay rules starts at midnight of Aug. 7 and ends the immediately succeeding midnight.

It also said the employers may provide such extra incentives or benefits to employees who reported for work, "to alleviate the plight of workers in times of crisis."

The DOLE's pay rules stemmed from Malacañang's Memorandum Circular No. 33, where work in government offices and classes up to the college level had been suspended due to bad weather.

Covered by the suspension were Metro Manila and  the provinces of Zambales, Bataan, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Tarlac, Bulacan, Laguna, Cavite, and Rizal.

But agencies involved in frontline services – such as relief and disaster management offices  – were excluded from the suspension. — LBG, GMA News