By Fernan Angeles
AFTER a public outrage by the working class, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III suddenly took a step back and denied hand on the proposal that would see a bleaker Christmas among the Philippine labor force, adding that there won’t be any deferment of their 13th month pay.
In a statement, Bello also said that it was never the Department of Labor and Employment’s intention to strip Filipino employees’ of the mandated 13th month pay as businesses continued to struggle amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
“It is very clear under the law that the 13th month pay has to be paid on or before Dec. 25. That is the law. There is no way you can delay or defer the payment of 13 month pay,” Bello said.
“I was misunderstood when I mentioned especially in the implementing rules and regulations, there is a provision which says that companies in distress are exempted from paying 13th month pay,” he added.
Bello on Thursday said they were mulling a proposal for distressed SMEs to be exempt or be allowed to defer the payment of 13th month pay to their workers. The proposal is seen to affect an estimated two million workers who may not receive their 13th month pay this year.
The Labor chief said the suspension of the bonus cannot be done legally unless it is a private agreement between employer and employee. He also said the payment of the bonus is non-negotiable unless a company is considered in distress.
“If there is any intention to postpone or delay the payment, that cannot be done legally unless it is a private transaction or agreement between the employer and employee,” he said.
Since the coronavirus upended lives and livelihoods, some 13,127 companies had laid off workers or permanently closed while 116,471 others had temporarily closed or observed flexible working arrangements, data from DOLE showed.