THE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) recently said that an increasing number of establishments have grown conscious of their obligation to provide the mandated 13th-month pay to their workers and employees.
Citing recent reports from DOLE regional offices in Southern Luzon and Caraga, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz lauded the cooperation of business firms in their compliance with Presidential Decree (PD) 851, or the law on the payment of 13th-month pay for workers.
In her report to Baldoz, DOLE-Caraga OIC director Ofelia B. Domingo said 163 companies in the region submitted their 2010 compliance report on PD 851. This covers the region’s four provinces: Surigao del Sur, Surigao del Norte, Agusan del Sur, and Agusan de Norte. Agusan del Norte had the most number of establishments that submitted a compliance report, with 97.
The compliance resulted in payments amounting to more than P29.7 million, benefiting 5,784 workers and employees in the Caraga region. The amount is slightly higher than the P25.94 million granted to workers in the region in 2009.
In the Calabarzon area, DOLE-Region 4A director Ricardo S. Martinez Sr. reported the compliance of 109 companies to PD 851, with the payments reaching almost P573 million for 22,401 workers and employees.
In January this year, Martinez reported his office received a total of 67 complaints concerning nonpayment of the 13th-month pay. These were immediately subjected to the 30-day mandatory conciliation-mediation services under the Single Entry Approach (Sena), resulting in the immediate resolution of 14 of the cases.
Despite the deadline for the mandatory payment of the 13th-month pay having lapsed more than a month ago, Baldoz said the DOLE had been stepping up efforts to demand compliance with this general labor standard.
“Because of our intensified information campaign very early in November last year, a lot of workers and employers have become aware that the 13th-month pay is a core labor standard and needs to be complied with,” said Baldoz.
