LOCAL manufacturers of semiconductors and electronic products have expressed their concern over the possible increase in their operating costs due to additional nonworking days in January.
Malacañang earlier declared January 15, 16 and 19 as special nonworking holidays for the National Capital Region. These dates coincide with Pope Francis’s visit to the Philippines.
“Now, the difficulty we have as an industry, as far as that is concerned, is that [the additional
nonworking holidays] will increase our labor costs by 30 percent,” said Dan C. Lachica, president of the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Inc. (Seipi), in a recent media briefing.
Under the law, when work is required on special nonworking days, employers are expected to pay an additional 30 percent of the employees’ hourly rate on the first eight hours of work.
If the rationale for declaring additional nonworking holidays is to minimize congestion, Lachica said most of its members are in Calabarzon and will not contribute to traffic.
“If our employees would like to [go to the event] they could go on a leave. Companies, however, will not shut down; they need to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so that would increase our costs,” Lachica said.
On Monday Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr. signed Proclamation 936, which designated January 15, 16 and 19 as special nonworking days.