The House of Representatives has endorsed for Senate approval a measure increasing the share of employees from service charge of hotels, restaurants and similar establishments.
The lower chamber has recently approved House Bill 8784 seeking to increase the benefits of rank and file and supervisory employees from service charges by amending the Labor Code of the Philippines.
The bill seeks to raise from 85 percent to 90 percent the share of rank and file and supervisory employees in the total service charges being collected by hotels, restaurants and similar establishments from their receipts.
Under the bill, the share of the regular rank and file and supervisory employees shall be fully and equally distributed among them.
It added the management shall receive the remaining 10 percent of the service charge collection to cover pilferages and breakages, and for distribution to local managerial employees.
In the event the minimum wage is raised by law or wage order, service charges paid to the covered employees shall not be considered in determining the employers’ compliance with the increased minimum wage.
Currently, Presidential Decree 442 limits to 85 percent the shares of employees from service charge.
Rep. Dennis Laogan of Ang Kabuhayan Party-list, sponsor of the measure, said that for the longest time, rank-and-file employees of various establishments, which collect service charges from clients and customers, have been receiving only 85 percent of such charges, pursuant to the limit set by PD 442.
In an effort to further aid rank-and-file employees, Laogan said, the proposal will ensure that the workers will be better compensated compared to their managerial counterparts, because rank-and-file employees are the ones who deal with clients and customers most of the time and have wages that are barely compliant with minimum wage statutes.
Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte Jr., principal author of the measure, said the service charge paid by the customers in hotels, restaurant and other similar establishment should be distributed among their covered employees and staff in line with the Constitutional mandate to protect the rights of all workers and to promote their welfare.