PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has granted government employees under job orders and contracts of service a one-time gratuity pay, ranging from P1,000 to P2,000 based on the services they render in government.
Duterte, in his Administrative Order (AO) 2, would provide P2,000 worth of gratuity pay for contractual workers in the government sector who have rendered a total of at least four months of satisfactory service, as of December 15, 2016 and whose contracts are still effective to date.
Those who have rendered less than four months of satisfactory service as of the same period and with effective contracts may also be granted a one-time gratuity pay of P1,000.
The order covered workers whose services are engaged through job orders, contracts of service or other similar schemes by national government agencies; state universities and colleges; government-owned or –controlled corporations; and government financial institutions.
It also encouraged local government units to adopt in their respective offices the grant of gratuity pay to government employees under contractual obligation.
Several government agencies have allowed labor contractualization, since the Civil Service Commission has recognized such practice.
Workers under job orders and contracts of service, however, do not enjoy benefits accorded to regular employees like the mid-year and year-end bonuses, performance based bonus, personnel economic relief allowance, among others, considering that they have no employee-employer relations with the government.
“The state affirms labor as a primary and social economic force and shall promote the welfare of workers,” the AO read. “Granting a year-end gratuity pay to these workers is well-deserved recognition of their hard work.” (VoxPop Philippines)
