Health workers hit one-day deadline to pass requirements for hazard pay

MANILA, Philippines — Private hospital workers were given only a day by the Department of Health to submit all the requirements to receive active duty hazard pay and special risk allowance, or else the extra pay provided to them by law will be forfeited.

The unions of several major private hospitals in Metro Manila asked Health Secretary Francisco Duque III to extend the “arbitrary deadline” on Dec. 9 since it was “impossible” to prepare and submit all the required documents in one day.

The unions said the deadline came as a surprise to both hospital management and employees since there were no notices nor announcements about the documentary requirements for the active duty hazard pay and special risk allowance.

They told Duque they learned about the deadline and the requirements only on Monday through a PowerPoint presentation dated Dec. 4. INQ

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