Atty. Aileen Lizada. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Government employees in Metro Manila will not receive any hazard pay during the pilot run of the new alert level system, despite the rise of COVID-19 infections across the country.
Civil Service Commissioner Aileen Lizada bared on Monday that Alert Level 4, which is the classification Metro Manila is under for the rest of September, is only equivalent to the general community quarantine (GCQ) classification.
Hazard pay is only given to employees under enhanced community quarantine and modified ECQ.
“Alert Levels 1 to 4 is equivalent to GCQ and Alert Level 5 is ECQ, so hazard pay maybe paid once area is placed under Alert Level 5 in NCR,” Lizada said in a televised public briefing.
Since Metro Manila is yet the only region under the new alert level system, areas that are placed under ECQ and MECQ are considered covered in the payment of hazard pay.
The Department of Budget and Management will release a new circular regarding the hazard pay of government employees “once the use of ECQ and MECQ terminologies are phased out,” Lizada said.
“In the meantime, the ECQ, GCQ, system is used as the general policy, the circular remains effective,” she added.
Metro Manila was placed under Alert Level 4 starting Sept. 16. The region was the pilot area of the implementation to the shift to granular lockdowns from the previous community-wide quarantine restrictions.
The placement of Metro Manila Alert Level 4 will be assessed after one week.