DOLE to employers: Don’t sanction workers when absent due to calamity

Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma. | PHOTO: Official Facebook page of Department of Labor and Employment – DOLE

MANILA, Philippines — Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma on Wednesday reminded private employers not to “discipline” employees who will not report for work due to weather-related disturbances or other calamities.

Laguesma cites Labor Advisory No. 17 in 2022, which gives private employers the discretion to suspend work “to ensure the safety and health of their employers during weather disturbances and similar occurrences.”

“We know that private companies have the discretion to suspend work, and let us not discipline those who will not be able to work. That is my reminder and appeal to our employers,” Laguesma said in a mix of Filipino and English during a media forum at the Manila Hotel.

The Department of Labor and Employment said the same advisory also states that employees absent from work due to these conditions “shall not be subject to any administrative sanction.”

Further, the Labor secretary said that employers can also extend help to their employees.

“Of course, the general principle is no work, no pay. The company policies or practices may have a situation or collective bargaining agreement, they can provide help to our workers,” Laguesma added in Filipino.

READ: Bicol sounds alarm over rescue ops amid flooding brought by Kristine

The Office of the Executive Secretary announced on Tuesday that classes at all levels and work in government offices in Luzon would be suspended due to the effects of tropical storm Kristine.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said on Wednesday that 382,302 individuals or 77,910 families were affected by the tropical storm while one person was reportedly injured.

READ: Storm Kristine affects over 382,000 persons; 92 areas flooded – NDRRMC

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration in its 2 p.m. weather bulletin said that Krisitne is forecast to develop into a severe tropical storm before making a landfall over Isabela on Wednesday night or Thursday early morning.

It was last located 155 kilometers east of Casiguran, Aurora, moving northwestward at 10 kilometers per hour (kph) and packing up wind speed of 85 km/h and gustiness of up to 105 km/h.