Bill to penalize employers for delayed wages

A bill seeking to penalize government and private employers who repeatedly fail to pay their employees salaries on time without justifiable reasons has been filed at the House of Representatives.

In filing House Bill No. 6537, Rep. Manuel “Manny” Lopez of the first district of Manila said the measure seeks to curb the practice of delaying the payment of salaries and penalizes employers or their representatives for failing to pay their employees on time.

Lopez, in a press statement, cited a 2016 study that showed a big number (41 percent) of Filipino employers owing their workers back salaries, which is the second highest in the region after Malaysia.

This late payment of salaries and wages has forced their workers “to incur debt just to meet their daily needs.”

“It’s sad to think that many of the employees and workers in the country are unable to enjoy the fruits of their labor because a big part of their wages goes to interest payments on debts incurred because their salaries are delayed,” said Lopez,  vice chair of the House committee on public order and the committee on Metro Manila development.

The measure, coauthored by Rep. Carlo Lopez of Manila’s second district, imposes a fine of P100,000 on the payroll master if he or she fails to disburse the prescribed wages and salaries when funds are made available for this purpose.

However, if the payroll master fails to inform the employer of the absence of funding to meet the salaries of employees, he or she  shall be fined P200,000.

The bill also provides that the employer shall be liable along with the payroll master for failure to pay wages without any justifiable reason and the employer shall be imposed a fine of P500,000 and a suspension of business operations for 30 days for the first offense.

A second offense merits a P1 million fine and suspension of business operations for 90 days, and a third offense P3 million fine and perpetual closure of business.