DOLE: Firms may defer payment of Eid’l Fitr holiday bonus amid pandemic

MANILA, Philippines – Under the Philippine law, workers are mandated to get double pay if he or she works during a regular holiday, such as the upcoming Eid’l Fitr on May 25. But amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the government has let firms defer the payment for such a bonus.

In its Labor Advisory No. 20-2020, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) recognized “the existence of a national emergency arising from [COVID-19] situation, employers are allowed to defer payment of the holiday pay on May 25, 2020, until such time that the present emergency situation has been abated and the normal operations of the establishment is in place.”

Signed by DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello III on May 20, the advisory also stated that, “Establishments that have totally closed or ceased operation during the community quarantine are exempted from the payment of the holiday pay.”

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On Tuesday, President Rodrigo Duterte issued Proclamation No. 944, declaring May 25, 2020, as a regular holiday in observance of the Eid’l Fitr.

As with other regular holidays in the country, DOLE reiterated that employees who would work on May 25 are entitled to get 200% of their per day salaries while those who opt to not work that day will still be entitled to 100% of their per day wages.

But “(f)or work done in excess of eight hours (overtime work), he/she shall be paid an additional 30% of his or her hourly rate on said day,” the DOLE Advisory noted, and “(f)or work done during a regular holiday that also falls on his/her rest day, he/she shall be paid an additional 30 percent of his/her basic wage of 200%.”

Additionally, DOLE said that “(f)or work done in excess of eight hours (overtime work) during a regular holiday that also falls on his/her rest day, he/she shall be paid an additional 30% of his/her hourly rate on the said day (hourly rate of the basic wage x 200% x 130% x 130% x number of hours worked.”

Eid’l Fitr or Feast of Ramadan is a holy month in Islam where Muslims abstain from sin and sexual relations, pray, and fast in recognition of the month that Prophet Muhammad supposedly revealed the holy book, Quran.

KGA