DOLE to compel employers to pay wages of unvaccinated workers barred from working

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III. (File photo by GRIC C. MONTEGRANDE / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Monday said unvaccinated workers who were not allowed by their employers to report to work should be paid for being present.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said DOLE will issue a compliance order to allow unvaccinated workers to report to work, saying the directive of “no jab, no work” has “no legal basis.”

READ: No such thing as ‘no jab, no work’ policy amid A4 vaccination — DOLE

“We will issue a compliance order, a compliance order for them to allow the workers to report to the office,” Bello said in an online briefing.

“‘Pag hindi sumunod [when they would not comply] then we will tell them: ‘okay, ayaw mo papasukin [if you don’t want to let workers in], as far as DOLE is concerned, they are present, they should be paid. Iyan ang magiging disciplinary action namin diyan [that is our disciplinary action],” he added.

Bello made the clarification following complaints from a militant labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno, which said that it has received reports through its workers’ hotline that some companies discriminated against unvaccinated workers.

Bello said unvaccinated workers may call DOLE’s hotline 1349 if they were barred from working for not getting the vaccine so the Labor Department can impose administrative sanctions against their employers.

“There is no legal basis for the employers to compel their workers to be vaccinated, in fact it’s a violation of freedom of choice as guaranteed by the Constitution, in fact it is an illegal policy,” Bello explained.

“Especially so, na kulang pa tayo ng supply ng vaccines [that we are still lacking the supply of vaccines],” he added.

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