BAGUIO CITY – The City Council approved on third and final reading a proposed ordinance adopting and authorising the grant of gratuity pay to job order and contract-of-service workers of the local government for last year and allocating the appropriate amount for the purpose.
The ordinance authored by Councilor Peter C. Fianza stated the grant of gratuity pay will be adopted by the city to recognise the hard work and contribution of workers whose services were engaged through job order and contract for services in 2016 and for succeeding years as policy directions and instructions will allow.
Under the proposed ordinance, P2,000 shall be granted for all job order and contract of service workers who have rendered a total or an aggregate of at least 4 months of satisfactory service as of December 15, 2016 which shall be presumed with the continuance of their services in accordance with their contracts which are still effective as of the same date.
Further, P1,000 will be granted to those who have rendered less than 4 months of satisfactory service as of December 15, 2016, but with effective contracts as of the same date and have continued to render service in accordance therewith.
Fianza disclosed the authorized pay shall be paid to covered workers immediately upon the approval of the ordinance and that funds for the purpose shall be provided from any available funds, preferably but not necessarily from the maintenance and other operating expenses allotment for the same programs, activities or projects where the compensation of engaged workers are sourced as may be noted to be suggested by the administrative order.
President Rodrigo R. Duterte issued Administrative Order (AO) No. 02 dated January 31, 2017 authorizing the grant of gratuity pay to job order and contract-of-service workers in the government recognizing the fact that various government agencies have engaged workers under job orders, contracts of service and other similar schemes and noting further that the said workers do not enjoy benefits accorded to regular employees like the mid-year and year-end bonuses, performance-based bonus, personnel economic relief allowance among others.
Section 6 of the same order encouraged local government units to adopt the grant of gratuity pay to said workers.
The proposed ordinance was referred to the Committee on Ethics, Governmental Affairs and Personnel for study and recommendation considering that hundreds of job order workers and contract of service employees are awaiting the grant of the said gratuity pay from the local government.
Based on data obtained from the City Human Resource Management Office, there are more or less 200 job order and contract-of-service workers deployed in the different departments of the city with most of them assigned to the City Public Order and Safety Division under the City Mayor’s Office who are acting as public safety enforcers in the public market and night market area along Harrison road.
Job order and contract of service workers do not receive any other compensation aside from the daily wage being provided them by the local government.
By Dexter A. See
