Are there exemptions from 13th month pay?

MANILA, Philippines — Despite the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic, employers are required to give their workers the mandated 13th month pay in December, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello said yesterday.

“We are not exempting anybody from paying 13th month pay,” said Bello.

However, he clarified that the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the presidential decree mandating the granting of 13th month pay provide for exemptions, as in the case of distressed establishments.

But Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, a former labor secretary, said Presidential Decree 851, which mandates the 13th month pay, does not grant any exemption and that the IRR raised by Bello “could not be greater than the law.”

“For me, that (exemption) is doubtful and can be questioned. If exemptions are to be granted, it should be done individually. The exemption must be done per enterprise, not an entire industry,” Drilon told dzBB.

Tomorrow, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) officials are scheduled to meet with both employers and workers groups to discuss which companies shall be covered by the exemption.

Last week, Bello said that DOLE is also exploring the possibility of allowing a deferment in the payment of 13th month pay if both employers and workers agree on such an arrangement.

He underscored that a deferment cannot be done legally unless by voluntary agreement between employers and their workers.

The Associated Labor Union (ALU) expressed strong objection to this proposal, insisting that workers have long been sacrificing – more so in this pandemic – so they badly need the 13th month pay benefit.

“The 13th month pay benefit at this time of the year has already been earned and accrued by employees. Therefore, 13th month payment cannot be waived or taken away by giving exemption to employers or deferment of payment,” ALU vice president Gerard Seno said.

Drilon said the law does not grant authority to employers and employees to postpone the release of the 13th month pay even if both sides privately agree.

“Such (arrangement) cannot be sanctioned by the DOLE because that’s not allowed under the law,” he said.

In her Sunday radio program over dzXL, Vice President Leni Robredo appealed to employers whose businesses were not severely affected by the pandemic not to defer the 13th month pay of their workers.

“We appeal to them not to take advantage of the opportunity (to defer payment),” Robredo said. — Paolo Romero, Helen Flores