By Bernie Cahiles-Magkilat Some ten bills are seeking to lengthen the current employee leaves or create new leaves, a move strongly opposed by the employers’ sector on their usual pretext that this will further worsen the worker’s productivity and make doing business in the country more expensive. Already, the Senate Committee on Labor will hold a hearing on the 10 proposed bills today, January 24. These various bills also sought for penalty and jail terms for violators. At present, an employee is entitled to 15 days leave a year and another 15 days for sick leave. Other allowed employee leaves include maternity and paternity leaves. New proposed leaves in the pending bills include service incentive leave of 10 days with pay for an employee who has rendered one year of service with the company. Another bill also sought for a 15-day overseas worker’s spouse leave with full pay. Another bill also called for an increase in the current 7-day paternity leave to 30 days of which the last 15 days will be unpaid but will be deducted from his annual regular leave credits. The paternity leave should be extended to all married men regardless of their employment status. "Any further reduction in the number of working days through additional leaves would have a critical impact not only on productivity but also on cost of doing business," the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) said. ECOP stressed that additional non-working days mean days off from work. Excessive non-working days would hamper operations and production especially for the manufacturing and service sectors. If, however, an employer will require its workers to report to work on such days, it increases the cost of services and production as the employer who is obliged to pay his worker full pay for the day/s not worked would also be obliged to pat an additional 30 per cent of the daily rate of 100 per cent for the first eight hours of work, ECOP added. All the ten bills prescribed new paid leaves or increasing existing ones make no distinction with regard to the size of establishments, whether micro, small, medium or large, except for the service incentive leave which existing law exclude micro establishments while at the same grant the Secretary of Labor and Employment the power to exempt establishments from coverage after considering the viability or financial condition of such establishments. "We are greatly concerned that any further reduction in the number of working days particularly through additional leaves impacts not only on productivity and on the cost of doing business, but also on the viability of micro and small enterprises which constitute over 99 per cent of all registered enterprises,” ECOP said. ECOP explained that there are already more than enough holidays in the country. There are 15 regular non-working holidays in the country, including 12 regular holidays and 3 special holidays. Aside from non-working national regular as well as special holidays, there are also other days off from work such as the paid leave benefits that a company may provide to its employees. In addition, there are also those cancelled or suspended workdays brought about by calamities.