With tripartite support assured by labor, management and government, the bill proposing a 14-day fully paid "pandemic leave" to all workers was approved by the House Committee on Labor and Employment on Friday.
Authored by the six-man Makabayan bloc, HB 7909 or the “Paid Pandemic Leave Law of 2020” also provides a maximum 60-day leave for workers placed under 'floating status." They will be paid 80 percent of their daily pay during leave period.
Also provided in the bill is a guarantee of security of tenure for workers who avail of the leave benefits. They shall also be barred from being demoted by employers.
The additional leaves shall not be deducted from sick or vacation leave credits imposed by Labor Code of the Philippines or provided under the collective bargaining agreement between the labor union and management.
In a virtual hearing presided by ACT-CIS Partylist Rep. Eric Pineda, committee chairman, the House panel was lauded by resource persons invited to the hearing for acting swiftly on the measure.
All committee members present on Friday’s hearing were made co-authors of the bill.
In her sponsorship speech of the bill, Gabriela Partylist Rep. Arlene Brosas said the bill seeks to free workers from the difficult task of choosing between health and livelihood if he or she is exposed or suffers from COVID 19.
She explained that under the bill, a worker exposed to the disease may avail of 14 days paid leave of absence while on quarantine or undergoing treatment.
Brosas said workers who are placed on floating status under a no-work- no-pay status due to the pandemic may opt to avail of a 60-day paid leave that will pay the individual 80 percent of the daily pay.
She underscored the significance of the bill to all workers, particularly those who have exhausted their sick leave credits due to the on-going COVID 19 situation.
“Around 3.8 million workers were unemployed based on the conservative October 2020 labor force estimate and the declining labor force participation rate during the same period showed that more and more Filipinos are joining the pool of discouraged workers,” noted Brosas.
Employers Confederation of the Philippines representative Robert Maronilla said the management group does not interpose any objection to the measure considering that a provision of the bill directs government to guarantee reimbursement of any amount that employers spent in complying with the measure.
On the other hand, Nick Bon who represented DOLE’s Bureau of Working Conditions aired the BWC’s wholehearted support for enactment of the measure as he pointed out that this would give workers additional benefits as they grapple with the adverse effects of COVID 19.
The bill provides that the funding shall come from available funds of the Department of Labor and Employment and the Social Security System.
A maximum fine of P200,000 shall be imposed on employers who refuse to pay workers who avail of the pandemic leave.
The Makabayan bloc, whose members are fighting off government’s red-tagging drive directed towards them and their allies, lauded committee approval of the measure.
“Workers are most vulnerable to economic and health impact of COV ID 19,” the authors said in the explanatory note of the legislative proposal.
They noted that despite the economic devastation that workers and their family face during the on-going pandemic, they are practically left alone and could not access government cash transfer programs since “they are technically still employed.”
“This is a serious gray area that needs to be addressed, as this constitutes economic deprivation amid the raging pandemic,” said the Makabayan solons.