The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has released the guidelines for the latest round of its Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Adjustment Measure Program (CAMP) for workers affected by the more stringent Alert Level 3.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III signed on Thursday, Jan. 20, Department Order (DO) No. 232 which is expected to take effect next week once published in the Official Gazette or a newspaper.

Under the order, the DOLE, through CAMP, will provide a P5,000 one-time financial assistance to workers in the formal sector who have been displaced or suspended due to the pandemic and the declaration of Alert Level 3 or higher.

According to DOLE, private establishments may apply for cash aid on behalf of their employees, while individual workers can also apply for the assistance themselves.

The 2022 CAMP covers affected private sector workers in areas where Alert Level 3 or higher was declared from January 2022 onwards.

Based on the guidelines, the applicant must be a private establishment that implemented temporary closure or permanent closure during the implementation of Alert Level 3 or higher in their area, or a worker who was either temporarily laid-off or permanently terminated during the enforcement of the said alert level.

Affected establishments are required to submit a report of temporary or permanent closure covering January 2022 onwards, and latest payroll or any of the following alternative documents:

• Proof of payments of wages via logbook or ledge

• Employment contract

• Authority to debit account sent by employer to bank for wages of employees

• List of SSS, Pag-IBIG, PhilHealth remittances or any list of remittances

• List of employees with 13th month pay

For the affected individuals, the following requirements should be submitted:

• Clear photo of himself/herself holding a valid government-issued ID

• Duly notarized proof of unemployment (i.e. Certificate of Employment, Notice of Termination, Notarized Affidavit of Termination of Employment, or Notice of Temporary Lay-off) covering the period of Alert Level 3 in their area

Eligible companies and individuals can apply for the assistance online through the DOLE Establishment Reporting System at reports.dole.gov.ph.

Applications will then be evaluated by the concerned DOLE Regional Office within three working days from receipt of the documents.

DOLE said applications may be denied if the worker is ineligible to receive the aid, if facts in the application were misrepresented, or if documents submitted were falsified.

Approved workers will also have 30 days to claim the cash benefit or it would be given to someone else.

The Department recently announced that it will allocate P1 billion for the grant of cash assistance to workers who will be displaced by the implementation of the stricter COVID alert level.

Based on DOLE's jobs displacement monitoring, a total of 11,586 workers were displaced from 759 establishments nationwide from Jan. 1 to 15 this year — majority or 687 have reduced its workforce while 72 reported permanent closure.