DOLE requires employers to report 13th month pay

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is requiring private sector employers to submit a compliance report on the 13th-month pay of employees.

“Covered employers must make a report of their compliance with the law to the nearest DOLE Regional Office not later than January 15 next year,” Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said in a statement.

Rank-and-file employees should have received their 13th-month pay on or before December 24.

“The minimum 13th-month pay required by law shall not be less than one-twelfth (1/12) of the total basic salary earned by an employee within a calendar year,” Bello said.

Under Presidential Decree 851, which mandates the 13th-month pay, the compliance report must include the following:

• Total number of employees
• Principal product or business
• Total amount of benefits given
• Amount received by each employee
• Name and address of the establishment
• Total number of workers who received the pay
• Name, position, and telephone number of the person providing the information

According to DOLE, all rank-and-file employees are entitled to the 13th-month pay, provided that they have worked for at least one month during the calendar year.

The nature of their employment and methods by which their wage are paid would not bear any weight on the labor’s right to the 13th month pay. —Dona Magsino/VDS, GMA News