DBM, COA extend hiring of contractual, job order workers in gov’t until end-2022

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Commission on Audit (COA) have extended the period for government agencies to hire contractual and job order workers until the end of 2022.

In its Joint Circular No. 2, the DBM and COA recognized “there is a need to update the existing policies on the engagement of COS (contract of service) and JO (job order) workers to ensure the smooth, effective, and efficient delivery of services to the public,” in light of the “challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting the operations of government agencies.”

The hiring and services of existing COS and JO workers are supposed to last until December 31, 2020 only.

With the issuance of the DBM-COA joint circular, government agencies, government-owned or controlled corporations (GOCCs), constitutional bodies, and state universities and colleges (SUC) are now allowed to engage the services of COS or JO workers through individual contracts and renew the individual contracts of their existing COS/JO workers December 31, 2022.

“Government agencies are authorized to enter into contracts with other government agencies, private firms, non-government agencies or individuals for services related or incidental to their respective functions and operations, whether on a part-time or full-time basis,” the circular read.—AOL, GMA News