DOLE wants private-sector workers to receive hazard pay

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is recommending hazard pay for workers in the private sector, especially those in the medical frontlines against the COVID-19 threat.

“‘Yung hazard pay kasi naibibigay lang kasi sa government employees. We are thinking of also recommending na sana ‘yung mga nasa private sector din, lalong lalo na yung medical frontliners —nurses, doctors, medical workers na nagta-trabaho sa private hospitals,” Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said during the Laging Handa public briefing on Saturday.

President Rodrigo Duterte signed Administrative Order No. 26, setting a daily hazard pay of P500 for government workers who continue to physically report to work despite the enhanced community quarantine.

Bello said the DOLE is waiting for the approval of its recommendation by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases, and finally, the President’s go signal.

Health Undersecretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire earlier said that the DOLE was already in talks with private sector employers to set a minimum hazard pay for those who still reported to work physically.

“We are recommending na they (private-sector workers) should be included in the hazard pay,” Bello said. — DVM, GMA News