Govt job order, contractual workers get up to P5,000 in gratuity pay

President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday issued Administrative Order 46 granting P5,000 gratuity pay to contract of service (COS) and job order (JO) workers in government.

The workers, however, must have rendered at least four months of actual satisfactory performance of services as stipulated in their respective contracts as of December 15.

AO 46 states that the gratuity pay will cover workers whose services are directly engaged through COS and JO by national government agencies, state universities and colleges (SUCs), government-owned or -controlled corporations (GOCCs), and local water districts (LWDs) provided that their contracts are still effective as of December 15.

"Granting a year-end gratuity pay to COS and JO workers is a well­ deserved recognition of their hard work in implementing programs, projects and activities, including those which are part of the emergency COVID-19 response efforts of the government," AO 46 read.

Unlike regular government employees, COS and JO workers do not enjoy benefits like Personnel Economic Relief Allowance, mid-year and year-end bonuses and performance-based bonus, among others.

AO 46 will also extend to those who have rendered less than four months of actual satisfactory performance of service as stipulated in their respective contracts and whose contracts are still effective as of December 15 on a pro rata basis.

Those who recorded three months of actual satisfactory performance of service will get no more than P4,000, while those who have two months of actual satisfactory performance of service will get P3,000 at most.

Those who have rendered less than two months of actual satisfactory performance of service, on the other hand, will get a gratuity pay of not more than P2,000.

Funds needed to implement AO 46 will be charged to the Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) allotment for the same program, activity or project where the compensation of workers engaged through COS and JO are sourced, subject to approval of the agency head, as well as corporate operating budgets of GOCCs and LWDs.

In case of deficiency, agencies may modify the allotment issued within a Program/Activity/Project (PAP) subject to approval by the agency head or the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), or submit a request to augment actual deficiencies from savings in other PAPs, subject to approval of the President.

AO 46 also enjoins local government units to adopt in their respective offices the grant of gratuity pay to workers whose services are engaged through COS and JO, utilizing appropriate and available funding sources from their respective local government funds.  —KBK, GMA News