By Luel Galarpe/PNA
CEBU CITY — The Department of Labor and Employment in Central Visayas (DOLE-7) on Tuesday urged employers to observe holiday pay rules on December 8, a special non-working day in the entire country to commemorate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
Labor Regional Director Johnson G. Cañete said every employer must abide by the rules in the payment of the workers’ wages on special non-working holidays, especially that Dec. 8 falls on a Saturday which is a rest day for most workers.
“We are reminding employers of the pay rules since they would be following a different computation for work done during a special day that falls on the workers’ rest day,” Cañete said.
He explained that workers should be paid an additional 50 percent of their daily rate for the first eight hours of work and an additional 30 percent of their hourly rate for overtime work during a special day that falls on the rest day.
Cañete also said that the “No Work, No Pay” principle shall apply unless there is a favorable company policy, practice or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) granting payment on a special non-working day.
On December 28, 2017, President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law Republic Act No. 10966 declaring December 8 a special non-working holiday to commemorate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary nationwide.
This will be the first time for the Philippines to observe the feast of its principal patroness, the Immaculate Conception of Mary.
Before the signing of the law, only Catholic schools in the country observed Dec. 8 as a holiday annually in honor of the Virgin Mary.
