Inverted labor logic arises with Pope’s visit

The presidential declaration of Jan. 15, 16 and 19, 2015, as special nonworking holidays in the National Capital Region in deference to the visit of Pope Francis is definitely welcome news to people wanting to participate in related activities and  to see the Pope and receive his blessings in person. Unfortunately, the Pope may end up feeling a bit less happy knowing that at the back of this holiday pronouncement practically looms a loss in daily bread awaiting not a few workers in the metropolis, whether joining the celebration for the papal visit or not.

I specifically have in mind the existing labor law that strictly distinguishes between legal or regular holidays and special holidays for payroll purposes. That is to say, while the rank-and-file and, hence, lower-earning employees in these parts receive full pay even on unworked regular holidays, on special nonworking holidays they get nothing because of the prevailing no-work-no-pay policy. And so, daily wage earners will receive no pay come Jan. 15, 16 and 19.  Of course, this is only true essentially with respect to the country’s unorganized labor sector—that still constitutes a fairly large sector to be ignored—who are unable to negotiate for better working terms with their employers, such as to remove this difference in the payroll treatment of holidays.  It should not be farfetched to assume that most other sectors have long been enjoying the benefit of a uniform payroll treatment for holidays, regular or special.

That said, I am not against the special holiday pronouncement. It is just that I find this occasion to be a proper opportunity to ventilate my age-old longing for more prudent legislation in this connection.  As things are, the Labor Code provides for guaranteed full pay for unworked regular holidays obviously because it is not really the fault of a daily rated worker that a day is a holiday; and so, why must he suffer a loss in pay for that day? Fine!  But isn’t that exactly the same case on unworked special holidays? I humbly submit that the related rationale should apply not just to regular holidays, but even more so to special holidays.  Why?

Commonsensically because regular holidays are known well in advance and so a daily wage earner—he who belongs to the “isang kayod, isang tuka” class of Philippine society—could already prepare and amply provide for his daily bread on each one of such holidays.  As a matter of fact, the special holiday declaration is even comparatively more onerous to a daily paid worker who is practically caught unawares by a special holiday announcement, totally unprepared for an unexpected loss in pay.  Worse, work on regular holidays is given a much higher premium than on special holidays.  And so I ask: what, for heaven’s sake, is the difference between the two, for both of them, at least for payroll purposes, not to be treated alike?  If the current treatment, provided by a rather obsolete labor code that dates back to Marcos’ times, is not clearly based on inverted logic, I do not know what is!

—RUDY L. CORONEL,
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