Iniquity in holiday work pay

As we hang a new calendar to replace the old one at the start of every year, not a few of us are likely to mutely ask: “How many holidays do we have now?”

One recalls that once upon a time and for quite a long while since, we used to have a maximum of 12 or 13—10 regular plus two or three special—nonworking holidays per year. By definition, regular holidays refer to those with generally fixed dates created by Congress, whereas special holidays are the usually movable ones proclaimed from time to time by the sitting president.

This year, 2016—per President Aquino’s Proclamation No. 1105 dated August 2015—the nonworking holidays have ballooned to 19: still 10 regular but now nine special. The latter yet excludes two Islamic holidays, whose exact dates are yet to be announced. Also excluded are local holidays which are likewise nonworking.  It should be safe to speculate that these local holidays number as many as there are cities and/or provinces in this country.

Why am I suddenly concerned with holidays?  Well, hopefully to prompt the removal of a long-standing imprudence in their comparative payroll treatment!

As far back as I can recall, I have always sought for a truer explanation on the difference between a regular and a special holiday. I mean, apart from the above definition. Up to now, I still fail to find any, other than that the Labor Code grants a far better payroll treatment on regular holidays than on special holidays. That, for me, doesn’t appear truly convincing.

For example, why must a worker receive normal pay for an unworked regular holiday and no pay for an unworked special holiday? Why should he get twice his normal pay for working on a regular holiday and only one and one-third on a special holiday? Moreover, why must he be compensated comparatively less for working overtime on a special holiday than on a regular holiday?

It is true, for one thing, an employee need not suffer a loss in his daily wage simply because a day happens to be a holiday—in turn justifying his regular pay for an unworked regular holiday. But shouldn’t that apply exactly as well on special holidays? As a matter of fact, a daily waged employee can anticipate and plan for a regular holiday (known well in advance); he definitely cannot (and thus virtually loses his daily bread) on a suddenly declared special holiday. There seems to be inverted logic here!

What, for heaven’s sake, is so “special” about a special holiday that compels our lawmakers to grant it less favorable payroll treatment than a regular holiday? Is it because acts of Congress ought to have higher values than presidential pronouncements. I refuse to believe that!

And so, given this clearly inequitable compensation for practically the same employee encumbrance, inconvenience, sufferance or what have you, for working or not working on any holiday, would somebody, preferably a lawmaker, please come out with an otherwise saner logic? Or have the pertinent provisions of the Labor Code amended to forestall further iniquity?

—RUDY L. CORONEL, rudycoronel [email protected]