Employers should inform and get the consent of workers before implementing any wage adjustment schemes amid the COVID-19 outbreak, Senator Joel Villanueva stressed on Wednesday.
Villanueva called on the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) to keep a close watch on employers who have resorted to scale down on wages and benefits after the pandemic stunted their operations.
“DoLE must ensure that any reduction in wages that would be implemented by employers should be according to the guidelines it issued earlier this month,” the Senate labor committee chairman said in a statement.
“More importantly, both employers and workers must agree to the terms together, and the latter should not be forced or coerced to decide,” he pointed out.
Villanueva noted that under the principle of non-diminution of benefits in the Labor Code, employers are prohibited to make cuts on workers’ basic pay.
But the DoLE, in its Labor Advisory No. 17 issued last May 16, allowed employers to make temporary adjustments in the salaries and other wage-related benefits of their employees as long as employees “agree voluntarily” to the move.
Under the advisory, all agreements must be in writing and must not have a duration exceeding six months.
The DoLE had also urged employers to adopt work-from-home arrangements and alternative work schemes to preserve the jobs of workers.
These arrangements must also be reported to DoLE for documentation and proper monitoring.
“At this critical time, we appeal to both employers and workers to look out for each other. The only way we could overcome the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic is to align the interests of each other. Workers’ welfare and dignity would always translate to the success of enterprises,” Villanueva said. (Vanne Terrazola)
