Solon seeks additional separation pay for employees terminated due to disease

TUCP Party-List Rep. Raymond Democrito Mendoza has filed a bill seeking to increase the separation pay of employees terminated due to disease.

House Bill 2548 amends Article 284 of Presidential Decree 442, otherwise known as the Labor Code of the Philippines.

Mendoza sought the increase as he stressed that employees terminated due to disease must be treated with compassion for they may never be able to find gainful employment again.

The Labor Code of the Philippines or Presidential Decree 442 as amended, lists and limits the authorized causes for employment termination.

Article 283 of PD 442 allows employer to terminate employment or reduce the total number of personnel due to installation of labor saving devices, redundancy, and retrenchment to prevent losses, and cessation of operations or closure of the establishment. Article 284 of PD 442, on the other hand, allows termination on the grounds of disease.

"In all instances of authorized causes of termination, the separation pay ranges from payment of half month to one month salary for every year of service," Mendoza said.

"It is the policy of the State to afford full protection to labor and continuously endeavor to provide for security of tenure to workers and ameliorate the welfare of those who have been removed from employment for causes other than their own fault," Mendoza added.

The measure seeks the increase of separation pay of employees terminated due to disease, from one month's salary or one-half month salary for every year of service, to the equivalent of at least six months salary or two months salary for every year of service, whichever is greater.

Also, the bill institutionalizes the issuance of a certification by a competent public health authority that the disease is of such nature or at such stage that it cannot be cured within a period of six months even with proper medical treatment before an employee can be terminated for the disease.

The measure also mandates that should the employee terminated due to sickness regain his health, he shall be entitled to reinstatement to his or her former position without loss of seniority.

Bill to give foreign workers the right to self-organization

A lawmaker has filed a bill extending to foreign workers the right to self-organization while in the Philippines.

Rep. Raymond Democrito Mendoza (Party-list, TUCP), author of House Bill 2543, said the right to self-organization is a universal human and worker’s right and as an International Labour Organization (ILO) member-country, the Philippines recognizes the right to self-organization, with the ratification of ILO Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association.

The bill seeks to amend Presidential Decree 442 as amended, also known as the Labor Code of the Philippines.

Mendoza said the Philippines should adhere to the principle of equal treatment of migrant workers and national workers as regards to trade union membership and collective bargaining.

"The trade union movement draws strength from the solidarity of workers and their organizations, whether inside or outside the country or both," Mendoza said.

Under the measure, all aliens, natural or judicial, as well as foreign organizations, with valid permits issued by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), may engage directly or indirectly in all forms of trade union activities but only through normal contacts between Philippine labor unions and recognized international labor centers.

The bill provides that foreign individual, organization or entities may give any donations, grants or other forms of assistance, in cash or in kind, directly or indirectly, to any labor organization, group of workers or any auxiliary, such as cooperatives, credit unions and institutions engaged in research, education or communication, in relation to trade union activities. - Jazmin S. Camero, Media Relations Service-PRIB