As the month of December approaches, the Department of Labor and Employment needs to study which companies can be exempted from giving 13th month pay to their employees, the Labor chief says.
Bello said in a press briefing on Thursday that deferring the payment may be a “more acceptable” formula in addressing the issue. He added that it might work for business owners to give the benefit in the following months instead. “Pakiusapan natin ‘yong mga businessmen na one-time lang naman ito. Kung kaya ninyo ibigay, ibigay. Kung hindi, baka pwede I-postpone,”[Translation: Let’s ask the businessmen that is only a one-time thing. If they can give, give. If not, maybe they can postpone it.]The Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines asserted the law instituting 13th month pay among workers in the country saying it does not explicitly provide exemptions on which businesses can defer the benefit.
Kilusang Mayong Uno reminded the government that it is its responsibility to bail out businesses, especially MSMEs, in times of emergencies.