PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte has signed into law a measure granting night shift differential pay to government employees, including those working in government-owned corporations.
The law, signed on April 13, provides a rate not exceeding 20% of the hourly basic rate of an employee for each hour of work performed between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. the following day.
It covers government workers occupying position items from division chief and below, or their equivalent, whether they are permanent, contractual, temporary, or casual employees.
Government workers whose office hours are within 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. are excluded, but will be given overtime pay if they work beyond the regular eight-hour schedule.
The night shift differential pay shall not diminish whatever benefits or allowances government employees are currently receiving, according to the law.
The night differential pay provided under the law would not cover government workers whose services are required or are on-call 24 hours daily, such as the military, police, firefighters, jail management officers, and other similarly situated as determined by the country’s civil service commission and budget agency.
Meanwhile, Mr. Duterte also signed a law raising the mandatory retirement age of key officials in the military to up to 60 years old.
It also modified the term of key officers of the Philippine armed forces. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza