Image from The Filipino Catholic Facebook page - Senator Vicente Sotto III has refiled the bill seeking 14th month pay for private sector workers
- Sotto’s proposed measure seeks to grant workers 14th month pay that shall not be less than 1/12 of the basic salary earned within the year
- The senator is hoping his proposed measure will finally get approved in the present Congress
MANILA, Philippines – Majority Floor Leader Senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto III has refiled the bill seeking to grant 14th month pay to private sector workers, on top of the 13th month pay that the existing law mandates every year.
In his Senate Bill No. 2 or “An Act Requiring Employers In the Private Sector to Pay 14th Month Pay” , Sotto said that all non-government rank and file employees who have worked for not less than one month in a company should be covered by his proposed measure.
“The 13th month pay shall be paid not later than June 14th and the 14th month pay shall be paid not later than December 24th of every year provided however that the frequency of payment of this monetary benefit may be the subject of agreement between employer and employee or any recognized/collective bargaining agent of employees,” the bill stated.
The 14th month pay “shall not be less than 1/12 of the total basic salary earned by the employee within the calendar year,” it said.
Sotto cited the “indispensable need” to provide both the public and private sectors employees with the 14th month pay, noting that the P10 minimum wage increase is deemed too small for the majority of the Filipino workers.
“The 13th month pay is gobbled up by Christmas expenses. We need extra earnings in the middle of the year to help in school and medical expenses,” Sotto explained.
The senator further noted that wages have invisibly decreased because of the rising prices in basic commodities and that improved business earnings have not cascaded on its own.
As early as 2013, Sotto has filed the bill in the 16th Congress but didn’t progress in the plenary.
He said he is hoping his bill will finally be passed and signed into law in the present Congress under the Duterte administration.
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