Korean firm settles unpaid 13th month pay

A KOREAN firm recently agreed to pay P138,636.27 in unpaid 13th month payments to eight of its employees through the Department of Labor and Employment’s (Dole) Single Entry Approach (Sena) program.

Kwon Ipugo Inc.’s action was prompted after the aggrieved employees filed their complaint with the Dole alleging their 13th month salaries have been left unpaid since 2008.

“Upon a clarification of these issues, Kwon Ipugo Incorporated was finally persuaded to pay the 13th month of these laborers from 2009 to 2012 in two installments amounting to P138,636.27 in two installments,” the Dole-Cordillera regional office reported.

According to the Dole-Cordillera, the case was first assigned to Single Entry Approach Desk officer George Lubin who immediately contacted Kwon Ipugo Inc. to set a preliminary conference.

During their preliminary conference, both parties failed to arrive at a settlement. On the second conference presided by Dole-Sena desk officer Gled More Gonzales both parties came to terms after the Korean firm presented documents showing that in 2008, the laborers were supplied by a contractor and it was only in 2009 that they were finally employed directly by the company.

The Dole-Cordillera Sena desk also reported initial computation of the employees’ 13th month pay was way beyond what the law provides.

Dole Regional Director Henry John Jalbuena said Sena was introduced “to improve the legalistic and adversarial system of settling disputes in firms,” which has been alluded to as the cause of burgeoning number of labor cases filed before the Doel, National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) and National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB).

With the implementation of the Sena, increased settlement and compliance to labor and occupational safety and health standards were noted while reducing the docket sections of Dole, NLRC and NCMB. (JM Agreda)