20% complied with fix pay scheme for bus drivers

ONLY 20 percent of bus operators have complied with a government order to provide a fix salary for drivers and conductors barely a month after it was issued, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) said.
 
LTFRB Chairman Jaime Jacob said bus operators have only until July 30 this year to comply with the directive from the agency and the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole).
 
"We encourage other bus operators not to wait until the deadline to comply with the directive or be penalized and lose their franchise to operate," Jacob said.
 
Bus operators, he said, should submit to the Dole their Labor Standards Compliance Certificate since it is a pre-requisite to provide bus drivers and conductors with the part-fixed-part performance-based compensation scheme.
 
The fixed component of the scheme includes benefits such as overtime pay, premium and holiday pay, as well as social security benefits and retirement benefits.
 
The amount of the fixed pay will be agreed upon between the operators and the drivers and conductors.
 
On the other hand, the performance-based component of the scheme is based on the bus operator's business performance, and the driver's safety performance, such as, accident record and road traffic offenses like over-speeding.
 
Also, drivers and conductors should not be made to work more than eight hours daily to ensure that they are well-rested while on the job.  Also, bus driver's salaries should also be above minimum wage and be entitled to a 13th-month bonus, night differential pay, rest day, holiday as well as birthday and service leave pay.
 
Jacob said the scheme will help curb drivers' practice of over speeding in order to meet their daily "boundary," a practice that has been blamed on numerous deadly accidents in the past.
 
The new policy eliminates the commission basis system of bus drivers with a mindset that they have to attain the needed quota set by the bus operators for them earn more for their families.    
 
The LTFRB chief said the scheme goes hand-in-hand with an order of Transportation Secretary Manuel Roxas III calling for a 40-kilometer per hour speed limit. (AH/Sunnex)