A LABOR leader in Negros Occidental urged workers in the province to demand for right wages especially during holidays.
Wennie Sancho, secretary general of General Alliance of Workers Associations (Gawa), said employees should assert their right to just compensation.
They (workers) should be paid accordingly during holidays like the midterm elections on Monday, May 13, he added.
President Rodrigo Duterte has declared May 13 as a special non-working holiday as the country holds the 2019 National and Local Elections.
Through Proclamation No. 719 signed on May 9, the President said the declaration will "enable the people to properly exercise their right to vote."
Under the guidelines set by the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole), work done on a special non-working holiday shall be paid an additional 30 percent of the daily rate and an additional 30 percent of the hourly rate for work done in excess of eight hours.
If special non-working holiday falls on employees' rest day, they shall be paid an additional 50 percent of the hourly rate.
For overtime work on a special non-working holiday and a rest day, employers are required to pay an additional 30 percent of hourly rate of their workers.
Sancho, also the labor representative to the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) in Western Visayas, said the provision of right wages results in workers' productivity.
"Just compensation boosts the workers' morale and motivates them to continue doing their best at the workplace," he said, adding that Gawa is open to complaints on non-compliance on the part of the employers or companies.