THE just-signed law mandating that 100 percent of the service charge should be given to the employees will only affect few restaurants and hotels in the province, the top official of the Hotel and Restaurant Association in Negros Occidental (HRANO) said.
Roberto Magalona, president of HRANO, said most of the restaurants and hotels in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental are not imposing the 10 percent service charge from the customers.
Magalona said Negrense clients, unlike those in Manila where the costs of products and services are high, are not used to service charge.
They (customers) will complain if local restaurants and hotels collect such additional charge, the association official said.
“Though only few establishments are collecting service charge, they are required to follow the law and I am sure they will comply,” he said, adding that by practice, local hotels and restaurants allow their workers to receive tip from customers.
On August 7, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act 11360.
It amended Article 96 of the Labor Code of the Philippines giving restaurant and hotel workers only 85 percent of the service charge collected from customers while retaining the remaining 15 percent to the management.
The signing into law came about two months after the Senate ratified the bill granting 100 percent of the service charge to restaurant and hotel employees as well as to those of similar establishments in the service industry.
The Congress Bicameral Conference Committee has adopted the reconciled version of the Senate Bill No. 1299 and House Bill No. 8784, which covers rank-and-file service industry workers as well as supervisors.
A month prior to the signing of the law, some groups of hotel and restaurant owners in the country appealed to the President to reconsider the decision of giving 100 percent of the service charge to the workers.
HRANO, which is composed of 69 member-restaurants and hotels, joined other associations in the said appeal.
Magalona said establishments should set some “allowance” for breakages which cannot be charged to the workers, instead from the supposed 15 percent share of the management from the collected service charge.
“For establishments collecting service charge, we hope that the incentives will translate to productivity among their employees,” he added.
The labor sector, earlier, said the signing is a welcome development that would increase the income of the hotel and restaurant employees.
Wennie Sancho, secretary general of General Alliance of Workers Associations (Gawa), said this incentive should motivate the workers to increase their productivity, because productivity goes with the pay.
They hope that this positive development will give more reasons to the workers to strive to increase their productivity and provide better and quality services to the customers, he added.
The group, however, called for the faithful implementation of the law.
The implementing rules and regulation, Sancho said, should be strengthened to implement the spirit of the law for the good of the workers.*