THE Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) has warned employers who don’t give the minimum wage to their workers that they will pay double the compensation deficiency if caught during assessment.
Engr. Vic Abordo of Dole 7 said their quota for 2015 is to assess 3,480 establishments, which will be covered by 29 labor laws compliance officers (LLCOs).
Abordo said these establishments in Central Visayas, most of which are in Cebu, will be assessed by LLCOs on safety under Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) standards and economic issues, such as wages and other benefits.
On safety, the workers of a construction or manufacturing firm must have protective gear, safety shoes, safety officer and must have a license from the Philippine Construction Accreditation Board (PCAB).
Holiday
On economic concern, the employer must pay the mandated minimum wage of P340 per day, holiday pay, night differential, and overtime pay, among others.
Abordo said that under Republic Act (RA) 8188, Dole has the power to require an erring establishment to pay double the amount of wage deficiency.
He cited as example that if a worker is working at an establishment for three years and during assessment by LLCOs it was found out that he is only receiving a salary of P200 per day, Dole will compute the P140 deficiency by 1,095 days or a total of P153,000.
Citation
“We will send the employer a citation ticket with the computation of the total amount of his obligation, which he should pay within a certain period of time. We say should you fail to pay within ten days, the amount will be doubled,” Abordo said.
This means, the P153,000 will become P306,000.
Abordo said they are applying the developmental approach because they are giving establishments the chance to rectify violations of the labor laws.