Duterte approves gratuity pay for JO, contractual gov’t workers

MANILA – Government workers under a contract of service (COS) and job order (JO) scheme will be receiving a one-time gratuity pay under an administrative order (AO) signed by President Rodrigo Duterte.

AO No. 46, signed by Duterte on Wednesday, allows a one-time gratuity pay of PHP5,000 to COS and JO workers who have rendered at least four months of actual satisfactory performance of services as stipulated in their respective contracts as of Dec. 15, 2021.

A gratuity pay of PHP4,000 will be given to COS and JO workers who have rendered “three months or more but less than four months”; PHP3,000 for workers who have rendered “two months or more but less than three months”; and PHP2,000 for workers who rendered “less than two months.”

Duterte signed the AO recognizing that COS and JO workers do not enjoy benefits accorded to regular government employees such as the Personnel Economic Relief Assistance, Mid-Year and Year-End Bonuses and Performance-Based Bonus, among others, as they have no employer-employee relationship with the government.

“Granting a year-end gratuity pay to COS and JO workers is a well-deserved recognition of their hard work in implementing programs, projects, and activities, including those which are part of the emergency Covid-19 response efforts of the government,” the AO read.

Actual service shall refer to services rendered on-site or COS and JO workers physically report for work at their designated stations.

COS and JO workers offsite during the period of community quarantine/alert levels or those in a work-from-home arrangement may also be considered as actual service, subject to the discretion of the agency head and the availability of funds.

The AO shall cover workers whose services are directly engaged through COS and JO by national government agencies (NGAs), state universities and colleges (SUCs), government-owned or –controlled corporations (GOCCs) and local water districts (LWDs).

Funding for COS and JO workers in NGAs and SUCs will be sourced from their respective maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) allotment for the same program, activity or project (P/A/P), but agencies may also modify the allotment issued within a P/A/P in case of deficiency.

On the other hand, funding for GOCCs and LWDs will be sourced from their respective approved corporate operating budgets.

Local government units (LGUs) are engaged through COS and JO, utilizing appropriate and available funding sources from their respective local government funds.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) shall issue supplemental guidelines for the effective implementation of this AO.

Earlier, Duterte signed AO No. 45 granting a one-time service recognition incentive (SRI) worth PHP10,000 to all qualified government employees.

Employees who have rendered less than four months will be entitled to a 40-percent pro-rated share of the SRI, while those who have been working in the government in less than three months will get a 30-percent pro-rated share of the incentive.

Those who are hired in the government for less than two months and one month will take home 20 percent and 10 percent, respectively, of the pro-rated share of the cash bonus.