{"id":248482,"date":"2020-03-15T04:37:02","date_gmt":"2020-03-15T08:37:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=248482"},"modified":"2020-03-15T04:37:02","modified_gmt":"2020-03-15T08:37:02","slug":"employers-urged-to-give-temporary-shelter-to-construction-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/03\/15\/employers-urged-to-give-temporary-shelter-to-construction-workers\/","title":{"rendered":"Employers urged to give temporary shelter to construction workers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
He said giving construction workers a place to stay near their work areas could minimize the risk of catching the highly-contagious disease. (Pexels photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Interior Secretary Eduardo A\u00f1o urged construction companies to give nearby temporary shelter to their manual laborers involved in infrastructure projects of the government under the \u201cBuild, Build, Build\u201d program.<\/p>\n

A\u00f1o\u2019s remark comes after President Rodrigo Duterte issued resolution 11 which places Metro Manila in a month-long \u201ccommunity quarantine\u201d starting Sunday (March 15) to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in the country.<\/p>\n

He said giving construction workers a place to stay near their work areas could minimize the risk of catching the highly-contagious disease.<\/p>\n

\u201cIyong mga<\/em>\u00a0construction workers\u00a0ano, iyong mga\u2014may<\/em>\u00a0Build, Build, Build\u00a0tayo\u2026 baka puwedeng<\/em>\u00a0accommodate\u00a0natin iyong mga<\/em>\u00a0workers\u00a0natin, diyan na lang muna matulog para wala na tayong<\/em>\u00a0movement\u00a0at hindi na tayo magkaroon ng<\/em>\u00a0unnecessary\u00a0paggalaw<\/em>\u00a0(Our construction workers involved in Build, Build, Build\u2026maybe they can be accommodated, they can just sleep there so that we can prevent unnecessary movement),\u201d he said in an interview over DZMM on Saturday.<\/p>\n

It was not clear what kind of setup A\u00f1o wanted employers to provide to their construction workers.<\/p>\n

As for other workers, Interior Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya echoed Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez\u2019s earlier suggestion to stay with their relatives or rent rooms or houses in Metro Manila for the meantime.<\/p>\n

\u201cBaka puwede na silang tumira muna sa<\/em>\u00a0Metro Manila\u00a0kung dito sila nagtatrabaho. Makitira muna sa mga kaibigan o sa mga kamag-anak para hindi na po sila makadagdag sa pila at<\/em>\u00a0inconvenience\u00a0sa mga<\/em>\u00a0checkpoint\u00a0natin<\/em>\u00a0(Maybe they temporarily stay in Metro Manila if they work here. Stay over their friends\u2019 or family\u2019s home so they won\u2019t add to the long lines and inconvenience at our checkpoints),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Earlier, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said government agencies providing front-line services will remain open, along with banks and retail, service and similar establishments, during the community quarantine-period.<\/p>\n

He emphasized the importance of having government transactions continue operation.<\/p>\n

\u201cSkeletal staffing patterns will be put in place and telecommuting and tele-work may also be considered in order to ensure that public services continue uninterrupted while these measures are in place. Again, iyong frontline services\u00a0po ng gobyerno ay tuluy-tuloy pa rin po<\/em>\u00a0(in the government will continue),\u201d he said in a Laging Handa press briefing last Friday (March 13).<\/p>\n

He also urged private companies and establishments to adopt flexible work schedules to help prevent the spread of the disease following a steady rise in cases especially in Metro Manila.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) has also recommended that manufacturing, retail and service establishments as well as banks remain open to the public on the condition that they undertake the various precautions advised by the Department of Health,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Employment benefits<\/strong><\/p>\n

A\u00f1o also urged private sector employers to provide their workers with all benefits including leaves and if possible, release their 13-month pay early.<\/p>\n

\u201cTinatawagan natin iyong mga<\/em>\u00a0employers\u00a0na kung ano iyong mga benepisyong puwedeng maibigay, mga<\/em>\u00a0maximum vacation leave, sick leave;\u00a0kung puwedeng huwag na silang magtrabaho, ibigay ninyo iyong<\/em>\u00a013th month pay\u00a0o kaya iyong<\/em>\u00a0work scheduling flexibility (We call on employers to give whatever benefits they can give, maximum vacation leave, sick leave; if they can allow them not to work, give them their 13th month pay or a flexible working schedule,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Under Presidential Decree 851, all rank-and-file employees in the private sector are entitled to receive the 13th-month pay on or before December 24 of the year.<\/p>\n

However, an employer may give to his or her employees one-half of the 13th month pay before the opening of the regular school year and the remaining half on or before December 24 of every year.<\/p>\n

The mandatory benefit pay should not be less than one-twelfth of the total salary earned by an employee within a calendar year, regardless of the nature of employment.<\/p>\n

The decree provides that every covered employer is required to make a report of compliance to the Department of Labor and Employment regional office not later than January 15 of each year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2013 Interior Secretary Eduardo A\u00f1o urged construction companies to give nearby temporary shelter to their manual laborers involved in infrastructure …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":248483,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-248482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-azer-parrocha","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248482"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248482\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":248484,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248482\/revisions\/248484"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/248483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}