By Billy Begas
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) appealed to the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to recompense the lost leave benefits of teachers with the current school year requiring them to work for 13 months straight.
ACT deemed as ‘inhumane’ and violation of teachers’ labor rights working for more than a year without a day of leave benefits.
The group urged CSC to order the Department of Education (DepEd) to grant service credit for each day of overtime work, plus the payment of 25% of teacher’s daily rate for the overtime work rendered.
In a letter sent to CSC, ACT stated that under regular school years, public school teachers normally enjoy their Proportional Vacation Pay during April and May.
But the sudden shift to distance learning and adjustments to the school calendar in response to the pandemic obliged teachers to render an additional 77 days of overtime work, which included Saturdays.
As teachers were made to report for work on June 1, 2020 and should have concluded on April 5, 2021, based on the School Calendar law (RA 11480), which mandates a maximum of 220 class days.
After the two-time postponement of class opening and the succeeding adjustments to bridge learning gaps, the last day of classes was set to July 10, 2021.
“May we remind our government that our teachers are not machines, and they, too, deserve a break and should be compensated for their extended labor,” said Raymond Basilio, ACT Secretary General.
Based on CSC memorandum circular No. 41 s. 1998, service credit is privilege granted to teachers for days that they are required to work outside of their regular workdays, which they can use to offset their absences.
The Labor Code of the Philippines, on the other hand, provides for the payment of 25% premium on the salaries of workers who were required to render overtime work.
“Hindi po kami humihingi ng sobra-sobra. Ang hinihiling namin ay ang aming karapatan para sa karampatang benepisyo na isinasaad naman ng mga batas at kautusan,” Basilio asserted.
ACT urged the CSC to “formulate and implement just measures” for the grant of service credit for each day of work in excess of the mandated maximum 220 school days, and additional pay of 25% on the daily rate of teachers for each day of overtime work.
