The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) issued today the agency’s guidelines on its program to provide financial support for workers affected by temporary work closure or stoppage due to the implementation of enhanced community quarantine over the whole of Luzon. In the DOLE program, an affected worker, regardless of status, is to get a P5,000 one-time financial assistance.

DOLE Department Order 209, series of 2020 laid out the guidelines on the implementation of the COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP). CAMP is a safety net program that offers financial support to affected workers in private establishments that have adopted flexible work arrangements (FWA) and temporary closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

For workers to avail this financial assistance, their employers must apply and prove that it has implemented FWA or temporary closure. Companies must submit the Company Payroll for the month to the appropriate DOLE Regional Office. Notice of approval or denial will be issued within three working days. Financial support to approved companies will be issued to the beneficiary’s payroll account within two weeks of receipt by the respective DOLE Regional Office.

Labor network Defend Jobs Philippines welcomed the move but found this insufficient.

“This P5,000 emergency financial assistance is far beyond the Filipino workers’ demand for the temporary suspension of the ‘no work, no pay’ policy, implementation of a ‘No Retrenchment Policy,’ and for the government to mandate private companies to immediately pay the 30-day salary of their employees regardless of employment status,” said Defend Jobs Philippines in reaction to the order.

The group also called on workers to push their employers “ to comply and apply with the said Labor Department Order for them to process and avail the emergency financial assistance in the soonest possible time.”

National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said their estimates showed possible 30,000 to 60,000 job losses in the tourism sector alone due to the COVID-19 outbreak. manilatoday.net