Bello says extension of paid quarantine, isolation leaves optional

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III on Tuesday clarified that the advisory urging the private sector to offer isolation and quarantine leaves is optional, and that it will most likely only be available to employees of large companies.

At a virtual briefing with Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, Bello denounced what he called "fake news," claiming that private firms were being mandated to offer paid isolation and quarantine leaves to their employees.

“What we did is only to urge them to consider if they can extend the leave credits of their workers, urging the employers in the private sector kung maaari, kung kaya, [if possible] to extend the leave credit of our workers,” he said.

He was referring to Labor Advisory 2022-01, which encourages employers to adopt and implement a paid isolation and quarantine leave program on top of existing leave benefits under the company policy, collective bargaining agreement, the Labor Code of the Philippines, and special laws.

Bello said the advisory was made after BDO Unibank Inc. offered additional leave credits to its employees, given the lengthy quarantine and isolation process for individuals who tested positive for COVID-19 and those who are exposed.

For workers who are on an onsite, no work, no pay scheme, this would mean that they would not be able to receive any payments for the days they are required to undergo isolation or quarantine.

“Ngayon, ang problema dito, paano kung naubos na ‘yung leave credits mo? Kasi ang ating quarantine is 10 days, dati 14 days pa nga. Talagang wala na, so hindi ka na mabibigyan ng sweldo,” he said.

(Now the problem is, what happens after you exhaust all your leave credits? The quarantine period is now 10 days, down from 14 days previously. There will be no credits left, so you won’t receive any salary.)

“That is the very reason nagpalabas kami ng advisory urging the employers to extend ‘yung leave credits ng mga workers. Ito kasi ay nakita namin doon sa isang big company, ito ‘yung Banco de Oro,” he added, referring to BDO Unibank.

(This is the very reason why we issued an advisory urging employers to extend the leave credits of their workers. This is what we saw in a big company, Banco de Oro.)

However, Bello said that not all establishments are expected to follow the advisory, as most of the firms will not be able to afford the arrangement. 

“Actually, ang maka-afford lang dito ‘yung mga large companies. Hindi natin ma-expect ‘yan from the micro and small business enterprises,” he said.

(Actually, only large companies can afford this. This cannot be expected of micro and small businesses.)

According to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), micro enterprises are defined as those with total assets worth less than P50,000; cottage enterprises with assets worth P50,001 to P500,000; small with P500,001 to P5 million; and medium from over P5 million to P20 million. — VBL, GMA News