Philippines grants night shift workers differential pay

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has signed into law the bill granting government employees night shift differential pay.

Under the Republic Act No. 11701, government employees occupying positions from Division Chief and below shall be paid night shift differential at a rate not exceeding 20% of the hourly basic rate of the employee for every hour of work performed between 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. 

This covers employees who are in permanent positions, as well as contractual, temporary, or casual staff. It also covers employees in government-owned or -controlled corporations, the law read.

According to the law, the night shift differential pay shall be provided in addition to and shall not in any way diminish the benefits and allowances granted to government employees.

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For national government entities, the funds for the night differential pay shall be taken from existing appropriations for departments, bureaus, offices, and agencies concerned.

For local government units, the amount shall be charged from their respective funds.

For government-owned or -controlled corporations and subsidiaries, the funds shall be deducted against their respective corporate funds.

According to the law, those who are not included from the night differential pay are:

• government employees whose services are required 24 hours a day, including uniformed personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police, as well as employees determined by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
• government employees working between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. are also not covered by the law. These workers who will work beyond their eight-hour shift are granted overtime pay.

Republic Act No. 11701 was signed into law by Duterte, who is set to step down in June, on April 13, a copy of the law was released to the media only on Monday.