Duterte OKs hazard pay, COVID-19 allowance for frontliners

MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte yesterday signed two administrative orders allowing the grant of additional pay to frontline health workers and public and private health personnel in direct contact with COVID-19 patients.

AO No. 35 authorized the grant of active hazard duty pay to health workers serving in the frontlines during the state of national emergency. AO No. 36, meanwhile, allowed the grant of special risk allowance to private and public health workers directly attending to or in contact with coronavirus patients.

Under AO 35, national government agencies, government-owned or controlled corporations and local government units may grant active hazard duty pay of up to P3,000 per month to all human resources for health.

Human resources for health refers to medical, allied medical and other personnel in the public sector who are involved in the national health care response to mitigate the transmission of COVID-19 and prevent the further loss of lives.

The grant of COVID-19 active hazard duty pay shall be pro-rated based on the number of days that the frontline health workers physically report for work in a month, from Sept. 15, 2020 until Dec. 19, 2020.

Those engaged without employer-employee relationships and funded from non-personnel services budgets are excluded from the grant of active hazard duty pay.?Under AO No. 36, national government agencies, government-owned or controlled corporations and local government units are allowed to grant special risk allowance not exceeding P5,000 per month to public and private health workers who directly attend to COVID-19 patients.

The allowance shall be exempt from income tax. ?The grant of the allowance shall be pro-rated based on the number of days that the health workers physically report for work in a month as certified by the head of the health institution or facility reckoned from Sept. 15, 2020 until Dec. 19, 2020.

Those engaged without employer-employee relationships and funded from non-personnel services budgets are not covered by the order. ?The amount required for the giving of hazard pay and special risk allowance will come from the P13.5 billion appropriated under Bayanihan to Recover as One Act.