What is hazard pay and who is eligible for it?

When employees are tasked to do work that can cause physical discomfort, distress and even put them in danger, they receive an extra compensation called hazard pay. Duties covered by hazard pay borders on the perilous that even protective devices aren’t enough to reduce the tasks’ severity. This compensation is usually offered on top of an employee’s regular salary and is entirely up to the employer’s discretion to grant.

Hazardous conditions may include war zones, healthcare facilities, construction sites, mining areas, hostile locations and extreme weather conditions. Employers must be able to fully inform their employees if they are about to do hazardous work. If in case the employee wasn’t briefed prior to a high-risk job and in turn experienced an injury or an accident the employer will be held responsible.

Under Administrative Order No. 26 signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on Mar. 23, government workers (regardless of position, whether regular or contractual) who physically report during the enhanced quarantine period will receive a maximum daily hazard pay of P500. This includes employees in national government agencies, state universities and colleges, and government-owned or controlled corporations. Public health workers, social workers, science and technology personnel and uniformed personnel who already have existing hazard pays are entitled to the new order (whichever has the higher amount). 

Hazardous conditions may include war zones, healthcare facilities, construction sites, mining areas, hostile locations and extreme weather conditions. Employers must be able to fully inform their employees if they are about to do hazardous work

Senator Risa Hontiveros notes that even though the law does not require private sectors to provide hazard pay for their employees, employers should take initiative in giving additional compensation for the “underappreciated workers who preserve some sense of normalcy in our communities, even in these difficult times” such as security guards, shopping attendants, cashiers, restaurant waiters and hotel staff.

Food establishments and food delivery services continue to operate through a skeletal workforce to maintain the steady flow of goods and secure the basic necessities of consumers. Safety measures such as contactless delivery and cashless payments are observed on top of their already existing food safety and hygiene practices.

The hazard pay will apply retroactively from when the lockdown started on Mar. 17.

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