MANILA -- Employees should be given a night differential rate apart from the overtime (OT) pay once malls have adjusted their shopping hours from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., a labor group said Monday.
Julius Cainglet, vice president for research, advocacy and partnerships of the Federation of Free Workers (FFW), noted that employers should pay the additional salary to their workers who will work several hours due to the adjustment in mall hours, as provided under the law.
“If malls adjust shopping hours, to 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., mall workers should be paid the applicable night differential rate on top of the OT pay due them. Once an employee continues work beyond 10 p.m., night shift differential applies,” he said in a statement.
Article 86 of the Labor Code defines it as the additional compensation of 10 percent of an employee's regular wage for each hour of work performed between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
“As it is, they should already enjoy this. Even if malls close at 10 p.m., many mallers stay. They would still require the services of sales ladies and cashiers. Then employees have to do inventory and other closing activities. Thus, they get home at 11 p.m. There will be longer hours at work as the Christmas season nears,” added the official of the FFW, which is an affiliate of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
Cainglet said that on an ordinary day, an employee should be paid 110 percent of her or his hourly rate per hour worked beyond 10 p.m.
“If work is performed beyond 10 p.m. and over eight hours, an employee should get 137.5 percent of her or his hourly rate per hour of work performed after 10 p.m. and beyond eight hours,” he added.
The Metro Manila Development Authority's (MMDA) “open late-close late” scheme where mall operating hours are set from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., took effect on Monday.
It aims to reduce traffic congestion along Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue (EDSA). A total of 16 shopping malls are located along the major thoroughfare that passes through the cities of Caloocan, Quezon, San Juan, Mandaluyong, Makati and Pasay.
The scheme will be implemented only from Mondays to Fridays. (PNA)
