This is an article repost.
THE BUREAU of Customs (BoC) has resolved its longstanding issue regarding the overtime work of its employees in international airports, devising a new scheme of shifts that will allow it to shoulder the additional pay due to the personnel.
The BoC issued Customs Administrative Order 7-2011 on Aug. 2 prescribing the official work hours for personnel stationed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and other international airports.
The first shift will be from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., while the second shift will be from 3:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. The last shift will be from 11:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. All shifts come with a one-hour break.
“In order that clearance of aircraft, passengers and their baggage and cargoes can be effected… the following shall be official work hours at the Arrival Operations Division, Departure Operations Division, Baggage Assistance Division, Aircraft Operations Division and Export Division,” the issuance explained.
The new scheme of work shifts allows the BoC to avoid paying overtime work to its personnel, Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima told reporters on the sidelines of the third Corporate Treasury & CFO Summit Philippines held yesterday in Makati City.
“We’ve asked Customs to hire more people and to have three shifts in the airport so there would be no need for overtime. There will be those that will be assigned to the morning, the evening and graveyard shift,” Mr. Purisima said.
The BoC will be paying the night-time differential pay of employees working from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. of the following day, though.
The night-shift pay will not exceed 20% of the actual rate of the employee’s hourly rate, the issuance said. It will cover the work hours falling within the 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. time frame.
“That’s what we’re doing to make sure that we address this issue involving overtimes for good,” Mr. Purisima said.
The BoC was embroiled in a controversy last year, since earlier Customs issuances declared that the overtime pay of their personnel would be shouldered “by importers, shippers and other persons served.”
However, airlines, led by Tan-led Philippine Airlines complained of the cost, and for a time, Customs personnel did not receive their overtime pay and meal allowances.
It was even proposed at one point that tourists and overseas Filipino workers should shoulder the Customs personnel fees.
“At one point last December, Customs personnel in international airports threatened that they wouldn’t render overtime work, and that would have caused a major disruption, affecting the tourism of the country,” Customs Commissioner Angelito A. Alvarez said on the sidelines of a case filing at the Department of Justice yesterday.
“Airlines will no longer be charged overtime pay. The government will,” Mr. Alvarez added.
A total of 51 employees were hired to cover the two new shifts, the Customs head said.
This year, the BoC will pay for the night-time differential fees through their savings. But for 2012, the Department of Budget and Management allocated funds for that purpose, Mr. Alvarez explained.
The new arrangement will “ensure that adequate personnel are assigned to render 24/7 services” at the international airports where “aircraft engaged in foreign commerce enter and clear continuously,” the issuance stated.
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By: Diane Claire J. Jiao and Nathaniel R. Melican
Source: Business World, Aug. 11, 2011
To view the original article, click here.
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To download a copy of the Customs Administrative Order No. 7-2011, click here.
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