DOLE settles separation pay, other monetary claims for retrenched workers

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga,  — Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Pampanga Field Office successfully settled around P912,000 worth of separation pay and other monetary claims for 27 retrenched workers via the Single Entry Approach (SENA).

“Pampanga SENA Desk Officer Aurita Layug received a request for assistance from Evelyn Zamora, one of the retrenched workers, regarding the non-payment of their separation pay and other mandatory benefits such as 13th month pay and Service Incentive Leaves (SIL) after closure of their leather manufacturing company which was previously based inside Clark Freeport,” DOLE Regional Director Raymundo Agravante said.

Through a phone conversation with company representative Marina Dela Torre, the company has agreed to amicably settle the payment of separation pay and other monetary claims to the affected workers.“We are thankful that in just a phone call away, the company expressed their full cooperation and compliance to settle the claims of the workers. We are hopeful that more companies would also practice a culture of voluntary compliance to labor laws in order to achieve industrial peace,” Agravante added.

Layug shared that Dela Torre plans to put up her own manufacturing business in the near future and will hire her fellow retrenched workers.

SENA is one of the answers of DOLE to President Aquino’s directive of reforming labor arbitration and adjudication by streamlining procedures, removing red tape, and ensuring integrity and fairness in the system.Under this reform, DOLE and its attached agencies have been tasked to strictly follow a 30-day mandatory conciliation-mediation process for all cases so that these will not mature into full-blown lawsuits. (CLJD-PIA3)