COVID DOLE Assistance For ‘No Work, No Pay’ Employees

2 min read By eCompareMo on March 23, 2020

As confirmed coronavirus cases continue to rise, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has set up the COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program, or CAMP. This is to give financial assistance to affected employees and ease the plight of workers who have been most affected by the community quarantine and sudden cessation of jobs.

With CAMP in play, eligible workers will be given financial aid in the amount of P5,000 through their company’s payroll system. This aims to cover up for those days when affected employees have no work and no pay, especially those without leave credits left.

The financial assistance is a one-time lump sum and is supposed to be provided regardless of the individual’s employment status.

This applies to affected private establishments in Metro Manila who have adopted Flexible Work Arrangements (FWAs) beginning January 2020 until lifting of stringent social distancing measures in the National Capital Region (NCR). In other words till the expanded community quarantine ends on April 14, 2020.

(Read: COVID-19: How To Pay Your Taxes Before The Extended BIR Deadline)

Affected workers are employees that were suspended or have had their work hours—and thus, their take home pay—reduced. It will also apply to those who were put on forced leave or a rotational shift or whose companies were forced to temporarily close due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This safety net program is for employees working in the private sector, “regardless of status, or those who are employed by any person acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee.”

How to avail cash assistance from DOLE

For you to avail of CAMP, the company that employs you needs to submit the following documents to DOLE:

• An establishment Report on COVID-19 pursuant to Labor Advisory No. 9, Series of 2020
• Company payroll for the month prior the implementation of FWAs or temporary closure

The company should follow the Article IV Section 1 C of the application procedures provided by DOLE under the their Department Order No. 209 Series of 2020, or the Guidelines on the Adjustment Measures Program for Affected Workers Due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019.

(Read: ‘Payment Holiday’ On Your Loan And Credit Card Explained)

DOLE notes that the financial assistance application of the company might get denied by the regional director in the event of the following:

• Ineligibility of applicant
• Misrepresentation of facts
• Submission of falsified or tampered document

Disbursement of funds will take two weeks upon receipt of the company’s application. Funds will be sent directly to the beneficiary’s payroll account.

Other sources: CNN Philippines, Rappler