Service Incentive Leave
An employee (undsclosed firm/industry) sent an email yesterday asking about the number of Vacation Leave (VL) and Sick Leave (SL) credits an someone in a private firm is entitled to have or earn in a year. His previous employer allegedly gave him 20 days of VL and 10 days of SL per year, accrued monthly. In comparison, the company he currently works for only gives 10 VL and 10 SL, with cash conversion of the unused VLs only.
He was comparing notes with another officemate who was (again, allegedly) getting 30 days of VL but no SL, with cash conversion for unused leaves at the end of the year.
He wanted to file a complaint with their management but held off until he could get all his facts in order.
So – which is which? Which company was giving the correct benefit to its employees? Could he file a complaint against his current (and former) employers for failure to provide the proper leave benefits?
We could always refer to various jurisprudence for this, but the baseline would always be in the Labor Code.
ART. 95. Right to service incentive leave. –
a) Every employee who has rendered at least one year of service shall be entitled to a yearly service incentive leave of five days with pay.
b) This provision shall not apply to those who are already enjoying the benefit herein provided, those enjoying vacation leave with pay of at least five days and those employed in establishments regularly employing less than ten employees or in establishments exempted from granting this benefit by the Secretary of Labor and Employment after considering the viability or financial condition of such establishment.
c) The grant of benefit in excess of that provided herein shall not be made a subject of arbitration or any court or administrative action.
So the minimum guaranteed is FIVE DAYS (and in this case, all-inclusive of the so-called VL and SL – no distinction between either). Anything in excess is voluntary and at the Management’s prerogative already.
The Labor Code has no provision on the commutation or the conversion to cash of unused service incentive leave. But the IRR by DOLE requires it.
Related posts:
Can the employer customizes the distribution of leaves? Let’s say for instance, we are only allowed to use our 2 leaves for January on the month of February. And you are only allowed to use 2 leaves each month…is that legal
Ed,
The company may allocate usage of leaves to fit the business needs of the company and schedule such so that daily workflow will not be drastically affected.
Query
If a regular employee With anniversary date of May 1, 2007 resigned last February 02, 2010, service incentive leave computation will be? say the company is granting 5 days incentive leave on employee’s first year anniv.
hi,
i just want to ask this: In my case, im working in a private company and each employees allocated 15 days of leave (sick leave, vacation leave, bereavement leave, maternity/paternity leave) once in a year. what if I want to go abroad for vacation lets say 15 days or one mos. stay in Malaysia, do i have the privilege to do that? Is it ok if my 15days will be paid leave and the rest is unpaid leave? do i have the rights to do that?
Faith,
you have that privilege to use your leaves as you see fit – subject to management approval, taking into consideration operational concerns, etc.
sa work ko ngayon 15 sl at 15 ang vl pero hindi samin rin binabayaran ang 5 days n incentive leaves namin.tapos ang gusto nilang mangyari pag nagregular kana dapat daw magstart kami 15 vl at sl nmin jan to dec e ppno po ung ibang empleyado na alanganin ung buwan kung kailan sila nagsimula sa aming company na pinagtatrabahuhan? ano po ba talagang tamang vl at sl na karapatan ng empleyadong katulad ko?
hi! short question .is SL monetary conversion taxable? thank you.
I BEEN WORKING ON MY PRESENT EMPLOYER SINCE DECEMBER 15,2007,BUT THEN THE COMPANY GAVE MY SERVICE INCENTIVE LEAVE JULY OF 2009.MY QUESTION IS CAN I ASK MY EMPLOYER TO PAYBACK FOR MY 2008 SERVICE INCENTIVE LEAVE?
DECEMBER 2009 THE HRD NOTIFY ME FOR MY 2 DAYS SICK LEAVE.I USED IT ONCE AND APPROVED BY THE MANAEMENT,BUT WHEN I WISH 2 APPLY FOR MY 2ND SICK LEAVE THE COMPANY MANAGEMENT REFUSE TO APPROVE MY APPLICATION AND INSTEAD TOLD ME THAT IT IS NOT MANDATORY.ON MY CASE WHAT’S THE BEST THING TO DO?
HOPE TO HEAR YOU SOON…THANKS
i am working for a private company for 3 years. this year is the year when my SLVL just went effective. our company will go thru a name change and there is a rumor that the company may not convert the unused slvl to cash. is that legal? if not and it happens, where can we file a compalin? i waited for 3 years just to experience that type of payment. Please reply to my post. i wanna know. thanks
My nephew was absent due to diarrhea one saturday which considered as a critical work day for him. But he was able to present a valid medical certificate. I just want to ask if the employer has a right to sanction my nephew with the highest memo because he was out on a critical work day?
marialippy,
it all depends – as long as due process is observed.
15 days VL/SL, forfeited if not used.
can i ask 5 days be paid if VL/SL not used?
rocky,
that is management prerogative.
7 years na po ako sa company ko never pa ako nabigyan ng SIL kc wala daw sila record ng sl/vl ng lahat ng employees. any advice po sa action ko pwede gawin?
juan,
File your complaint with DOLE.
meron po ba website na pwede magfile ng complaint or kailangan personal magpunta sa DOLE?
juan,
personal ang pagre-reklamo. hindi pwede sa internet kasi hindi sigurado kung sino ang kausap. baka nagre-reklamo lang kasi walang magawa o gusto lang mang-abala.
so punta ka sa opisina nila para magbigay ng salaysay at pumirma ng mga papeles.
ok patrick salamat
Hi,
Ang employer maganda ang benefits na binibigay nila sa mga employees..sl-15,vl-15, bereavement leave -5, emergency leave-5, diba okay!
Tanong ko lang kon mandated ba ang bereavement leave?
Our company will be paying SL Conversion this February 2011, much later than what we have done on the previous years. However some of our employees were saying that the unused SL credits should be part of their 2010 earnings therefore it should have been released on their last payroll for 2010. I just want to inquire if the company is violating any labor law with regards to the release of our employees’ SL conversion? Is there any tax consequences on paying the SL Conversion on the following year?
Thanks in advance…
None.
ano-ano ba ang mga incentive or benefits kapag naka-10 years in service ka na?
No government-mandated benefits. Lahat yan discretion ng company.
Will a company can lawfully through a company policy advised their regular employees to clock-out in the event that the production department no longer have work to do or do no have sufficient workload for an eight hour work day? The company is insisting that they should not be paying salaries for employees during the idle times. Thus, they issued a company policy for this matter. Note that all are regular employees.
1 of our co-workers was offered a “redundancy package” since the company is now operating under a new management, he was suppose to avail his retirement 6 months from now, when he asked kung makukuha niya yung buong retirement package niya, sabi ng management hindi daw dahil di daw niya nabuo yung ika-15th year niya. 14 years & almost 7 mos. na po siya sa company. can’t his six mos. service be considered as 1 whole year? as stated in art.287 (a fraction of at least six (6) months being considered as one whole year)of the labor code? thank you po..
it’s in “Art. 283. Closure of establishment and reduction of personnel” po pala. kindly shed some light po. thanks you.
Will I have salary deduction for my one day unscheduled leave should the company denied approval?
Hi, I have some scenarios that I’d like to check regarding Unused Vacation Leaves.
1. I read that SIL (which is for 5 days) is mandatory and should be converted to cash. My company gives 15 days of VL and if unused it will just reset, no monetary conversion of the 5 days SIL. Is that ok for the company or are they already in violation of the law?
2. If I have 15 days of VL and have only used 10 days, will the 5 days left still be converted to cash? Or will the 5 days of SIL be already included in the 10 days VL that I have used?
Thanks! hope I get a reply
if a company has already given 20 days leave to its employees for years,can the said company take back such incentives and cut the no of days in half anytime the company wants to?
I gave birth last march, 78days yung maternity leave ko. Ibabawas po ba yun sa computation ng 5days Incentive Leave. o dapat buo pa rin yung makuha ko.
Gusto q lang po itanong sa pinagttrabahuhan q po na private company nagsign kami ng contract na we get 24 leaves SL at VL na po un
We also earn it every month.. Nag maternity leave po ako. At ang sabi walang maeearn na SL dahil naka maternity leave ako. Magkaibang benefit un na provided dapat ng company. Tama po ba un ginagawa nila sa sickleave credit ko?thank you
Tama ang company. Dahil hindi ka pumasok nung panahon na naka-ML ka (kunwari 2 months), di ka rin kikita ng katumbas na SL (or VL) na dapat dun sa panahon na wala ka. You earn them when you report to work.
PS – please, no textspeak here – if you’re using a BB, full keyboard yan. Wag tipirin para maintindihan din ng ibang nagbabasa.