Re: Legal Opinion;
Request for Opinion; CSC-LSP;
Public Health Workers; Hazard,
Subsistence,
and Laundry Benefits
x------------------------------------------------------------x
Director Hilda G. Diokno, Human
Resource Management Office (HRDO), this Commission, through HRDO Memorandum No.
208 s. 2001 dated August 9, 2001, requests the Commission to issue a policy
resolution on the issue of whether public health workers may be granted hazard
allowance, subsistence allowance and laundry allowance during the period they
are on local scholarship grant.
Under Civil Service Commission Memorandum Circular No. 26, s. 1996 (REVISED
GUIDELINES AND OPERATING PROCEDURES ON THE LOCAL SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM) an
LSP grantee is entitled to the payment of his salary and other benefits and
allowances from the agency where he/she is employed during the period of
his/her scholarship.
It
should be noted that LSP grantees attending scholarship grants are considered
in the regular performance of their duties and responsibilities. It is for this reason that they are entitled
not only to the salaries and allowances corresponding to their position but
also to other benefits.[1]
However,
such allowances and other benefits may be given to him/her subject to the
availability of funds and the usual accounting and auditing rules and
regulations.[2]
Relevantly, the Commission held in the
case of CABALFIN-VALIENTE, Luz, CSC
Resolution No. 00-0944 dated May 06, 1999, as follows:
“With regard
to the other benefits, i.e., Hazard Allowance, Subsistence Allowance, Laundry
Allowance, and Remote Assignment Allowance, the Commission also rules that
Cabalfin-Valiente is entitled to receive the same, these being in the nature of
allowances which are also part of her compensation package. This is, of course, subject to the
qualification that she meets the required qualifications provided in Sections
21, 22, 24, and 25 of R. A. No. 7305 (The Magna Carta of Public Health Workers)
and other pertinent rules implementing the receipt of these specific benefits.
“WHEREFORE,
the Commission hereby resolves to rule that Luz A. Cabalfin-Valiente is
entitled to receive during the period of six (6) months of her extended service
. . . the following Magna Carta Benefits:
“1. Hazard Allowance;
“2. Subsistence Allowance;
“3. Laundry Allowance; and
“However, receipt
or entitlement thereto is subject to the implementing rules regarding said
benefits.” (Underlining ours)
Based on the foregoing, it is safe to
conclude that the entitlement of LSP grantees to the payment of allowances and
other benefits during the period of scholarship is not absolute since they are
subject to two conditions: 1) availability of funds and 2) the usual accounting
and auditing rules and regulations and/or other pertinent rules implementing
the receipt of these specific benefits.
As a rule, public health workers are
entitled, among others, to the following allowances: hazard, subsistence and
laundry allowances.[3]
Hazard allowance is given to public
health workers in hospitals, sanitaria, rural health units, main health
centers, health infirmaries, barangay health stations, clinics and other
health-related establishments located in difficult areas, strife-torn or
embattled areas, distressed or isolated stations, prison camps, mental
hospitals, radiation-exposed clinics, laboratories or disease-infected areas or
in areas declared under state of calamity or emergency for the duration thereof
which expose them to great danger, contagion, radiation, volcanic
activity/eruption, occupational risks or perils to life as determined by the
Secretary of Health or the Head of the unit with the approval of the Secretary
of Health.[4]
However,
public health workers who are on full time attendance in training
grant/scholarship grant/seminar or any other activity for more than one (1)
full calendar month shall not be entitled to the hazard allowance except when
the place of activity is certified to be risky or hazardous area.[5]
On
the other hand, subsistence allowance is given when public health workers are
required to render service within the premises of hospitals, sanitaria, health
infirmaries, main health centers, rural health units and barangay health
stations, or clinics, and other health-related establishments in order to make
their services available at any and all times, they shall be entitled to full
subsistence allowance of three (3) meals which may be computed in accordance
with prevailing circumstances as determined by the Secretary of Health in
consultation with the Management-Health Workers’ Consultative Councils.[6]
All
public health workers covered under RA 7305 are eligible to receive full
subsistence allowance as long as they render actual duty.[7] Moreover, they are entitled to subsistence
allowance based on the number of meals/days included in the duration when they
rendered actual work including their regular duties, overtime work or on-call
duty as defined in the Implementing Rules Regulations of Republic Act No. 7305.
Thus,
a public worker must perform actual duty or overtime work or on-call duty in
order to be entitled to this allowance.
Since an LSP grantee does not render any work during the period of
scholarship, then he/she is not entitled to this benefit.
Lastly,
public health workers shall only be entitled to a laundry allowance when they
are required to wear uniforms regularly.[8] They are entitled to the said allowance if
they are required by their agency to report for work in their uniform
everyday. Since an LSP grantee does not
report for work in the agency where he/she belongs during the duration of the
scholarship grant, neither is he/she required to wear office uniform, then
he/she is not entitled to the laundry allowance.
It
is also worth mentioning that the rules aforementioned are also contained in
the following provisions of Volume I
(Government Auditing Rules and Regulations) of Commission on Audit Circular No.
91-368 [9] which
provide:
“Sec.
293. Subsistence allowance defined.-
Subsistence allowance shall mean an allowance for meal or sustenance for an
official or employee who, by the nature of his duties and responsibilities, has
to make his services available in his place of work even during mealtime.
“Sec.
294. Officials or employees entitled to
subsistence allowance. – No official or employee of the National Government
shall be given subsistence, the cost of which is payable from any public fund,
except the following and only when an appropriation therefore is specifically
provided:
“
x x x
“c. Officials and employees of hospitals
sanitaria, penal institutions, leper institutions, military installations, and
other similar institutions who are required to render service and live within
the premises of the said institutions for a continuous period that includes
meal time, to make their services available at any and all times;
“
x x x
“Sec.
296. Provisions in the granting of
subsistence allowance. – The granting of subsistence allowance is governed by
the following general provisions:
“
x x x
“e. In all cases, officials and employees . . .
attending training course/scholarship grant . . . shall not be entitled to
subsistence allowance for the duration of their attendance in a training
course/scholarship grant/seminar . . .
“
x x x
“Sec.
309. Entitlement to laundry allowance.
– The following are entitled to the laundry allowance:
“a.
Hospital/sanitaria personnel who attend directly to patients and who by nature
of their duties are required to wear uniforms;
“
x x x
“Sec.
311. Employees entitled to
hardship/hazard allowance. – Employees, whether regular or contractual,
assigned on a permanent, temporary, special or travel basis to the following
areas, which expose them to great damage or contagion or peril to life, are
entitled to hardship/hazard allowance:
“a. hardship
or difficult areas
“b.
strife-torn or embattled areas
“c. distressed
or isolated stations
“d. prison
camps
“e. mental
hospitals
“f.
radiation-exposed clinics or laboratories
“g.
disease-infested areas
“h. areas
declared under state of calamity or emergency.”
To
summarize, as a rule LSP grantees during the period of scholarship are entitled
not only to their salaries and allowances corresponding to their positions but
also to other benefits. However, their
entitlement to allowances and other benefits is subject to the availability of
funds and the usual auditing and accounting rules and regulations and/or other
pertinent rules implementing the receipt of these specific benefits.
In
this regard, public health workers under scholarship grant are not entitled to
receive any hazard, subsistence or laundry allowance from their agency. The Magna Carta of Public Health Workers
(Republic Act No. 7305) and its implementing rules specifically provide conditions
for the availment of the said benefits, which the LSP grantees will not be able
to fulfill.
WHEREFORE, the Commission hereby rules that public health workers under
Local Scholarship Program are not entitled to hazard, laundry and subsistence
allowance since they cannot comply with the provisions of the Magna Carta of Public Health Workers
(Republic Act No. 7305) and its implementing rules and Volume I of Commission on Audit Circular No. 91-368 (GOVERNMENT
ACCOUNTNG AND AUDITING MANUAL).
Quezon
City, January 23, 2002
(Signed) (Signed)
JOSE F.
ERESTAIN, JR. J. WALDEMAR V. VALMORES
Attested by:
(Signed)
CPS/AGR/pvp/cm02-2002
FPG/KPZ/X3/Y11(D21)
HRMOMemo
[1] GILBUENA, Judith P., CSC Resolution No. 95-8130 dated December 20, 1995
[3] Section 20 of Republic Act No. 7305 (THE MAGNA CARTA OF PUBLIC HEALTH WORKERS)
[5] Section 7 (7.1.6) of the REVISED IMPLEMENTING RULES AND REGULATIONS ON THE MAGNA CARTA OF PUBLIC HEALTH WORKERS OR R. A. 7305
[6] Section 22 of the same law