SC advises court workers to work overtime sans pay

As part of its austerity program the Supreme Court advised all judicial employees to render overtime service without pay.

The Supreme Court issued an Administrative Circular no. 18-2005 on this adopting the judiciary's austerity program joint circular no. 2, series of 2004 of the Civil Service Commission and the Department of Budget and Management on non-monetary remuneration for overtime service rendered.

This directive is also a part of the administrative circular no. 44-2004 entitled Adopting Measures to Reduce Expenditures and Increase Savings in Appropriations in the Judiciary. This circular was issued on September 10, 2004 by Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr.

And part of the measures is reducing expenses for overtime services which includes the lessening the number of court employees allowed to render overtime service following a Joint Circular No. 2 entitled "Non-Monetary Remuneration for Overtime Service Rendered," issued by the CSC and the DBM, on October 4, 2004.

Instead of being paid for their extra hours at work the judicial workers are can use "time-off" the accrued number of hours of overtime service they rendered, which they can later on use in the future like a day off in a week if the total hours of overtime have reached to a total equivalent to a whole working day.

"The rendition of overtime service, albeit without monetary compensation, would afford the employees more benefits, such as a day off in a week, which would mean one more day for the family, savings for one day in terms of transportation and meal expenses, and time saved in traveling to and from the office," the circular read.

But the official drivers of the chief justice and the associate justices of the Supreme Court and the presiding justices and associate justices of the Court of Appeals, Sandiganbayan and the Court of Tax Appeals are exempted from this. They may continue to receive overtime pay instead of the non-monetary remuneration.

This Joint Circular No. 2, series of 2004 was made effective by Davide since the start of May this year. - Liv G. Campo