Solon seeks granting of two-week family and medical leave for employees

A neophyte lawmaker is seeking the granting of two weeks of unpaid leave a year to
employees whose spouse, parent, unmarried child or who themselves suffer from serious illness.
Rep. Gus Tambunting (2
nd
istrict, !ara"a#ue $ity% raised this proposal through &ouse
'ill ()*+ or the ,-amily and .edical /eave Act of 20*(1 which aims to give employees a new
venue to attend further to their family and medical needs without necessarily compromising the
workers2 future income.
Tambunting, a vice chairman of the &ouse committee on trade and industry, noted that
during prolonged sickness, most often than not, accumulated sick and vacation leaves are
consumed by employees to attend to such e3igency. .embers of the families are also obliged to
attend to said incapability, according to him.
,4nder such e3igency, the employees are obliged to moneti5e accumulated leave credits to
augment their financial burden thereby reducing the amount employees are to receive upon
terminal or separation from employment. &ence, diminishing the retirement money that will help
them in their twilight years of non6employment,1 said Tambunting.
&e said his proposal complements the constitutional provision that ,The 7tate recogni5es
the sanctity of family life and shall protect and strengthen the family as a basic autonomous
social institution.1
&ouse 'ill ()*+ provides it is the policy of the 7tate to reinforce the importance of the
family as the primary social institution of society. The 7tate shall support and uphold the health
and well6being of the family, the bill further provides.
The bill now pending at the committee on labor and employment chaired by Rep. 8arlo
Ale3ei 9ograles (*
st
istrict, avao $ity% provides that any employee, regardless of status, may
apply for and shall be granted by the employer an unpaid family and medical leave of up to two
weeks when the worker2s spouse, parent or unmarried child suffers from a serious illness.
7pouses working for the same employer when availing of the benefits under the proposed
Act shall only be granted a combined total of two weeks of unpaid leave. The employee may also
apply for the same if he himself is physically unable to perform his :ob due to serious illness, the
bill provides.
;t provides that the leave application shall be accompanied by a notari5ed medical
certificate duly accomplished by a licensed physician. The medical certificate should clearly state
the nature and e3tent of the illness.
-urthermore, the employee availing of the leave benefits shall, upon return, be reinstated
to his original position with e#uivalent pay, benefits and all other terms and conditions of
employment.
NR # 3513
JUNE 30, 2014
The two6week leave may be availed of by the employee in parts, but no remainder thereof
shall be carried over the succeeding year. -urthermore, no accumulated leave credits shall accrue
in favor of the employee for every year of service.
The proposed leave benefits shall not diminish or affect whatever vested rights and
benefits the employee is already receiving under the law, collective bargaining agreement ($'A%
or from the employer. The employee who is already receiving a similar unpaid leave benefit
under the law or $'A shall only be entitled to a ma3imum of four weeks of unpaid leave benefit,
the bill provides.
/astly, the bill provides the epartment of /abor and <mployment (=/<% shall
promulgate the necessary rules and regulations to effectively implement the proposed Act. ()0%
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