Teachers challenge civil service chief to grant overtime pay

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers challenged newly-appointed Civil Service Commission chairperson Karlo Nograles to resolve the issue of teachers’ unpaid overtime.

“We never heard back from the CSC after we complied with their request for a position paper on the subject of teachers’ overtime. This did not only prolong the hardships of teachers who are barely getting by with their meager salaries and who could’ve greatly benefitted from the grant of the overdue overtime payment, but also prolonged the injustice they suffer from being denied their basic labor right to get proper remuneration for excess work days,” said ACT secretary general Raymond Basilio.

“We hope that the new leadership deals with the matter with utmost urgency, starting with an immediate response to our request for a dialogue.”

The group has been asking overtime pay for the 77 excess work days in the last school year.

DepEd claimed teachers rendered not just 77 days but 87 days of overtime in the last school year.

But, the agency backpedaled later on its word and did not acknowledge any excess work days.

“It is beyond doubt that teachers rendered services for 297 days – that’s 77 days greater than the 220 maximum allowable class days by law. As such, the government owes the nearly 1 million public school teachers overtime compensation. We continue to assert that teachers shall be granted 25 percent overtime premium and service credits for the 77 excess workdays in the last school year,” Basilio said.

Since last year, the group conducted protests to highlight its demand.

“We will continue to demand what is due our teachers. We have met the exigency of service with unparalleled commitment, despite little to no support from the Duterte administration. We’re only fighting for what we rightfully deserve: proper remuneration for our work,” stressed Basilio.

“We hope CSC chair Nograles shares this appreciation of our plight and decide in favor of our teachers, who form the largest section of the civil service.”