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Also, the matters contained in the following were written in accordance with the law, rules, and jurisprudence prevailing at the time of writing and posting, and do not include any future developments on the subject matter under discussion.
AT A GLANCE:
The COVID-19 Special Risk Allowance (SRA) is granted to public and private health workers who are directly catering to or are in contact with COVID-19 patients for every month that they are serving during the state of national emergency.
It is given in addition to hazard pay granted under the Magna Carta of Public Health Workers (Republic Act No. 7305) and the COVID-19 Active Hazard Duty Pay (AHDP) under Administrative Order No. 35.
The SRA shall be exempt from income tax. (Section 1, A.O. No. 36)
The Grant of Special Risk Allowance
Administrative Order No. 36 dated November 16, 2020 authorized the grant of a COVID-19 Special Risk Allowance (SRA) not exceeding Five Thousand Pesos (PhP5,000.00) per month to public and private health workers who are directly catering to or are in contact with COVID-19 patients in recognition of the heroic and invaluable contributions of health workers by being at the forefront of the national effort to address the public health emergency.
The Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Republic Act No. 11494) affirmed the existence of a continuing national emergency in view of the unabated spread of the COVID-19 virus. Section 4(h) of R.A. No. 11494 authorized the national government to grant SRA to all public and private health workers directly catering to or in contact with COVID-19 patients for every month that they are serving during the state of national emergency.
For public health workers, SRA is given in addition to hazard pay granted under the Magna Carta of Public Health Workers (Republic Act No. 7305) and the COVID-19 Active Hazard Duty Pay (AHDP) under Administrative Order No. 35.
What are the conditions for entitlement of COVID-19 SRA?
Section 2 of Administrative Order No. 36 provides that the following conditions shall be observed in the grant of the COVID-19 SRA to health workers:
- The public health workers are either (i) civilian employees occupying regular, contractual or casual positions, whether full or part-time; or (ii) workers engaged through contract of service (COS) or job order (JO) including duly accredited and registered barangay health workers, who are assigned to hospitals, laboratories, medical and quarantine facilities. In the case of LGUs, the list of public health workers, including barangay health workers, shall be determined by their respective local health board;
- The private health workers are assigned in the designated COVID-19 units of hospitals, laboratories, or medical and quarantine facilities as certified by the DOH;
- The public and private health workers provide critical and urgent services to respond to the public health emergency during the state of national emergency;
- The public and private health workers physically report for work at their assigned work stations on the prescribed official working hours, as authorized by the head of agency/office during the state of national emergency, which place them in direct contact with COVID-19 patients;
- The grant of COVID-19 SRA shall be pro-rated based on the number of days that the public and private health workers physically report for work in a month, as certified by the head of the hospital, laboratory, or medical and quarantine facility, or his/her authorized representative, reckoned from September 15, 2020 until December 19, 2020, as follows:
|
COVID-19 SRA |
= |
PhP5,000.00 22 days |
x |
Number of days physically reporting for work during the month |
- All claims for the payment of SRA to public and private health workers shall be validated by the Department of Health and the Department of Budget and Management.
Who are not entitled to the SRA?
Section 2 of Administrative Order No. 36 states that those engaged without employer-employee relationship and funded from non-personnel service appropriations/budgets are excluded from the grant of SRA, such as the following:
- Consultants and experts engaged for a limited period to perform specific activities or services with expected outputs;
- Laborers engaged through job contracts (“pakyaw”) and those paid on piecework basis;
- Student workers and apprentices; and
- Individuals and group of individuals whose services are engaged through contract of service or job orders, including barangay health workers, who are not assigned to hospitals, laboratories, or medical and quarantine facilities.
To further continue the benefit being provided to all public and private health workers, Republic Act No. 11712 (An Act Granting Mandatory Continuing Benefits and Allowances to Public and Private Health Care Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Other Future Public Health Emergencies, and Appropriating Funds Therefor) was passed into law on April 27, 2022, Under this law, the SRA was effectively replaced by Health Emergency Allowance (HEA), with amounts provideACd based on risk levels.
Read also: What is hazard pay?
Alburo Alburo and Associates Law Offices specializes in business law and labor law consulting. For inquiries regarding taxation and taxpayer’s remedies, you may reach us at info@alburolaw.com, or dial us at (02)7745-4391/0917-5772207.
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