DOLE issues guidelines on availing involuntary separation benefit

by Marje Pelayo, UNTV News, 7 Aug 2019

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) announced on Tuesday (August 6) that it has issued the guidelines on the issuance of certification to employees who wish to apply for involuntary separation benefit or unemployment insurance after being laid off involuntarily from their previous job.

Under Department Circular No.1 series of 2019 signed by Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, employees who are eligible members of the Social Security System (SSS), including house helpers and overseas Filipino workers (OFW) who were retrenched from work will need to secure a DOLE certification of involuntary separation as a requirement to avail unemployment insurance.

A concerned employee may apply for certification at all DOLE field or provincial office where the employee resides or where their company is located.

OFWs, meanwhile, can file their application at the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) located in the areas where their employers operate or where the OFWs reside.

Requirements for application are as follow:

– one valid identification card;

– a copy of the notice of termination issued by the employer, (or if not available a duly notarized affidavit of termination of employment)

DOLE said that to qualify for the grant of unemployment benefit, the employee:

should not be over 60 years of age at the time of involuntary separation;
has paid at least 36 monthly contributions (12 of which should be in the 18-month period immediately preceding the month of involuntary separation);
has no settled unemployment benefit within the last three years prior to the date of involuntary separation.

Only those employees involuntarily separated for “authorized causes” are qualified to apply for unemployment benefit. Example of these causes include:

– the installation of labor-saving devices;

– redundancy;

– retrenchment or downsizing;

– closure or cessation of operation;

– disease/illness of the employee whose continued employment is prohibited by law or is prejudicial to his or her co-employees’ health

Meanwhile, employees who lost their jobs due to “just causes” are also eligible to apply.

Under Article 300 (285) of the Labor Code of the Philippines, ‘just causes’ for employment separation are as follow:

serious insult to the honor and person of the employee;
inhuman and unbearable treatment accorded the employee by the employer or his representative;
crime committed against the person of the employee or any immediate members of the employee’s family.

Employment separation due to an economic downturn, natural or human-induced calamities or disasters, and other similar cases as may be determined by the DOLE and SSS can also be valid reasons to apply for insurance benefit.

The DOLE field or regional office is directed to release the certification within the day upon receipt and verification of application provided the application is supported with complete documentary requirements.

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