BSKE teachers demand overtime pay

A teachers' group has asked the Commission on Elections or Comelec to provide funding for the overtime pay of teachers who served as poll workers in this year's Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections.

In a letter to Comelec Chairperson George Garcia, the group said many teachers worked more than 24 hours during the recently concluded polls.

"Previously, the honoraria for members of the electoral boards were stated as per diems and computed based on three days or twenty-four hours of continuous work (as Board of Election Inspectors or Board of Election Tellers, particularly in manual elections). Still, many of our DepEd employees worked beyond 24 hours and were thus entitled to overtime pay," the letter read.

It added: "In previous elections, the Comelec granted the same request. Even in the 2022 NLE, the Comelec allocated overtime pay due to delays. This is also consistent with the policy of additional compensation for electoral boards assigned to precincts conducting a pilot test of early voting for the vulnerable sectors."

The poll body earlier said it could only give overtime pay for teachers who rendered election duties for up to 24 hours during this year's barangay elections due to existing Commission on Audit rules and the lack of a budget for it.

The Department of Education, however, said that teachers who worked more than 24 hours could be given additional service credits on top of the 5-day service.

"Service credits are not cash. But leave credits are equivalent to a day's salary," DepEd Assistant Secretary Francis Bringas said.