Gov’t workers to get clothing allowance hike

MANILA, Philippines – Employees working in public offices will soon enjoy an additional P1,000 for their uniform allowance.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has announced that the Uniform or Clothing Allowance (U/CA) has been increased to P1.28 billion. This, in effect, will push the current P4,000 uniform allowance of government employees to P5,000.

“By scaling up this year’s U/CA…, we help minimize the financial burden on government employees and give them more legroom to comply with the dress codes of their respective offices,” Budget and Management Secretary Florencio Abad said.

The P4,000 of the annual allowance will be charged from the Personal Services allotment in the budget matrix of each agency. The additional P1,000, on the other hand, will be sourced from the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund (MPBF) under the 2012 National Budget.

The U/CA, however, will not cover the following:

• military and uniformed personnel, who are already supported by a separate fund for their uniform needs
• foreign service personnel stationed abroad, since they are not required to wear uniforms and are sufficiently supported by a set living allowance
• barangay officials and employees, who are not required to comply with dress codes or wear prescribed government uniforms
• workers hired without employee-employer relationships, as well as those funded from non-Personal Services appropriations (such as consultants, laborers hired through job contracts and those paid on a piecework basis, student laborers and apprentices, and other workers engaged through job orders, contracts of services, and other similar arrangements).

“Besides defraying the expenses for clothing and uniforms of civilian government employees, the U/CA grant is also designed to identify all personnel with their respective agencies or departments, as well as provide protective clothing for workers engaged in labor-heavy services,” Abad said.

But Abad reminded agencies to comply first with reportorial requirements set by DBM before they can receive their U/CA under the 2012 MPBF.

“Agency heads need to submit their Budget Accountability Reports before they can secure the funds required to support the U/CA increase. This will allow us to assess and evaluate their budget requirements and, consequently, make the proper releases to support their employees’ clothing expenses,” Abad said. -Rappler.com