Over 1,000 Makati employees received take-home pay less than P5,000 per month in 2020

Excessive deductions slashed the 2020 take-home salaries of over a thousand employees of the Makati City local government to below the mandated minimum, with some of them receiving a measly monthly pay of less than P500.

The 2020 General Appropriations Act pegged the minimum monthly take-home pay of government employees at P5,000.

The Commission on Audit, however, spotted 1,288 personnel of the Makati City LGU receiving salaries way below that mandated standard in 2020

“In our review of the payroll registers prepared by the HRDO (Human Resource Development Office) covering the 15th and 30th pay days of January CY 2020, we noted that the monthly net take home pay of 1,288 City personnel ranged from P500 to P4,966.85,” the government auditors said.

COA blamed the inordinate deductions in the salaries of the employees as the reason for the excessive pay cut.

It was ironic that the puny paychecks happened in Makati City, the country’s wealthiest local government unit with assets totaling P236.73 billion.

COA told the city government that it was required by law to ensure that all employees received a decent portion of LGU’s earnings.

The state auditors noted that some Makati City personnel only collected P162.72 and P273.46 despite working for 15 days.

“This was due to the accommodation of too many loans for payroll deductions, reducing the employees’ net take home pay below the mandated minimum amount of P5,000,” COA said.

Among COA’s recommendations were that city’s payroll officers monitor the take home pay of the 1,288 employees flagged by government auditors.

For its part, the Makati City LGU said the reason for the excessive deductions were the payments its personnel made to the Makati City Employees Multipurpose Cooperative (MACEMCO).

Makati City said it has directed adjustments in the rate of deductions to ensure that the take home pay does no fall below the mandated minimum of P5,000.

The affected city workers were also told to talks with MACEMCO regarding payment options for their loans. – Rappler.com