MANILA — Private sector employees in Metro Manila will receive 200 percent, or double, of their daily salary for work on Dec. 25, Christmas Day.

In Labor Advisory No. 17, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said employees who report for work on the regular holiday are entitled to “a total of 200 percent of the employee’s wage for that day for the first eight hours (basic wage x 200 percent).”

The advisory added that employees working beyond eight hours will receive an additional 30 percent of the hourly rate for each extra hour, calculated as “Hourly rate of the basic wage x 200 percent x 130 percent x number of hours worked.”

For employees who work on a regular holiday that also falls on their rest day, the pay increases by an additional 30 percent of the 200-percent daily wage. Work beyond eight hours on such a day will earn an extra 30 percent on top of that rate for each hour worked.

Employees who do not work on the holiday are still entitled to 100 percent of their daily wage if they reported to work or were on paid leave the day before the holiday. If the day before the holiday is a non-working day or rest day, entitlement applies if the employee worked or was on paid leave the day immediately preceding that.

Dec. 25 is declared a regular holiday every year to allow Filipinos to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ with family and friends. (PNA)