THE PHILIPPINE Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) asked the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG) on Tuesday to retain its employees’ previous benefits within the new salary scheme implemented last month.
The move seeks to correct distortions in the pay scale, particularly for employees whose salaries decreased since the new system did not consider their years of service.
“We hope that the GCG will positively respond to our appeal so that all tenured PAGCOR employees will not feel shortchanged and, instead, receive the compensation that they deserve under the bounds of the law,” PAGCOR Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Alejandro H. Tengco said.
PAGCOR revealed that 72.6% of its workforce, totaling 7,057 personnel, has served the agency for more than three years. However, the implementation of the Compensation and Position Classification System (CPCS) last month led to distortions in the pay scale, reverting many employees to pay step 1.
“This means that a new employee in a certain position gets the same salary as someone who has been in the same position for 15 years or more,” PAGCOR said in a statement.
Last Feb. 22, Mr. Tengco wrote a letter to GCG Chairman Marius P. Corpus, appealed for the GCG to approve PAGCOR’s implementation of salary step increments.
Under the CPCS guidelines, qualified personnel are entitled to a one-step increment for every three years of continuous satisfactory service in their present position, so the PAGCOR Board has already approved the implementation of pay increments for the welfare of employees.
This, however, is subject to the approval of the GCG. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz
