Senator Villar seeks extra pay for teachers working beyond 6 hours

If Senator Manuel Villar's bill is passed into law, public school teachers would be entitled to additional pay for tasks done beyond their six-hour daily work schedule. Senate Bill 2454 or the Six-Hour Workday for Public School Teachers Act of 2010 seeks to limit the working hours of public school teachers to six a day (or 30 hours a week) and grant them additional compensation for any work rendered beyond those hours. Section 5, Rule XVII of the Omnibus Rules Implementing Title, I, Subtitle A, Book V of the Administrative Code of 1987 says that "officers and employees of all departments and agencies except those covered by special laws shall render not less than eight hours of work a day for five days a week or a total of forty-hours a week, exclusive of time for lunch." However, because of Republic Act 4670 or the Magna Carta of Public School Teachers, the Department of Education issued Memorandum 291 series of 2008 to allow teachers only six hours for actual classroom teaching a day. However, Villar said the memorandum requires that two more hours be spent in teaching-related activities, in the end still giving teachers eight-hour workdays. "Reducing their number of working hours will allow them to have more time to innovate and enhance classroom teaching and result to a more productive workforce," he said. "To ensure improved working condition for public school teachers and to alleviate their standard of living, there is a need to enact a legislative measure that will grant them a six-hour workday plus additional compensation for work rendered beyond six hours," Villar said in his bill. Under SB 2454, any teacher engaged in actual teaching after six hours will be entitled to the same rate as his or her regular compensation plus at least 25 percent of his or her basic pay. Under the bill, any teacher engaged in co-curricula, out-of-school activities, and other related activities after their first six hours of work will be paid an additional compensation of at least 25 percent of his or her regular pay. SB 2454 says that the Department of Education, in coordination with the Civil Service Commission, will provide the necessary rules and regulations for the effective implementation of the Act. - VVP, GMANews.TV