No overtime pay for guards of W. Mindanao state college

RETIRED security guard Dioscoro Maputi worked 365 days a year for two years from June 2009 to June 2011 for the J.H. Cerilles State College (JHCSC) (formerly Western Mindanao State University).

He retired on July 1, 2011 without seeing any overtime pay and petitioned the Commission on Audit (COA) to order the JHCSC to pay his claim of P277,707, including P150,000 in exemplary damages and attorney’s fees.

On the other hand, Felix Baculina, also a security guard for the same college, had it worse.

He reported for duty without any days off for three and a half years from June 2009 to December 2012 but did not get a centavo of overtime pay. He filed a claim for P267,243 overtime pay and P150,000 exemplary damages plus attorney’s fees.

But in separate decisions released last week, the COA denied both claims, citing insufficient documentary support.

“The claim was not substantiated with the required documentation. The petitioner did not submit a Certificate of Non-Payment required under COA Resolution No. 2012-011. This Commission emphasizes that it is the duty of the claimant to substantiate his claim for payment,” the COA en Banc ruled.

It added that the Daily Time Records (DTRs) submitted by Maputi and Baculina were either photocopies or not duly approved.

The Commission also pointed out that there was no detailed computation of the amounts being claimed.

The problem started after the WMSU was integrated to JHCSC, which took away the privilege of a two days rest day and forcing the security guards to report seven days a week.

It was only after they retired from work that Maputi and Baculina sought clarification from the Civil Service Commission (CSC) about the benefits due them.

The CSC in turn called out the JHCSC management, notifying the latter that the working hours of the security guards was contrary to the Administrative Code of 1987 which provides that working hours for government personnel is only eight hours a day for five days each week, or a total of 40 hours per week.

It also told the state college to re-evaluate the working hours of both security guards.

In a letter request to the COA, the JHCSC acknowledged the security guards’ claim and disclosed