PAL RETRENCHMENT COSTS P2.3 BILLION

More than P2 billion were received by 1,400 retrenched workers of Philippine Airlines (PAL) that form part of their separation pay.

This was announced by the Department of Labor and Employment - National Capital Region (DOLE-NCR) which bared that 1,455 affected workers of the flag carrier were able to receive their separation pay worth PHP2.31 billion.

It said the workers consist of those who were affected by both voluntary and involuntary separation from the company and were employed until March 12, as part of PAL’s recovery plan due to the pandemic that has massively affected the global airline industry.

The DOLE-NCR, through its Makati-Pasay Field Office (MPFO), received last month a series of notice of termination from PAL for the affected workers.

On February 2, PAL announced a company-wide workforce reduction program affecting 2,300 employees. However, the management decided to retain 845 workers.

The payment of separation pay took place from February 17 to 22, which was witnessed by the DOLE-NCR MPFO upon request of the company.

Rhodora Buca and Edmond Paolo Garcia, officers of the PAL’s HR Department, said the firm provided separation pay equivalent to one-month pay for every year of service, including outplacement assistance to help ease the transition.

“Philippine Airlines conducted several webinars to offer job opportunities for our affected employees. Fortunately, there are so many companies connecting with us because they knew that we will have this reduction in manpower,” Buca said.

Garcia, meanwhile, said they have employees on training with some Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies, such as Accenture and Sitel.

"They are thankful to PAL that (they) were not neglected,” he added.

Meanwhile, Napoleon Salazar, a security officer at PAL’s Security Department for almost 17 years, will rest for now and save his money for their family’s future needs.

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