Background of the Study

The passing of the Executive Order No. 201, series of 2016, also known as the Salary
Standardization Law IV during the administration of former President Benigno Simeon
Aquino, Jr., marked another milestone for the Philippine government as this has paved
way for it to pay just and equitable compensation to all government personnel in
accordance with the principle of equal pay for work of equal value and one that is
generally comparable with those in the private sector doing comparable work. This
was done to attract, retain and motivate civil servants to continue working for the
bureaucracy.
However, despite the competitive remuneration and benefits that the government is
currently offering, the low number of permanent plantilla positions in government
agencies and increasing number of what we call Job Order (JO) and Contract of
Service (COS) Personnel still stands out as the major peril towards efficient and
effective delivery of services and enhanced productivity in all government transactions.
One of the biggest ironies of President Duterte’s war on illegal “contractualization” is
the existence of thousands of workers in government who have stayed in their
positions for years, but remain unprotected by a “no employer-employee” contract.
Still, there are those hired for approved government positions, but for one reason or
another, have not been able to secure the full benefits of a public sector worker
because they had earlier signed a contract that specifically quoted a no “employer-
employee” relationship.
Given the extent of unwarranted contractualization in the bureaucracy, the considered
central human resource agency of the bureaucracy, which is the Civil Service
Commission has yet to propose new policies that would address the practice of casual
work hiring in government offices. There are no government rules that inhibit national
and local government offices and agencies from hiring workers through contract of
services or job order or memorandum of agreement because of the “no employer-
employee” relationship clause as of date.
Aside from its growing population, CSC and the other agency concerned in human
capital management, particularly the budget allocation for government workers,
Department of Budget and Management (DBM) cannot shed a light as to how
differentiate a JO from COS personnel. Some government institutions have COS
personnel while others have JO workers. They do not have security of tenure and
clearly defined job descriptions. It is also important to note another thing that is
common among them – ambiguous benefit system and privileges, which is apparently
different from what permanent government employees are enjoying nowadays.
Therefore, this study will focus on the current and existing benefit system and
privileges of COS personnel. The group decided to focus on COS personnel as most
government agencies call their workers under contracts as COS. This study will
attempt to compare experiences of COS workers in various select government
agencies in terms of salary, bonuses permit to render OT with pay, participation to
trainings and seminars, eligibility to accept per diem/honoraria especially in official
travel engagements, duration/terms of contract (longevity), functions/duties and
responsibilities and others that may arise as the group goes along. Further, this aims
to call out the attention of the concerned government agencies in charge of matters
like this to conceptualize a standardized benefit system and privileges of COS
personnel. The group will most likely cite references from issuances such as
memorandum circulars and orders of concerned agencies, studies relative to this
subject matter and journals, news clippings, or any bills or proposals discussing the
welfare of COS personnel. COS personnel, some employees from the human
resource departments of the agencies and available data of the government agencies
will also be considered.
Statement of the Problem
This study aims to answer the general question:
1. What are the current and existing benefit system and privileges of COS
personnel?
With corresponding specific questions, to wit:
1. What are they experiencing in terms of:
a. Salary;
b. Government-mandated benefits (SSS, Philhealth, HDMF, GSIS);
c. Bonuses;
d. OT Pay;
e. Per diem/Honoraria;
f. Participation to Trainings and Seminars;
g. Allowances; and
h. Duration/Terms of Contract?

2. How are the current and existing benefit system and privileges affect the work
performance of COS?

3. How can we expect the private sector to follow suit of regularizing contractual
workers if the government itself implements labor contractualization through
COS workers?