DE MINIMIS BENEFITS - A BENEFIT WITH NO WITHHOLDING TAX

The economic crisis in the Past years have encouraged poor employees to be concerned about their salaries, more So, about the withholding tax being deducted from them which makes their net pay smaller than what they actually need.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has been very keen on helping the employers in resolving this issue. Benefits like “de minimis” which is tax exempt has been considered.

“ De minimis’ benefits are given to the employees by employers  in the nature of facilities or privileges . It is relatively of small value and are offered in order to promote health, goodwill, contentment, or efficiency of its employees.

‘ De Minimis ‘ benefits are excluded from the gross income when computing the income tax. It is also excluded in the computation of the P30, 0000 ceiling of ‘other benefits’. In In other words it is not taxable being relatively of small value.

The regulations have been introduced in the year 2000 by the Revenue Regulations No. 8 – 2000, underwent several amendments in year 2011 and the latest was in Revenue Regulations No. 8 – 2012 dated May 11, 2012.

‘ De Minimis’ benefits are a deductible salary expense to the employers while to the employees it is an additional salary which has no withholding tax.

Here is the list of the so-called ‘ De Minimis' which are given on top of the employees’ salary.

1. Monetized unused vacation leave credits of employees not exceeding ten days during the year and the monetized value of leave credits paid to government officials and employees

2. Medical cash allowance to dependents of employees not exceeding P750 per employee per semester or P125 Per month.

3. Rice subsidy of P 1,500or one sack of 50-kg. Rice per month amounting to not more than P 1, 500.

4. Uniforms and clothing allowance not exceeding P 4,000 per annum.

5. Actual yearly medical benefits not exceeding P10,000 per annum.

6. Laundry allowance not exceeding P300 per month.

7. Achievement awards like length of service or safety achievement, which must be in the form of a tangible personal property other than cash or gift certificate, with an annual monetary value not exceeding P10,000 received by the employee under an established written plan which does not discriminate in favor of highly paid employees.

8. Gifts given during Christmas and major anniversary celebrations not exceeding P5,000 per employee per annum.

9. Flowers, fruits, books or similar items given to employees under special circumstances e.g. on account of illness, marriage, birth of  a baby, etc.

10. Daily meal allowance for overtime work not exceeding 25 percent of the basic minimum wage.

Apart from the Above mentioned, employers may add ‘de minimis’ benefits to its employees but needed to study and prove that the said additional benefits other than the listed above , are reasonable and need to define what that additional benefit is all about and for what reason it should be given. In this case, the employer may consider giving de minimis benefits which are not taxable in lieu of the salary increase but employees would be happier if both would be granted.

EFFECTIVE INTERVIEW TECHNIQUES

EFFECTIVE INTERVIEW PROCESS

Recruitment often starts from ad posting, resume gathering, resume screening, then followed by the interview and testing.

Most of the time testing alone does not give the whole view of the applicant’s qualification hence the need to interview. However, oftentimes interviews were not done seriously but done only for the sake of formality. That should not be. Interviews are an essential part of the selection process.

WHAT TO CONSIDER BEFORE THE INTERVIEW

Some well-established HR Department has their own Recruitment planning prior to posting the job ads. Such planning is equally important before doing an interview. In recruitment planning, following are considered: job specification of the vacant position; how much manpower is needed to fill up the position; a ranking of the most important qualities, characteristics, skills and education that a successful candidate should possess.

HOW SHOULD WE INTERVIEW?

A talented interviewer tends to get or draw more information from the candidate through a sharp and intellectual probing. Listening skills is not to be taken for granted, too. Once an interviewer listens carefully from what the candidate is saying, he/she may be able to prepare the next question in mind.

A great interviewer should be able to extract extremely predictive and accurate data from the candidates. ( In case , you have forgotten what to draw from them – go back to your recruitment planning – what is it that you want for the candidate to have  in order to perform the job effectively? )

INTERVIEWING TECHNIQUES

Below are the skillful techniques in interviewing:

·         Behavior – centered –It is about what he did , said and thought after a certain work relate incident; about what he felt or simply about the candidate , himself or herself.

·         Experience – centered – concentrates on what actually happened. How did he/she performed his job in the last employment.

PHASES OF AN INTERVIEW

1.       First Phase – Putting the candidate at ease or building up a rapport with the candidate. This is an important phase in order to move the interview into a free-flowing mode.

2.       Second Phase – involves a brief introduction about the company and the position.

3.       Third Phase – is the chance to know more about the candidate; the time to ask a make or break questions coupled with follow-up probing to dig more about the candidates. In this phase, which is more focus, the interviewer could get the chance to know the suitability of the candidate for the position.

4.       The Final Phase – this phase closes the interview. It’s now time to let the candidate ask their questions. The chance for them to verbalize their internal inquiries .

These are just a few of the techniques in interviewing. It works and it’s worth practicing. 

REWARDS AND RECOGNITION

Business environments nowadays are getting more and more competitive. With the rise of similar companies with similar services and products, competing with them in terms of human resource is difficult. I remember, my experience in one of the multi-national Architectural Firm in Makati. With so many firms in the same industry in the city, employees just come and go. The question now is how can we keep these talented and hard to find talented manpower?

Rewards and Recognition are only a few of the answers. However, it should be implemented sincerely and effectively in order to achieve its best effect. Managers and team leaders should support one another in implementing this program. A culture or environment of trust has to be set-up prior to its orientation and full implementation so that in the end the following can be attained:

·         Employee Satisfaction

·         Employee Engagement or Loyalty especially of outstanding staff

·         Continuous learning

·         Positive work environment

·         Professional growth and development

PRINCIPLES IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF REWARDS AND RECOGNITION

In order to be more effective , the following should be applied in administering this reward system:

·         Management should be true or genuine in giving the rewards to employees. It is not just to give but simply, more on recognizing their efforts in trying their best to contribute to the company’s success.

·         It should be a ceremonial one not just an ordinary gift giving. Make the day a memorable one to the staff who are witnessing the said event in order to motivate them, too to do the same as the awarded employee.

·         Lastly, it shouldn’t be exaggerated. Frequent evaluation of the program’s effectiveness must always be executed in order to study and know its flaws then, at the same to make some improvements, if needed so.

PURPOSE OF REWARDS AND RECOGNITION

·         To keep top employees in a competitive job market

·         To increase employee performance

     SAMPLES OF REWARDS AND RECOGNITION

·         No tardiness/no Late/ No Absent – Perfect Attendance Award

·         Achiever award for successfully implementing a new work or challenging special duty within the specified period of time.

·         Dangal ng company award – for a commendable virtue such as honesty and integrity.

·         Loyalty Award – as a recognition for over 5 years of service in the company.

All these awards are most effective when coupled with cash equivalent. So it’s up to the HR Department on how they can make a valuable mechanism for the system to become operational and of use and importance to the human resources.

COMPRESSED WORKWEEK OR FOUR-DAY WORKWEEK IN THE PHILIPPINES

Since 1990, this issuances on a four-day work week has been known in the Philippines as a “compressed workweek”. Until in 2011, when the recession period is still all over, having this scheme on work schedules had been one of the options by most employers.

In September 2011, since this compressed work week is not mandatory, one of the House Representatives, Winston Castelo of Quezon City has pushed the adoption of the 10-hour, four day or 10/4 workweek in both public and private sectors. Primarily, purpose of this is to give an opportunity for workers to have and enjoy a long weekend with their families.

During compressed work week, workers would still work for 40 hours per week, but only from Monday to Thursday. Friday, Saturday and Sunday will be a day-off for all. That means , to complete the 40 hours in just four days, employees need to work 10 hours a day instead of the regular 8 hours a day schedule.

I have known many companies who have adopted this technique but since this policy is not mandatory, some employers who have found difficulty or have found inapplicability of the said policy to the kind of business that they have, did not follow such.

During the economic global crisis, this flexible work arrangement was used by some establishments and has gotten good results. It just shows  that, if this compressed work schedule will be used for its purpose and not to reduce the income of employees then, it will lead to maximizing the personnel or the human resources of the company at the same time giving them the benefit of having more time with their families.

There are conditions from DOLE  or Department of Labor and Employment which are needed to be accomplished before one can fully implement this so- called four days work scheme.

1.       It should be expressly and voluntarily supported by a majority of the employees affected. Hence, gathering of signatures, survey style on who is favored or not in favor of the 4 day work schedules.

2.       In firms which conditions are hazardous to ones health, a certification is needed from an accredited safety organization  or from the safety committee within the company, that working beyond eight hours is not harmful and that it is within the limits set by DOLE.

3.       Submit the requirements to the DOLE regional office for approval and notification.

To those companies thinking about the adaptation of this policy, it is important that having this shorter workweek and longer weekend , service and productivity should never be compromised.

WHEN WORKERS GO ON EMERGENCY SICK LEAVE

EMERGENCY SICK LEAVE

Employers cannot get away with this. Even those companies with stable health and welfare programs for employees cannot escape this realistic situation of having employees go on an emergency sick leave. Emergency as stated is unexpected. One will not know that he’ll be sicked the next day. It is unplanned ( well should be ) hence , the so-called emergency sick leave.

EMPLOYER’S POLICY ON SICK LEAVE

A common practice when an employee goes on an emergency sick leave is to call the immediate supervisor or the HR Department for information about their absence because of sickness.

Either of the HR or the immediate supervisor may receive the notice from the employee concerned. And both have the responsibility to inform one another.

There is a need to inform the immediate supervisor so as to take immediate action on his section or department’s ongoing task which might get pend because of ones absence. Likewise the HR Department is needed to be informed for payroll and attendance monitoring purposes.

COMMON REPLY WHEN A PHONE CALL ON EMERGENCY SICK LEAVE WAS RECEIVED

When an employee calls on his sudden illness in order to inform his immediate supervisor or the HR Department, it is important to talk to the concerned lightly while giving him the instruction on what to do. This should be done consistently whether or not the sickness is true or false.

A suggested reply should have a sympathetic tone and must provide information on what is required for him to do in order to avoid being charged as “abandoning the post” or AWOL,  like this printed sample : “ We are sorry to hear about your sudden illness and we hope that you can recover quickly. Please provide a medical certificate if you would be absent for 3 or more days. So please attach the medical certificate to the Sick Leave notification or application form upon your comeback to work. State in the form as well on how long have you been on sick leave.”

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

Achieving employee engagement and loyalty to the company is not just a one time event. It requires an effort and consistent attempt to make the employees feel that they are connected to the organization.

Fostering a positive environment is  a good way to start. A good trend today is to view the employees as the biggest investment and therefore, should be given an applicable reward. This is very true especially for those who are talented and has good performance. The company as much as possible wants to get hold of them. They are their precious assets. In this case, comes the issue of how can we keep this kind of employees? How can we promote Employee Engagement?

1.      Involved them. (The employees) – Create a positive self-esteem among employees by setting up a goal with them. Let them know that they have the responsibility and let them feel that they are valued. Then, it would be easier to turn that involvement into excitement and a sense of pride in ownership. That will surely contribute to earning the employee engagement.

2.      Organizations must do their best to engage their employees and in return the employees have the choice as to how much level of engagement they will give to the company. Each reinforces the other. It gives the employee the feeling that the company needs him , the same way that the company feels that the employee needs to have a job with them.

3.      Satisfy the employees – Although they said that a satisfied employee doesn’t guarantee an engagement to the company, at least it can contribute to the concept.

Generally, an engaged employee works beyond office hours without being told so and doing the job seriously and correctly even though the immediate boss is not watching.

An engaged employee feels a balanced status – satisfied, committed, empowered and involved.

So therefore, engagement with the employees is good. So why not use it as a tool for business success.

The Thirteenth Month Pay (13th Month Pay)

Every time the  “ber” months are nearing, employees rejoice not just because of upcoming Christmas time but because it already signifies the month of giving the 13^th month pay which is a core labor standard in the Philippines. It is statutory that is why the employers are always reminded to release this benefit not later than 24^th of December of every year.

According to the Labor code, it is the 1/12 of the basic salary of an employee within the calendar year. ½ of the salary includes all remunerations or earnings paid by an employer to the employee for the services the latter rendered and may also include  allowances or monetary benefits which are considered  or integrated as part of the regular or basic salary. Examples of earnings that may not be included in the basic salary are : cost of living allowances, profit-sharing payments, cash equivalent of unused leave credits, overtime pay, premium pay , night differential, holiday pay, etc. Please note however, that in some companies they do include these in the computation of the 13^th month pay because of the result of collective bargaining agreement, this had been the practice since time immemorial and cannot be changed as changes may result to diminution of benefits or because of management prerogative.

All rank and file employees are entitled to 13^th month pay provided they have served the company for at least one month.

Report of Compliance

Per law, every employer must submit a report to DOLE Regional Office not later than January 15 of each year. It is called Report on compliance with PD No. 851.

Included in the said report is the following:

1. Name of establishment
2. Address
3. Principal product or business
4. Total employment
5. Total number of workers benefited
6. Amount granted per employee
7. The total amount of benefits granted
8. Name, position and telephone number of the person giving the information