Businesses in the Philippines receive payment deferment

The move comes as about 90,000 businesses in the country remain closed due to the COVID-19 lockdown imposed by the government.
By: | October 20, 2020
Topics: Job Cuts | News | Philippines | Restructuring

To provide businesses with more financial flexibility, the Social Security System (SSS) in the Philippines has provided employers and the self-employed until December 1 to remit their mandatory employee contributions to the state-run pension fund.

The extended cut-off data will cover workers’ dues from February to October if these were yet to be paid by their employers. Earlier, Labour Secretary Silvestre Bello III had also announced that it would be mandatory for all employers in the country to pay employees their 13th month pay on or before December 25 even if they are financially distressed.

READ: Philippines employers not allowed to defer 13th month pay

These developments come as about 90,000 businesses in the Philippines remain closed six months after the government imposed a COVID-19 lockdown. Between August and September, 6% of the 1.4 million MSMEs in the country remain closed, reported Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez.

He added, “It’s true that it’s still not a rosy picture when it comes to business confidence and unemployment.”

To exacerbate matters, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected that the Philippine economy will contract the sharpest in South-East Asia, with an 8.3% contraction expected in 2020.

This, warned the IMF, is likely to have a severe impact on businesses in the country, as jobs continue to be put at risk.