QuestionsQuestions (DBM NATIONAL BUDGET CIRCULAR NO. 451)
To rationalize and clarify the guidelines on the grant of Hazard Duty Pay as authorized under the pertinent provisions of the annual General Appropriations Act.
Hazard Duty Pay is a compensation premium/allowance for officials and employees exposed to hazards due to the nature and/or location of their work. However, hazards affecting the entire population in a locality (air, land and water borne, and noise hazards) are not compensable under the Circular.
All government officials and employees in permanent, temporary, casual, and contractual personnel whose employment is regular in nature, with compensation charged from lump-sum or personal services component of a project fund, full-time or part-time, in the national government, GOCCs, and government financial institutions.
Those assigned/stationed where the entire population in a locality is also exposed to the same air, land and water borne and noise hazards; and those already entitled under special laws, charters, or enabling acts being implemented.
Hazardous work areas are those enumerated under Items 5.1 to 5.8. Several categories require specific authorities to declare and certify as such (e.g., Secretary of Science and Technology, Secretary of Health, DENR, DOJ, NDCCC Chairman, OCD Director upon recommendation). Certification/declaring authorities are essential to make an area compensable.
5.1 Difficult/distressed/isolated work areas or hardship posts; 5.2 volcanic activity/eruption including lahar and pyroclastics; 5.3 direct unavoidable exposure to radiation, communicable/contagious/infectious diseases, combustible/dangerous/toxic chemicals/gas/biological hazards; 5.4 exposure to hazardous pollutants; 5.5 institutions for mental health where psychiatric patients pose bodily harm risk; 5.6 prison camps/reservations/penal colonies without adequate police protection; 5.7 embattled/strife-torn areas with armed encounters/attacks/ambuscades and exposure to explosives.
Work areas where rescue operations/evacuation had to be carried out due to natural calamities, with rescuers directly and actually exposed to harm, danger, or occupational risks/perils to life while performing their duties.
1–10 days: P400/month; 11–20 days: P500/month; 21–31 days: P600/month.
Officials/employees directly involved in rescue operations are entitled to Hazard Duty Pay at the maximum rate per month regardless of the period of exposure.
Entitlement is coterminous with the duration of actual assignment in the hazardous work areas or the existence of danger/peril, but it shall not exceed three (3) months unless renewed with subsequent authority granted in accordance with the Circular.
Part-time officials and employees receive half of the amount granted to a full-time official/employee in the same situation.
The mother agency pays the Hazard Duty Pay for officials and employees on detail with another agency.
No. They may enjoy only one type of Hazard Duty Pay—the one more advantageous to them.
Agencies must submit to the DBM (CPCB/RCS/ROs) a list of officials and employees granted Hazard Duty Pay not later than fifteen (15) days after the end of each quarter, using the attached format (Annex A).
Failure to submit subjects the agencies to appropriate sanctions under existing budget rules and regulations pursuant to Section 57 of EO 292.
They must immediately copy-furnish the CPCB/RCS/ROs of the DBM any declaration and certification they issue concerning hazardous work areas.
Vacation, sick or study leave with or without pay; maternity or terminal leave; summer vacation; and full-time detail with another agency or special project of another agency, attendance in training course/scholarship grant/seminar or similar activity, and official travel outside official station not among those enumerated in Item 5.
(a) National government agencies: charged against the specific appropriation for the purpose in the Personal Services Itemization; if none, charged against savings from released allotment for current operating expenditures after mandatory expenses are paid first, with policy that savings can only be determined after the third quarter, and any amount utilized out of PS savings (whether or not realigned from MOOE) to cover Hazard Duty Pay is deducted from MPBF claims. (b) GOCCs/GFI: charged against their respective corporate funds.
The head of the agency is responsible and held personally liable for hazard duty pay not in accordance with the Circular, without prejudice to refund of any excess payment by the employee concerned.
Yes. The heads of national agencies (including GOCCs and GFIs) are authorized to grant Hazard Duty Pay in accordance with the Circular without DBM approval. However, if rates are to be augmented to attract qualified applicants, it requires DBM approval.