Amendments to CSC Leave Rules 1999

Relationship with prior rules

CSC Memorandum Circular No. 14, s. 1999 expressly amends CSC Memorandum Circular No. 41, s. 1998 by adding additional provisions and modifications.
CSC Memorandum Circular No. 14, s. 1999 incorporates references to other leave-related laws and rules, including Batas Pambansa 337 and the Local Government Code of 1991 (Republic Act No. 7160), and Republic Act No. 8292.
For special-law coverage, the circular directs that implementing rules be promulgated and submitted for record purposes to the Civil Service Commission.

Coverage: who gets leave

Appointive officials up to the level of Heads of Executive Departments, Heads of Departments, Undersecretaries, and government employees who render work during prescribed office hours—whether permanent, temporary, or casual—are entitled to specific annual leave privileges under the circular’s general entitlement rule (Section 1).
Contractual employees are entitled to vacation and sick leave credits and special leave privileges covered under the circular (Section 4).
Local elective officials are entitled to leave privileges effective May 12, 1983 under Batas Pambansa 337 and the Local Government Code of 1991 (Republic Act No. 7160); their leave credits are commutative and cumulative (Section 5).
The circular identifies particular officials and employees covered by special leave laws (including members of the judiciary and constitutional bodies) and requires promulgation of their own implementing rules (Section 10).
Faculty members of state universities and colleges are referenced in connection with Section 4(H) of Republic Act No. 8292; where specific provisions do not exist, the general leave law and CSC rules apply (Section 10).
An official or employee with pending administrative case/s is not barred from enjoying leave privileges (Section 61).
Officials and employees excluding those in the teaching profession covered by different provisions of law may be entitled to study leave under the specified conditions (Section 68).

Vacation and sick leave entitlements

Government officials and employees covered by Section 1 are entitled to 15 days vacation and 15 days sick leave annually with full pay.
The annual leave entitlements in Section 1 are stated as exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, Public Holidays.
Accumulation is expressly governed: there is no limitation as to the number of days of vacation and sick leave that they may accumulate (Section 1).
Contractual employees receive vacation and sick leave credits and special leave privileges under the same framework (with reference to Section 21 for special leave privileges) (Section 4).

Local elective officials’ leave credits

Local elective officials’ leave credits are commutative and cumulative (Section 5).
The entitlement is effective May 12, 1983 for local elective officials pursuant to Batas Pambansa 337 and Republic Act No. 7160 (Section 5).

Leave computation rules and tables

Vacation and sick leave credits are computed at the rate of one day of vacation leave and one day of sick leave every 24 days of actual service using the tables of computations (Section 27).
Table I provides vacation and sick leave credits earned on a monthly basis, with entries showing that 1 month = 1.25 vacation and 1.25 sick leave credits, up to 12 months = 15.00 vacation and 15.00 sick leave credits (Section 27).
Table II provides vacation and sick leave credits earned on a daily basis with listed fractions for day ranges 1 through 30, where 30 days = 1.000 vacation and 1.000 sick leave credits (Section 27).
Table III provides leave credits earned for an official/employee without any vacation leave credits left, using the interaction of No. of days present and No. of days on leave w/o pay; the table includes values such as 30.00 present / 0.00 leave w/o pay = 1.250 leave credits and progressively lower fractions as absence without pay increases (Section 27).
Table IV sets the conversion of working hours/minutes into fractions of a day, where 8 hours = 1.000 equivalent day and 60 minutes = 0.125 equivalent day (Section 27).
For employees observing flexible working hours, leave deductions cover only the number of hours required to be served for a day but not served; charging for any absence must be proportional to the number of hours required for a day’s work; the “number of hours to be served for a day” refers to the corehours prescribed in the agency, not the usual 8 regular hours (Section 30).
Compensatory service may be availed outside regular working hours except Sundays to offset non-attendance or undertimes during regular office hours, subject to written approval of the agency’s proper official; each government office must formulate internal regulations (Section 30).
Where suspension of work is announced after regular working hours start, failure to report is not considered absence for the whole day; deductions are limited to leave credits or the amount corresponding to the time from office hours start up to the time the suspension is announced (Section 32).
When an employee is absent on a day immediately preceding or succeeding Saturday, Sunday, or holiday, whether continuous or not, the employee is not considered absent for the weekend/holiday days and is not deducted leave credits; salary is not received for those days (Section 33).

Maternity leave: eligibility and conditions

Married women in government service who have rendered an aggregate of two (2) or more years of service are entitled to maternity leave of sixty (60) calendar days with full pay in addition to their vacation and sick leave grants (Section 11).
For those in the teaching profession, maternity benefits can be availed even if delivery occurs during the long vacation; the teacher receives both the maternity benefits and the proportional vacation pay (Section 11).
For those with one (1) year or more but less than two (2) years of service, maternity leave is computed in proportion to length of service (Section 11).
For those with less than one (1) year of service, maternity leave is 60-day maternity leave with half pay (Section 11).
Maternity leave enjoyment cannot be deferred; it must be availed either before or after the actual period of delivery in a continuous and uninterrupted manner, not exceeding 60 calendar days (Section 11).
An employee may report back to duty before the expiration of maternity leave if she presents a medical certificate that she is physically fit to assume her duties (Section 14).
The commuted money value of the unexpired portion of maternity leave need not be refunded when the employee returns before expiration, and the employee may receive both maternity benefits and salary for actual services rendered effective the day she reports back for work (Section 14).
The computation formula for returning early is: MONTHLY SALARY RATE / 22 x ACTUAL NO. OF DAYS WORKED (Section 14).
Married women may go on maternity leave for less than sixty (60) days consistent with the early return rule and computation provided in Section 14 (Section 14).

Paternity leave: duration and use limits

Paternity leave is seven (7) days and is non-cumulative and strictly non-convertible to cash (Section 20).
Paternity leave may be enjoyed either in a continuous or intermittent manner on the days immediately before, during, or after the childbirth or miscarriage of his legitimate spouse (Section 20).

Sick leave: approval and consequences

Sick leave is granted only on account of sickness or disability of the employee or of any member of the employee’s immediate family (Section 54).
Approval of sick leave—whether with pay or without pay—is mandatory when proof of sickness or disability is attached to the application in accordance with requirements under the preceding section (Section 54).
Unreasonable delay in approval or non-approval without justifiable reason is a ground for appropriate sanction against the concerned official (Section 54).

Leave without pay and salary computation

All absences in excess of accumulated vacation or sick leave credits earned are without pay (LWOP) (Section 56).
Salary deductions for LWOP incurred in a given month follow the formula: Monthly salary = (monthly salary x no. of days of LWOP / calendar days) (Section 56).
When an employee exhausts sick leave credits, the employee may use vacation leave credits but not vice versa (Section 56).

Terminal leave and conversion formulas

Terminal leave benefits are computed using: TLB = S x D x CF (Section 40).
TLB means terminal leave benefits, S is the highest monthly salary received, D is the number of accumulated vacation and sick leave credits, and CF is the constant factor .0478087 (Section 40).
The circular provides that the constant factor is derived from: 365 = days in a year, 104 = Saturdays & Sundays, 10 = legal holidays (provided by EO 292), and computes the constant as .0478087 (Section 40).
The formula for terminal leave takes effect on January 15, 1999 (Section 40).
Teachers and other school personnel on the teachers’ leave basis who resign, retire, or are separated through no fault of their own on or after January 16, 1986 are paid the money value of unused vacation service credits converted into vacation and sick leave using: Vacation and Sick Leave = 30y / 69 (Section 45).
In the conversion in Section 45, 30 is the number of days in a month, Y is the total number of the teacher’s service credits, and 69 is 58 days of summer vacation plus 11 days Christmas vacation; the number of derived days is divided equally into vacation and sick leave credits (Section 45).
The circular sets the computation for the 69 days as: 84 total number of days of Summer/Christmas vacation including 15 (+12 days Saturday/Sunday during summer vacation) and (+3 days—Christmas Day, Rizal Day, New Year’s Day) yielding 69 days (Section 45).
The conversion of sick and vacation leave credits to vacation service credits of teachers uses: VL + SL / Y = ----- x 69 with 30 as the divisor (Section 45).
A teacher who transferred to non-teaching service or who resigned from government service ten (10) days before the close of the school year is entitled to proportional vacation pay because entitlement has accrued, subject to service not being prejudiced and the teacher fulfilling responsibilities and obligations (Section 46).

Stud y leave: eligibility and service obligation refund

Officials and employees, excluding those in the teaching profession covered by different provisions of law, may be entitled to study leave under conditions stated (Section 68).
Study leave is a time off from work not exceeding six (6) months with pay, for preparing for government bar or board examinations or completing a masteral degree, under a contract between the beneficiary and the agency head or representative (Section 68).
The study leave beneficiary must be selected based on qualifications including: completion of a bachelor’s degree requiring passing of government bar and board licensure examinations (or completion of all academic requirements for a masteral degree for thesis/comprehensive examination); relevance of the profession/field to the agency or duties; permanency of the employee; at least two (2) years of service with at least very satisfactory performance for the last two rating periods; no pending administrative and criminal charges; no current foreign or local scholarship grant; and fulfillment of service obligation of any previous scholarship/training contract (Section 68).
The service obligation under the contract is based on the provided schedule: One (1) Month to three (3) months service obligation = Two (2) Years, and More than three (3) months to six (6) months = Three (3) Years (Section 68).
If the beneficiary fails to render full service obligation due to voluntary resignation, optional retirement, separation through the beneficiary’s own fault, or other causes within the beneficiary’s control, the beneficiary must refund gross salary, allowances, and other benefits received during study leave using: R = (SOR - SOS) X TCR / SOR (Section 68).
The circular defines R as refund, TCR as total compensation received, SOS as service obligation served, and SOR as service obligation required (Section 68).
The beneficiary must inform the agency in writing through the personnel office of failure to pursue studies or failure to take the bar/board examination for which study leave was granted (Section 68).
Each agency formulates its own internal rules on procedure for equitable and rational availment subject to general guidelines (Section 68).

Attendance rules: suspension and AWOL effects

When an official or employee is continuously absent without an approved leave for at least thirty (30) calendar days, the employee is considered AWOL and is separated from the service or dropped from the rolls without prior notice (Section 63).
The employee must be informed of separation no later than five (5) days from effectivity to the address appearing on the employee’s 201 files or at the last known written address (Section 63).
If unauthorized absences are less than thirty (30) calendar days, a written Return-to-Work Order must be served to the employee at the last known written address on record; failure to report within the period stated is a valid ground to drop the employee from the rolls (Section 63).

Administrative cases and dismissal effects

An official or employee with pending administrative case/s is not barred from enjoying leave privileges (Section 61).
An official or employee penalized with dismissal from the service remains entitled to terminal leave benefits (Section 65).

Special leave laws for covered officials

Where there are specific provisions in their special leave laws, members of the judiciary and other named special-law-covered officials are to have implementing rules relative to their coverage (Section 10).
The circular directs members of the judiciary and other government officials and employees covered by special laws to promulgate their own implementing rules relative thereto, and requires submission of those implementing rules to the Civil Service Commission for record purposes (Section 10).
The circular enumerates covered groups including: Justices of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals and Sandiganbayan; Judges of Regional Trial Courts, Municipal Trial Courts, Metropolitan Trial Court, Court of Tax Appeals and Shari’a Circuit Court; and Shari’a District Court; Chairmen and Commissioners of Constitutional Commissions; Filipino officials and employees in the Foreign Service; faculty members of state universities and colleges pursuant to Section 4(H) of Republic Act No. 8292; and other officials and employees covered by special laws (Section 10).

Study leave adoption and immediate effect

The amendments shall take effect immediately (immediately) (Final paragraph).
The circular was adopted on August 23, 1999 by Corazon Alma G. De Leon, Chairman (Adopted: 23 Aug 1999; SGD. CORAZON ALMA G. DE LEON).