Policy, purpose, and governing authorization
- The circular’s purpose is to consolidate, amend, and clarify existing year-end bonus and cash gift guidelines under the annual GAA.
- The benefits are those authorized under Republic Act No. 6686, as amended by Republic Act No. 8441.
- The circular establishes the rules on entitlement, amounts, timing, funding, and compliance for the grant of the year-end bonus and cash gift for FY 2000 and years thereafter.
Definitions and core benefit structure
- “Year-end bonus and cash gift” consist of:
- A bonus equivalent to the covered personnel’s applicable monthly pay basis as of October 31, and
- A cash gift of PHP 5,000.
- Advance payment may be exercised as one-half (1/2) of the authorized benefits.
- The circular distinguishes between:
- Bonus computation (basic monthly salary, or contractual rate, depending on personnel type), and
- Cash gift (PHP 5,000 or prorated cash gift when service is less than the required period).
Coverage: who receives benefits
- The circular covers all government personnel, whether appointive or elective, and under regular, temporary or casual status, plus contractual personnel whose employment is in the nature of a regular employee.
- Covered government personnel are those who are under the following instances from January 1 to October 31 and are still in the service as of October 31 of the same year:
- Those who rendered at least an aggregate total of four (4) months of service including leaves of absence with pay (Section 2.1.1).
- Those on approved leave without pay who have rendered at least an aggregate total of four (4) months of service, provided they are not yet dropped from the rolls (Section 2.1.2).
- Those who rendered less than four (4) months of service (Section 2.1.3).
- The circular covers the following barangay officials, occupying the positions as of October 31 of each year regardless of tenure:
- All punong barangay,
- Sangguniang barangay members,
- Barangay secretaries, and
- Barangay treasurers created pursuant to the Local Government Code (Section 2.2).
Entitlements, exemptions, and administrative/disqualification rules
- Government personnel covered under Section 2.1.1 and Section 2.1.2 are entitled to:
- A bonus equal to their actual basic monthly salaries as of October 31, exclusive of allowances and other forms of compensation usually paid in addition to their basic pay, and
- A cash gift of PHP 5,000 (Section 4.1).
- Contractual personnel covered under the circular are entitled to:
- A bonus equivalent to their monthly contractual rates as of October 31, and
- A cash gift of PHP 5,000,
- With the bonus exclusive of the twenty percent (20%) premium, if any, and all allowances and other forms of compensation usually paid in addition to their basic pay (Section 4.2).
- Barangay officials covered under Section 2.2 are entitled only to a cash gift otherwise known as Christmas Bonus of PHP 5,000.00 each (Section 4.3).
- The following are not entitled to the benefits authorized in the circular as of October 31 of each year:
- Those who are absent without leave (AWOL) (Section 3.1).
- Those no longer in the service due to retirement/resignation/separation/death or for whatever reasons (Section 3.2).
- Those hired not as part of the organic manpower but as consultants or experts for limited periods to perform specific activities/services with expected outputs, plus student laborers, apprentices, laborers of contracted projects (pakiao), mail contractors (including those paid on piecework basis), and others similarly situated (Section 3.3).
- Government personnel formally charged with administrative and criminal cases related to acts of omission in connection with official duties and functions:
- Are not disqualified from receiving the year-end benefits in the year the decision was handed down.
- Are entitled to the year-end benefits until found guilty and meted penalties if the cases are still pending for resolution (Sections 3.4 and 4.12).
- If found guilty and meted penalties, the personnel are not entitled to the benefits in the year the decision was handed down (Section 3.4).
- If the penalty meted out is only a reprimand, it is not a penalty that can be the basis of disqualification to receive the benefits (Section 3.4.1).
- Personnel found guilty who are later exonerated by a competent authority upon appeal are entitled to back benefits, unless the competent authority decides otherwise (Section 4.13).
Advance payment and timing of payments
- Covered personnel may exercise the option to receive advance payment of one-half (1/2) of the authorized benefits not earlier than May 1 of each year (Section 4.4).
- To qualify for the advance payment, personnel must have rendered at least four (4) months service including leaves of absence with pay from January 1 to April 30 of each year (Section 4.4).
- Elective officials are not entitled to the advance payment during the last year of their terms (Section 4.4).
- The other half of the year-end bonus is paid not earlier than November 15 of each year (Section 4.5).
- Those who did not exercise the option receive the full amount not earlier than November 15 of each year (Section 4.6).
- If an advance payment of one-half (1/2) was received but the personnel are no longer in the service as of October 31 of the same year, the personnel must refund the advance (Section 4.7).
- Heads of entity must ensure the following annual payment schedule:
- Advance payment: made not earlier than May 1 and paid by May 31 (Section 10).
- Balance payment: made not earlier than November 15 and paid by November 30 (Section 10).
Computation rules, service proration, and assignment
- Part-time employees are entitled to benefits corresponding to the basic salary he is actually receiving and a pro-rata amount of the cash gift (Section 4.9).
- If part-time personnel have part-time service with two (2) or more different agencies due to the nature of employment, the personnel are entitled to a proportionate amount for each agency’s corresponding service, but the total benefits must not exceed the equivalent amount provided under the circular (Section 4.9).
- Government personnel with less than four (4) months of service as of October 31 are entitled solely to the cash gift, prorated using the following percentages (Section 4.11):
- 3 months but less than 4 months: 40%
- 2 months but less than 3 months: 30%
- 1 month but less than 2 months: 20%
- Less than 1 month: 10%
- Government personnel on full-time or part-time detail with another government agency or special projects receive benefits drawn from their mother agency.
- For personnel paid from project funds, benefits are drawn from the same source where they draw their salaries.
- No one may receive benefits from more than one source (Section 4.8).
- Government personnel who transferred from one agency to another receive benefits from their new office.
- If they availed of the advance one-half (1/2) in the former office, only the remaining balance is shouldered by the new office, and a certification from the former office of the availment of the advance one-half (1/2) is necessary (Section 4.10).
- Government personnel formally charged administrative and criminal cases still pending for resolution remain entitled to year-end benefits until found guilty and meted penalties (Section 4.12).
- Government personnel found guilty and later exonerated upon appeal are entitled to back benefits unless decided otherwise by the competent authority (Section 4.13).
Funding source rules
- For national government agencies, the amount required is charged against approved appropriations for the purpose under the annual GAA; any deficiency is charged against the agency’s available savings (Section 5.1).
- For government-owned and/or -controlled corporations and government financial institutions, the amount required is sourced fully from their respective corporate funds (Section 5.2).
- For local government units, the amounts required are sourced fully from their respective local funds (Section 5.3).
Compliance responsibility, prohibitions, and remedies
- Heads of concerned government entities are held responsible and personally liable for any grant of benefits not in accordance with the circular (Section 6).
- This personal liability does not remove the right to require refund of excess payment from the official or employee concerned (Section 6).
- Agencies are prohibited from granting additional benefits other than those authorized under the circular (Section 7).
- Administrative authorizations to grant any other benefits or similar compensation in FY 2000 and thereafter that partake the nature of the authorized benefits but are inconsistent with the circular’s policy are rendered nugatory and unenforceable (Section 7).
Repeal, case resolution, and implementing treatment
- All circulars and other issuances inconsistent with the provisions are repealed or superseded accordingly (Section 8).
- Cases not covered by the provisions must be submitted to the Secretary of Budget and Management for appropriate evaluation and resolution (Section 9).