Hazard pay for garbage collectors, sweepers, traffic enforcers eyed

Good news for garbage collectors, traffic enforcers and street sweepers.

A bill granting them a R 2,000 monthly hazard pay has been filed in the House of Representatives.

Under House Bill (HB) 7570, Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Maximo Rodriguez Jr. said all local government units (LGUs) are mandated to grant hazard pay amounting to R2,000 per month to local government employees whose work entails risk or danger to their health and safety.

“As people go about their daily lives, seldom do they stop to think about the person who collects garbage or the one who directs traffic on the streets. That is until the garbage piles up or the traffic grinds to a halt. Only then do we realize that those persons, however lowly their work may be, regularly provide us with basic services which make our lives much easier,” Rodriguez said.

“The garbage collectors, traffic enforcers, street sweepers and similar government employees who provide the citizenry with various kind of services that make our lives a little less stressful and more enjoyable persevere in their work even under circumstances which put their health and safety at risk,” he said.

HB 7570 provides that the employees shall be entitled to hazard pay regardless of the status of their employment.

“If only to show our gratitude to these selfless government employees, it is but just to compensate them for the dangers and risks their work exposes them to by providing them hazard pay,” Rodriguez said.