Special five-day emergency leave
THE Department of Education (DepEd) has reiterated that all DepEd officials, teaching and non-teaching personnel, who were directly affected by any natural calamity or disaster, can apply for a special five-day emergency leave.
Under the Office Memorandum OM-PHROD-2020-00423 issued by the Office of the Undersecretary, the Special Emergency Leave (SEL) shall be given for a maximum of five (5) days in a year and will be non-deductible from the employee’s earned leave or service credits.
Severely affected employees may avail of the SEL within thirty (30) days from the actual occurrence of the natural calamity/ disaster in straight working days or on a staggered basis.
Employees under a Job Order or Contract of Service may also avail of the SEL as long as they meet the verification needed.
Under the memo anchored on Civil Service Commission Memorandum (CSC) No. 02 dated 16 February 2012, the grant of this leave shall be based on the declaration of the state of calamity by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte or the local government unit of the affected area.
In cases where a specific area was not declared to be under a state of calamity but was severely affected by a national calamity/ disaster, the Head of the Offices; DepEd Secretary for the Central Office, Regional Director for Regional Offices, and School Division Superintendent for Schools Division Office and Schools shall take full responsibility of granting the special emergency leave.
Any requests for extension of the Special Emergency Leave shall be subject to the discretion of the Head of Office upon submission of strong justification on the need for an extension.
For the filing of SEL, affected employees may avail of SEL immediately provided that his/ her immediate supervisor is duly notified and the application for the said leave must be filed upon the return to work of the affected empl oyee.
Also, the memorandum allowed for the online submission and processing of leave requests using electronic signatures, provided that concerned personnel/ office use their respective official email addresses.
The department is continuously providing assistance and finding ways to help the affected teachers and personnel, as well as learners.