The Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) has extended the deadline of payment for the remittance of employees’ compensation (EC) contribution by the employers as a response to the declaration of a state of public health emergency and state of calamity in the Philippines due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

ECC, through Board Resolution No. 20-03-06, moved that the payment deadline be extended and that the same deadline by the Social Security System (SSS) and the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) for the payment of their respective programs be implemented in view of Proclamation No. 922, series of 2020 and Proclamation No. 929, series of 2020 by the Office of the President, which put the country in a state of public health emergency and state of calamity, respectively. Both the SSS and GSIS, agencies in-charge of the collection of EC contribution, provided an extension for the deadline of payment for remittance of contributions by employers for the duration of the state of calamity.

The ECC believes that it is only proper to provide an extension considering the present situation. “We recognize the tremendous effects of the COVID-19 pandemic especially to our workers. Aside from providing adequate benefits for our workers through the Employees’ Compensation Program (ECP), we also seek to continually improve our guidelines and policies to make them more responsive to the current needs and concerns of our workers,” said Executive Director Stella Zipagan-Banawis. She also encouraged everyone to take precautionary measures and called on employers and companies to follow prevention and control measures to avoid the spread of the virus especially in the workplaces.

Globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recorded more than 25 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, including over 800,000 deaths worldwide as of 31 August 2020. In the Philippines, the Department of Health (DOH) has reported more than 225,000 covid cases and more than 3,500 deaths as of 31 August 2020.

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