OCA CIRCULAR NO. 61-2005, May 15, 2005

Quoted hereunder is the Implementing Guidelines on the Non- Monetary
Remuneration for Overtime Services Rendered for the Judiciary, to wit:

“WHEREAS, a revised amended guidelines on the rendition of overtime
services was issued by the Honorable Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide,
Jr. on July 21, 2004 ;

“WHEREAS, the Civil Sendee Commission and
Department of Budget and Management issued Joint Circular No. 2, s. 2004
dated October 4, 2004 , to provide a uniform- policy on the availment
of compensatory time-off in lieu of overtime pay;

“WHEREAS, on April 4, 2005, the Honorable Chief
Justice issued Administrative Circular No. 18-2005 adopting as part of
the Judiciary’s austerity program the aforementioned Joint Circular No.
2, s. 2004;

“WHEREAS, the adoption of the aforementioned
Joint Circular No. 2 would give incalculable advantage and benefit to
the Judiciary, to the sendee, and to personnel rendering overtime
sendee;

“NOW, THEREFORE, the following guidelines on the
non- monetary remuneration for overtime services rendered are hereby
adopted pursuant to Joint Circular No. 2;

1. Purpose – These guidelines shall be the basis for the
   availment of compensatory time off in lieu of overtime pay for rendering
   overtime services.

2. Coverage – These guidelines shall apply to all employees
   of the Supreme Court up to Chiefs of Division, whether permanent,
   temporary, coterminous or casual, including those of the Presidential
   Electoral Tribunal and the Judicial and Bar Council, the Court of
   Appeals, the Sandiganbayan, the Court of Tax Appeals, and all Courts in
   the first and second levels.

3. Exemption – These guidelines shall not cover the official
   drivers of the Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the Supreme
   Court and the Presiding Justices and Associate Justices of the Court of
   Appeals, Court of Tax Appeals and the Sandiganbayan who may continue to
   receive overtime pay instead of the non-monetary remuneration. At the
   discretion of the Chief Justice and if justified by compelling reasons,
   exceptions to the application of the Joint Circular on non-monetary
   remuneration for overtime service rendered may be authorized.

4. Definition of Terms –

   Compensatory Overtime Credit (COC) refers to
   the accrued number of hours an employee earns as a result of services
   rendered beyond regular working hours, and/or those rendered on
   Saturdays, Sundays, Holidays or scheduled days off without the benefit
   of overtime pay.

   Compensatory Time-Off (CTO) refers to the
   number of hours or days an employee is excused from reporting for work
   with full pay and benefits. It is a non-monetary benefit provided to an
   employee in lieu of overtime pay.

5. Guidelines –

5.1 Employees are required to render forty (40) hours of work in a
week. Employees may be required to render overtime service in the
exigency of the sendee when work has to be done beyond office hours due
to compelling reasons and emergency situations.

5.2 The Heads of Offices shall determine the need for overtime
services, the date, time and its purpose. They shall request authority
from the Chief Justice/Presiding Justice/Executive Judge to render
overtime sendee indicating therein the tasks to be completed and the
expected time of completion.

5 3 Requests for overtime shall be made by the Head of Office and
must be submitted to the Chief Justice/Presiding Justice/Executive Judge
for approval before actual sendee of overtime is rendered.

5.4 Activities for which Overtime services may be authorized

5.4.1. Completion of infrastructure and other projects with set deadlines.

5.4.2. Work involving the preparation for and administration of
Bar Examinations, where existing personnel are not adequate to handle
such work during regular working days.

5.4.3. Seasonal work such as budget preparation and rendition of annual reports to meet scheduled deadlines.

5.4.4. Preparation of special financial accountability reports
required occasionally by central monitoring agencies like the Congress
of the Philippines, the Senate, the Office of the President, Commission
on Audit, Department of Budget and Management, and the National Economic
Development Authority.

5.4.5. Implementation of Special program/projects embodied in
directives and authorizations, and with specific dates to complete which
are in the nature of additional work of personnel with their regular
duties.

5.4.6. Services rendered by.drivers and other immediate staff of
officials authorized to have such staff support when they are required
to keep the same working hours of their superiors.

5.4.7. Rendition of skeletal force on Saturdays by all officials
and employees of the judiciary under Administrative Circular No. 2-99
dated 15 January 1999 issued by the Chief Justice.

5.4.8. Other services which the Chief Justice may deem to require overtime work.

5.5 Computation of COCs

The COC is expressed in number of hours, computed as follows:

5.5.1. For overtime services rendered on weekdays or scheduled work days:

COC = number of hours of overtime services x 1.0

5.5.2. For overtime services rendered on weekends, holidays or scheduled days off:

COC = number of hours of overtime services x 1.5

5.6 Accrual and Use of COCs

5.6.1. Each employee may accrue not more than forty (40) hours of
COCs in a month. In no instance, however, shall the unexpended balance
exceed one hundred twenty hours (120) hours.

5.6.2. The COCs should be used as time-off within the year these
are earned. The unutilized COC should not be carried over in the ensuing
year, hence, are non- cumulative.

5.6.3. The COCs shall be considered as official time for the following purposes:

5.6.3.1 compliance with compensation rules relative to the
entitlement to PERA, Additional Compensation, year-end benefits, and
other benefits received on a regular basis; and

5.6.3.2 computation of sendee hours for entitlement to sick
and vacation leave credits, and step increment due to length of service.

5.7. Limitation on the Use of COCs

5.7.1. The COCs cannot be used to offset undertime/s or tardiness incurred by the employee during regular working days.

5.7.2. The COCs earned cannot be converted to cash, hence, are non-commutative.

5.7.3. The COCs will not be added to the regular leave credits of
the employee; hence, it is not part of the accumulated leave credits
that is paid out to the employee.

5.8 Effect on Personnel Movement

5.8.1. In cases of resignation, retirement, or separation from the service, the unutilized COCs are deemed forfeited.

5.8.2. In case of detail, secondment or transfer to another
agency, the COCs earned in one agency cannot be transferred to another
agency, nor could the employee receive the monetary equivalent thereof.

5.8.3. In case of promotion, except when promoted to a position
not qualified to receive overtime pay under previous issuances, the
employee ‘will retain his or her accrued COC.

5.9 Issuance of Certificate of COC Earned

An employee who has earned COC shall be granted a Certificate of
COC earned duly approved and signed by the Chief Administrative
Officer/Personnel Officer as the case may be. The certificate indicates
the number of hours of earned COC by the employee in a month. The
certificate would be issued at the end of each month.

5.10 Availment of CTO

5.10.1. The CTO may be availed of in blocks of four (4) or eight (8) hours.

5.10.2. The employee may use the CTO continuously up to a maximum
of five (5) consecutive days per single availment, or on staggered
basis within the year.

5.10.3. Employees who were granted COC shall request their Chief
of Office on the schedule of availment of the CTO. The said schedule
shall be submitted to the Administrative/Personnel Office. In the
exigency of the sendee, however, the schedule may be recalled and
subsequently rescheduled by the Head of the Office of the employee
within the year.

6.0. Procedures

The following procedures shall be observed in the rendition of overtime services and availment of compensatory time off:

6.1. The Administrative/Personnel Office shall be furnished with a copy of the approved authority to render overtime services.

6.2. The employee renders overtime services as stipulated in the Office Order.

6.3. The Administrative/Personnel Office prepares a summary of
overtime services rendered in a month, and computes the equivalent COCs,
for the purpose of the issuance of the COC Certificate.

6.4. The Chief of the Administrative/Personnel Office issues the
Certificate of COCs, specifying the number of COCs earned in a month.

6.5. The employees who have acquired the Certificate of COC shall
request their Head of Office on the schedule of availment of the CTO.
The approved request shall then be submitted to the
Administrative/Personnel Office, which shall record the availment of the
CTO of the employee.

6.6. The employee avails of the CTO.

7.0. Duties and Responsibilities

7.1. Heads/Chiefs of Offices

7.1.1. The Heads/Chiefs of Offices shall recommend to the Chief
Justice/Presiding Justice/Executive Judge employees who will be
authorized to render overtime services beyond regular working hours in
accordance with these guidelines and the rules and regulations on
overtime sendee contained in Memorandum Circular No. 08-2004.

7.1.2. Grant certificate of COC earned, concurrently setting safeguard measures to prevent any form of fraud and/or duplicity.

7.1.3. Approve/disapprove schedule of CTO as requested by the
employee without compromising the delivery of services to clientele.

7.1.4 Ensure proper implementation of these guidelines, and act accordingly should violations or irregularities be committed.

7.2 Employees

7.2.1 Observe properly the procedures in earning of COC and availing of CTO.

7.2.2 Request approval from the Head/Chief of Office on the availmeht schedule of CTO.

7.2.3 Monitor the balance of earned COCs vis-avis CTOs availed of.

7.3 Administrative/Personnel Officer Concerned

7.3.1 Reflect on the time card the application for CTO filed by the employee

7.3.2 Submit to the Head/Chief of Offices concerned a monthly
report on summary of overtime sendees rendered and the equivalent COCs;
and report critical incidents or observations.

7.3.3 Recommend measures to improve the implementation of the guidelines on the grant of COCs and availment of CTOs.

8.0. Certificate of Compensatory Ovp rtime Credit (COC) (see image p. 7 OCA CIRCULAR NO. 61-2005)

9.0 Saving Clause

Issues or conflicts arising from those guidelines shall be resolved by the Chief Justice

10.0 Effectivity

These guidelines shall take effect on May 15, 2005.

For the information and guidance of all concerned.

18 May 2005.