The National Commission of Senior Citizens (NCSC) on Thursday welcomed the filing of a bill mandating the public and private sectors to hire senior citizens.
NCSC chairperson Franklin Quijano said the filing of the proposed measure at the House of Representatives is a “good move” and a “very welcome development.”
“We see other things that our government should do. First of all, I hope that those who can work are covered by insurance, and sometimes those civil service laws, GSIS [Government Service Insurance System] and SSS [Social Security System] laws tend to limit the coverage of the insurance. We might look into it,” Quijano said.
“But in the meantime, with the senior citizens working, they are really happy with that. There are already a few establishments that actually hire or employ senior citizens. I hope there will be more establishments that hire senior citizens,” he added.
ACT-CIS party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo, along with other lawmakers, filed House Bill (HB) 8972 which promotes the employment of senior citizens in the country.
Under the bill, at least 1 percent of all positions in government agencies, offices, or corporations shall be reserved for qualified senior citizens.
HB 8972 also mandates private corporations with over 100 employees to reserve at least 1 percent of their positions for qualified ones.
Private corporations with less than 100 employees are encouraged to hire the elderly.
“We’re actually trying to encourage senior citizens to be more productive by encouraging enterprises to support them and enterprises to be created. Of course, employment is part of it and we are happy because many senior citizens are looking for a job and want to spend their time working. They possess the skill and the stability in the focused work,” he said.
Quijano said the work schedule of hired senior citizens should be “flexible” considering that some of them prefer to work for a certain number of hours.
Employers must also compensate the senior citizens accordingly, he added.