Holiday list out: Four long weekends in 2014

• 
  You may start planning your 2014 vacations this early, as Malacanang issued on Monday the list of holidays for next year.

There will be four long weekends next year according to Proclamation No. 655, signed by President Benigno Aquino September 25.

These include the weekends after January 31 (Friday), which has been declared a special non-working holiday for the Chinese New Year, and before August 25 (Monday), a regular holiday for National Heroes Day.

Regular holidays for the observance of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday (April 17 to 18) will meanwhile extend one weekend.

Christmas Day, which falls on a Thursday next year, is a regular holiday while the day after it is a special non-working day, also resulting in a long weekend.

Here is the complete list of 2014 holidays:

A. Regular holidays
New Year’s Day, January 1 (Wednesday)
Araw ng Kagitingan, April 9 (Wednesday)
Maundy Thursday, April 17
Good Friday, April 18
Labor Day, May 1 (Thursday)
Independence Day, June 12 (Thursday)
National Heroes Day, August 25 (Monday)
Bonifacio Day, November 30 (Sunday)
Christmas Day, December 25 (Thursday)
Rizal Day, December 30 (Tuesday)

B. Special (non-working) days
Chinese New Year, January 31 (Friday)
Black Saturday, April 19
Ninoy Aquino Day, August 21 (Thursday)
All Saints Day, November 1 (Saturday)

C. Special (non-working) days
December 24 (Wednesday)
December 26 (Friday)
December 31 (Wednesday)

D. Special Holiday (for all schools)
EDSA Revolution Anniversary, February 25 (Tuesday)

The proclamation added that the Islamic feasts of Eid’l Fitr and Eidul Adha may also be declared national holidays, proclamations for which will be issued after the dates have been determined.

The feasts are in “accordance with the Islamic calendar (Hijra) or the lunar calendar, or upon Islamic astronomical calculations, whichever is possible or convenient,” it noted.

Under the Labor department’s pay rules, employees not working on regular holidays are still entitled to 100 percent of their regular daily rate, “provided that they [they were] present, or [were] on leave with pay on the workday immediately preceding the holiday.”

Employees who work on a regular holiday that also fall on their rest days, meanwhile, will be entitled to 200 percent of the daily rate for the first eight hours and an additional 30 percent for additional hours.

On special non-working days, the following shall apply:

“a. If the day is unworked, the ‘no work, no pay’ principle shall apply unless there is a favorable company policy, practice or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) granting payment on a special day even if the day is unworked.

b. If worked, the employee shall be paid an additional 30 percent of the daily rate of 100 percent on the first eight hours of work. In excess of eight hours, he/she shall be paid an additional 30 percent of the hourly rate on said day.

c. If the day falls on the employee’s rest day and is worked, he/she shall be paid an additional 50 percent of the daily rate of 100 percent on the first eight hours of work. In excess of eight hours, he/she shall be paid an additional 30 percent of the hourly rate.”