COA flags Pavia’s ₱931,000 overtime pay, documentation lapses

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

The Commission on Audit (COA) has raised concerns over the disbursement of ₱931,000 for overtime services and night shift differential pay in Pavia, Iloilo, citing insufficient documentation and potential overpayments.

The findings, detailed in COA’s 2023 audit report, highlight lapses in the municipality’s internal controls and adherence to civil service regulations.

According to the COA report, payments were made to employees of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (MDRRMO) and the Municipal Health Office (MHO) for overtime and night shift services rendered throughout 2023.

However, these transactions were not fully supported by the necessary documentation, as required by Section 4(6) of Presidential Decree No. 1445, which mandates that all claims against government funds be backed by complete records.

The COA also noted that the municipality failed to formulate and adopt internal rules for the rendition of overtime services, a requirement under Civil Service Commission (CSC) and Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Joint Circular No. 02, series of 2015.

The circular stipulates specific guidelines for overtime work, including limitations on the number of hours that can be compensated and the need for proper approval and documentation.

In particular, the audit revealed that employees worked overtime outside their scheduled hours without prior authorization from the agency head, and there was insufficient evidence of attendance to verify that midwives were present during their assigned graveyard shifts at the Pavia Rural Health Unit Birthing Facility.

“Rendering overtime service shall be resorted to only when extremely necessary,” the COA report emphasized. “Doing otherwise and without the approval of the agency head may result in overstaffing and additional expenses on the part of the local government unit.”

One particularly concerning finding involved an employee who was compensated for 20 hours of overtime on January 2, 2023, a special non-working holiday, despite the fact that only 12 hours of overtime should have been eligible for pay, as per existing guidelines. This led to an overpayment for six hours of work.

The audit further uncovered inconsistencies in daily time records, particularly during night shifts, where manual entries lacked sufficient explanation or supporting documentation.

Additionally, the audit revealed that midwives at the Pavia Rural Health Unit Birthing Facility were working 44 to 52 hours per week, which violates the Magna Carta of Public Health Workers that mandates against overloading public health workers.

COA warned that such practices could negatively impact the well-being of the employees and the quality of healthcare services provided to patients.

The report recommended that the Municipal Health Office plan staff schedules more effectively and consider hiring additional personnel to avoid overloading and excessive overtime costs.

In response to these findings, Pavia’s local government has committed to implementing COA’s recommendations.

This includes formulating and adopting internal rules for overtime services and ensuring that all disbursements are supported by complete documentation.

The COA also urged the municipality to submit the required “Report on Overtime Services with Pay” to the DBM and CSC, a step that was previously overlooked.

(This story was written using in part the COA Beat Assistant chat bot designed and developed by Filipino journalist Jaemark Tordecilla. The chat bot was primarily used to summarize the key findings of the COA annual audit report while the story was written and reviewed by the author)