The Department of Education (DepEd) has doubled the vacation service credits or leave credits of public school teachers from 15 to 30 days. This will give them the opportunity to offset absences or recover salary deductions while on vacation.
Education Secretary Sonny Angara signed DepEd Order No. 013 series of 2024 on September 18, and it will take effect 15 days after publication. It covers all public school teachers, including mobile teachers, regardless of their appointment status.
Teachers with one year of service, and those hired four months after classes begin, will be given 30 leave credits for a full year. Whereas those who were appointed or hired four months after the start of the class will receive 45 vacation service credits.
The updated policy also allows teachers to offset the extra hours they put in aside from their expanded leave credits.
"The new guidelines reflect DepEd's commitment to meet the changing needs of teachers and ensure that they are properly compensated for their extra work, especially during summer or long vacations," according to DepEd in a statement on Friday. , September 27.
"This move also aims to protect the net take-home pay of teachers by recognizing their participation in DepEd-led activities at the national, regional, and division levels, with its partners and stakeholders."
For each hour spent outside regular work hours on school days, teachers will earn 1.25 hours of leave credit. They also have 1.25 hours of vacation service credits for each hour of extra teaching tasks if they are not paid overload pay.
Meanwhile, teachers will earn 1.5 leave credits for each hour of service they render during Christmas, summer, weekends, and holidays.
All of this additional time must be documented to obtain authorization from the Schools Division Superintendent. Requirements for authorization include submission of a signed CS Form 48, School Form 8, certification of teaching overload, and a certification of insufficiency of funds for teaching overload.
