Dear PAO,
My husband works as an underground miner for a mining company. He is now 55 years old and has started to suffer from health problems because of his work. He often complains of having difficulty breathing and aching joints. For the past three years, we have informed his boss, but his boss told him that the company still needed him and that they are having difficulty finding his replacement. His supervisor also told him that the retirement age is 60 for optional and 65 for mandatory anyway so it is far off. My husband wants to retire, but we are afraid that if he leaves the company we will have no income. Is there anything we can do?
Alexis E.
Dear Alexis,
The Labor Code provides that underground or surface mining employees are entitled to optional retirement upon reaching the age of 50 and mandatory retirement at 60 (as amended by Republic Act 10757). Article 302 of the said Code, as amended, specifically provides:
“Article 302. Retirement - An underground or surface mining employee upon reaching the age of fifty (50) years or more, but not beyond sixty (60) years which is hereby declared the compulsory retirement age for both underground and surface mine workers, who has served at least five (5) years as underground or surface mine worker may retire and shall be entitled to all the retirement benefits provided for in this Article.”
This was reiterated in Department Order 167, dated Dec. 19, 2016, of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), which states that underground mining employees are entitled to optional retirement at 50 years old and compulsory retirement at 60 years old, so long as the retiree has served at least five years in the company.
Therefore, your husband is entitled to optional retirement considering that he has reached the threshold set by the law, i.e., 50 years old, assuming that he has also served five years in the company as required by law. Additionally, in the absence of any agreement or contract, he is entitled to at least one-half month’s salary for every year served as retirement pay.
Should the mining company refuse to allow him to retire, he may file a complaint before the nearest National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) or DOLE covering the area where the company is situated or where your husband regularly reports for work.
We hope that we were able to answer your queries. This advice was solely based on the facts you have narrated and our appreciation of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated.
Thank you for your continued trust and support.
Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney’s Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to dearpao@manilatimes.net
