MANILA - Employers are allowed to delay handing out employees’ double pay for going to work on holidays as businesses bear the brunt of limited operations brought by a coronavirus lockdown, the country’s labor chief said Saturday.

Bello said this as the government declared May 25, Monday, a national holiday for Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

"Ang pagbabayad nito puwedeng delayed dahil sa COVID-19, puwede munang i-postpone ang pagbabayad ng holiday pay,” Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello said in the “Laging Handa” press briefing, Saturday.

(Payout can be delayed because of COVID-19, payment of holiday pay can be postponed.)

Under the law, workers are entitled payment of twice their daily rate if they work on national holidays. Those who will not work on that day are entitled to their regular daily pay.

The country's labor department had also given the green light for companies to delay payment for workers who reported for duty during Holy Week in April, until the coronavirus crisis ends.