Paying more overtime would cost less than hiring new employees –Ceneco Lapore: Ceneco shelled out P20M in overtime pay last year

Signs posted at the Fountain of Justice, outside the old Bacolod City Hall, on Monday, Labor Day, lambasted Ceneco for poor service and allegations of “overcontracting.” Recently, while speaking before the Ceneco Annual General Membership Assembly (AGMA), Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia said, “Ceneco will always be a partner of our city government.” (Paulo Loreto Lim photo)

By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

While speaking before the Annual General Membership Assembly (AGMA), Central Negros Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Ceneco) General Manager Sulpicio Lagarde, Jr. said it would be more financially beneficial to the cooperative to pay more overtime pay than to hire new employees.
After admitting the utility co-op is “undermanned,” a total of 398 employees intended to serve 213,000 consumers, he said new hires would force the utility co-op to dip into retirement funds.
According to Ceneco President Arnel Lapore, the co-op shelled out P20 million last year in overtime pay alone.
Citing the National Electrification Administration (NEA) ratio, which suggests there must be one employee for every 350 consumers, Lagarde said, in that case, Ceneco would have to employ around 600 employees. He also reiterated his preference for overtime pay./WDJ

Share this:

Leave a Reply Cancel reply