Average weekly working hours in the Philippines fell to 39.2 hours in August from 40.6 hours in July due to bad weather, prompting human resources technology provider AscentHR to urge businesses to strengthen workforce resilience and modernize payroll systems.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that bad weather forced millions of employed Filipinos to work fewer hours, affecting their take-home pay and complicating employers’ management of shifting schedules, overtime and statutory reporting.
The PSA also reported that unemployment eased to 5.3% in August, while underemployment remained at 11.9%, equivalent to about 5.9 million employed Filipinos seeking additional working hours or secondary income.
These conditions pose challenges for businesses seeking to maintain productivity while ensuring fair and accurate employee compensation during weather-related disruptions, AscentHR said.
The International Labour Organization has identified heat stress and extreme weather as sources of millions of lost working hours annually in tropical climate zones, affecting labor-intensive and shift-based industries such as manufacturing, retail and logistics.
AscentHR said businesses should extend their disaster recovery plans to workforce administration, particularly in managing fluctuating work hours, shift differentials and complex payroll calculations while minimizing administrative delays and compliance errors.
“Operational resilience isn’t just about disaster recovery, but it’s about having payroll and workforce technology agile enough to accommodate weather disruptions and seasonal hours without administrative drag,” AscentHR Founder and Chief Executive Officer Subramanyam Sreenivasaiah said in a statement.
“When extreme weather disrupts standard working patterns, business agility depends on automated shift tracking, flexible variable-pay engines, and real-time compliance safeguards that ensure employees are accurately compensated without delay,” he added.
As businesses prepare for fourth-quarter seasonal hiring and potential weather disruptions, AscentHR urged employers to assess their human resources technology for flexibility, compliance with local regulations and real-time data visibility.
“As weather patterns become increasingly unpredictable, businesses cannot afford legacy HR and payroll systems that bottleneck operations during emergency adjustments,” Mr. Sreenivasaiah said.
“Investing in secure, automated, and compliant workforce technology protects both the organization’s bottom line and the economic well-being of its workforce,” he added.
AscentHR provides human capital management, payroll, compliance and workforce solutions through platforms including PowerPay and StoHRM. The company said its platforms use artificial intelligence-driven automation, cloud analytics and localized compliance features to help businesses manage workforce disruptions while maintaining data security and employee trust. — Kaizzer Angela Marie V. Manuba