Guidelines on the Grant of Uniform and Clothing Allowance to Newly-hired Government Employees

[This article was updated as of April 5, 2024 in view of the issuance of Budget Circular No. 2024-1]

When does a newly-hired civilian government employee entitled to receive the uniform and clothing allowance for civilian government employees?

Is the uniform and clothing allowance automatically given once the employee is hired? Or, are there conditions that the new employee must comply with before he/she be granted the allowance?

https://gabotaf.com/2024/02/23/full-guide-dbm-and-coa-guidelines-on-the-grant-of-uniform-or-clothing-allowance-to-government-employees/?amp=1

The Basics

You may want to read the following articles first before you proceed with this discussion to learn what is a uniform and clothing allowance and how much is the uniform and clothing allowance of civilian government employees.

https://gabotaf.com/2022/03/19/what-is-uniform-and-clothing-allowance-for-government-employees/

Or, you may want to watch this video to learn more about the guidelines on the grant of uniform and clothing allowance.

Going back to the question

To answer this question, we refer to the Updated Guidelines on the Grant of Uniform and Clothing Allowance to Civilian Government Employees under Budget Circular No. 2024-1 issued by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

General Conditions on the Grant of Uniform and Clothing Allowance

As a general rule, the full-rates of uniform and clothing allowance is given to government employees who are already in the government and are to render services for at least six (6) months in a particular fiscal year including leaves of absence with pay.

In the Philippines, the government's fiscal year is the calendar year, from 1 January to 31 December.[Wikipedia]

Hence, a regular employee who are already in the government may receive the uniform and clothing allowance in April of the current year provided the employee will render at least six (6) months of government service during the fiscal year; otherwise the employee shall refund the same to the government.

https://gabotaf.com/2023/02/08/faq-when-is-it-allowed-to-release-or-pay-the-uniform-and-clothing-allowance/

Conditions on the Grant of Uniform and Clothing Allowance to Newly-Hired Civilian Government Employees

When we say newly-hired employee, we pertain to an employee who was hired anytime during the current fiscal year (i.e., anytime from January 1 to December 31).

In previous year (2023), the specific conditions on the grant of uniform and clothing allowance to newly-hired employees are provided under Item 9.1 of BC No. 2018-1, viz:

A newly-hired employee may qualify to the grant of U/CA only after rendering six (6) months of service, and if expected to render services for at least six (6) months for the rest of the year. [Item 9.1, BC No. 2018-1]

Unlike in previous year, starting 2024, a newly-hired employee may qualify for the grant of uniform or clothing allowance after rendering six (6) months of government service pursuant to Budget Circular No. 2024-1.

In previous years, there were two (2) conditions that must be complied with before a newly-hired employee is granted the uniform and clothing allowance, namely:

1. The new employee may be granted the uniform and clothing allowance only after rendering six (6) months of service; and

2. If the new employee is expected to render six (6) months of service for the rest of the year.

For 2024, unless later amended, the second condition which is the new employee is expected to render six (6) months of service for the rest of the year to be granted the uniform or clothing allowance is no longer applicable under the updated guidelines.

Please note however that the conditions above do not apply to employees who are required to wear uniforms at all times as provided under Item 8.2 of BC No. 2024-1, viz:

The six (6)-month service requirement shall not cover those who are required to wear uniforms at all times while performing their duties such as Security Guard, Special Police, medical and allied medical staff in hospitals, and those in similar situations. 

Let’s discuss this further

We want to discuss this topic further with you since we might not have considered every thing. Please leave us a message in the comments section below if you have any question or additional inputs on this topic.