Labor Law LECTURES
Labor Law LECTURES
PRELIMINARY TITLE
PRE-EMPLOYMENT EMPLOYMENT POST-EMPLOYMENT
Books 1 &2 Books 3, 4, & 5 Book 6
RELIEFS
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*there are some labor standards provisions on Books 5 & 6 (labor relations), and vice versa
PRELIMINARY TITLE
Labor Code:
o Afford protection to labor
o Promote employment and human resources development
o Insure industrial peace based on social justice
Social Justice is neither communism, nor despotism, nor atomism, nor anarchy, but the
humanization of laws and the equalization of social and economic forces by the State so
that the justice in its rational and objectively secular conception may at least be approximated
J. Laurel, Calalang v. Williams
*Usual refrains that capital makes when there are attempts to give more rights to workers
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“Protection to labor”
- Art. II, Section 18.
The State affirms labor as a primary social economic force. It shall protect the
rights of workers and promote their welfare.
- Art. XIII, Section 3.
The State shall afford full protection to labor, local and overseas, organized and
unorganized, and promote full employment and equality of employment
opportunities for all.
The State shall promote the principle of shared responsibility between workers and
employers and the preferential use of voluntary modes in settling disputes,
including conciliation, and shall enforce their mutual compliance therewith to foster
industrial peace.
The State shall regulate the relations between workers and employers, recognizing
the right of labor to its just share in the fruits of production and the right of
enterprises to reasonable returns to investments, and to expansion and growth.
Full employment
- Not 100% employment, nor 0 unemployment
- Everyone willing to work at the going wage rate is able to get a job
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Security of tenure
- An employee may not be dismissed from employment unless there is a legally recognized
ground for termination of employment (just and unauthorized causes of employment)
Section 3.
The State shall afford full protection to labor, local and overseas, organized and
unorganized, and promote full employment and equality of employment
opportunities for all.
It shall guarantee the rights of all workers to self-organization, collective bargaining
and negotiations, and peaceful concerted activities, including the right to strike in
accordance with law. They shall be entitled to security of tenure, humane conditions
of work, and a living wage. They shall also participate in policy and decision-making
processes affecting their rights and benefits as may be provided by law.
The State shall promote the principle of shared responsibility between workers and
employers and the preferential use of voluntary modes in settling disputes, including
conciliation, and shall enforce their mutual compliance therewith to foster industrial peace.
The State shall regulate the relations between workers and employers, recognizing the
right of labor to its just share in the fruits of production and the right of enterprises to
reasonable returns to investments, and to expansion and growth.
xxx – Labor Code
xxx – addition by the framers of the Constitution
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Social Justice
- means the promotion of the welfare of all the people, the adoption by the Government
of measures calculated to insure economic stability of all the competent elements of
society, through the maintenance of a proper economic and social equilibrium in the
interrelations of the members of the community. (Calalang v, Williams)
- Fairness and Balance
o the benefits, tools, guarantees, entitlements given to the workers are not put into
place in order to give them advantage over the employers or to allow them to abuse
the employers
The rights and protections of employees under the Labor Code to address imbalance are applied
ONLY WHEN THERE IS AN EMPLOYER-EMPLOYEE RELATIONSHIP.
- Brotherhood Labor Unity Movement v. Zamora
o Judicial relation spawns obligations connected with workmen's compensation,
social security, medicare, minimum wage, termination pay, and unionism.
- Relevance of the determination of the existence of an employer-employee relationship.
o Determines what law shall apply
o Determines what courts have jurisdiction
EMPLOYER-EMPLOYEE RELATIONSHIP
- Form of contractual arrangement where one persona agrees to render service in
exchange for compensation
o However, this is not the only type of arrangement that fails under the said
arrangement
o Employee
o Contractor
▪ Individual contractor (bilateral contracting)
▪ Contractor with its own employees (trilateral contracting)
o Corporate Officer
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Meteoro v. Creative Creatures: There is no hard and fast rule designed to establish these
elements; any competent and relevant evidence to prove the relationship may be admitted
Not a full-proof formula, but an attempt to put a system into the determination of an employer-
employee relationship
Four-Fold Test
1. Selection and Engagement of Employee
- The existence of an employer-employees relation is a question of law and being such, it
cannot be made the subject of an agreement (Tabas)
- Job titles are weak indicators (Sevilla)
o Just like stipulations, anybody can claim or use whatever title they want to use in
order to suit their purposes.
- The nature of the services performed is not controlling (Phil. Global)
o A person may be an employee even if he is performing an activity not directly
related to the business of the company
o A person may be a contractor even if he is performing an activity directly related
to the business of the company
- The fact that X was not hired through the personnel department indicated. (Sonza)
o The court took judicial notice of the fact that employees are usually hired through
the HR or Personnel department; the fact that the worker in this case was hired
through Upper Management indicates that he is not an employee
2. Payment of Wages
- The person who pays for the services is deemed to be the employer of the worker
- Cash vouchers covering salaries constitute evidence (Damasig)
- The manner of computing wages is not determinative (Jardin, Chavez, and Tan)
- The designation of the payment is not controlling (Art. 97)
o One may call it commission, rata, allowance, but as long as it meets the definition
of wage, that is compensation for services rendered under employer-employee rel,
it is considered as wage, and the payment of such wage will be considered as a
satisfaction of the four-fold test
- The fact that the worker bills the putative employer is proof that he is not an employee.
(Phil. Global)
o The employee does not bill the company for his wages, he will just receive the
wages on a regular basis
o A contractor, on the other hand, is required to bill the client and is required to issue
an official receipt for any payments received from the company
- The ability to negotiate for, and receiving an extraordinary amount as compensation
indicates a contractual relationship (Sonza)
o It indicates but it does not conclusively show that there is a contractual relationship
o The compensation being received by Sonza was very far away from the
compensation received from ordinary employees of ABS-CBN
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3. Power of Dismissal
- Labor Code: Power to Dismiss an employee on the ground of just and authorized causes
is reserved in the employer
- The employer’s admission that it has the power to dismiss could be used against it. (Tan
v. Lagrama)
- If the putative employer may only terminate the contract on the ground of breach such that
it would be unable to dismiss the worker even if the grounds under the Labor Code are
present, then that indicates a contracting relationship. (Sonza)
o No employment relationship since the power to terminate the relationship is limited
to the breach of contract and not based on just and authorized causes
- The power to dismiss is inherent in the fact of engagement; it could be disguised as a
termination of contract due to breach (Chavez)
o One who engages with the worker may also dismiss the said worker.
o Termination of employment may be easily disguised as termination of contract
4. Power of Control
- Most important element of the four-fold test
- Power to control the means and methods and not just the results
- Difficult to fake compared to toher tests
- Exercise of this power is not necessary generally
o Existence of right is sufficient
▪ Unless it is a management contract
▪ Unless it is a trilateral contract
- Even if only this element is satisfied, it would already be sufficient to establish or conclude
that an employer-employee relationship exists
- Power to discipline the worker is also indicative of the power to control
- SSS v. CA compared to Royal House Marketing (take note of red text)
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- Brotherhood case
o Warehouse kargardors of San Miguel were tasked with the loading and unloading
of palettes in and from the trucks
o SC: San Miguel had the right to impose disciplinary measures for violation or
infractions of its rules and regulations.
o Looking for means and methods in this case is difficult, as there was only one
means of loading and unloading palettes.
o Power to discipline and power to recommend transfers and dismissal were the
Court’s bases to establish employer’s power of control.
- Tan case
o Worker engaged in making billboards
o Worker was the employee of the business due to power of control
▪ Employee was required in company premises; the employer imposed rules
on the use of such premises
• Disobedience of such rules (no peeing in the area) lead to dismissal
▪ Although in the case, there were no other rules stated, except that of the
no peeing rule
o It is the employer who admitted that it has the power to dismiss the worker.
- Orozco case
o Lifestyle columnist for the Inquirer was NOT an employee of Inquirer
o SC: Although the columnist is limited to writing about lifestyle topics and could not
write breaking news, etc. That was not a function of control over the actions of the
columnist, but rather a function of the fact that the columnist writes for the lifestyle
section of the newspaper
o Inquirer did not impose or dictate means and methods on choosing a subject
matter, style, research and creativity
o Constraints as to length of article, deadlines, are inherent in the newspaper
business and pertain to results and not indicate controlled means and methods
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o Difference in the ruling does not necessarily mean that one case is correct and the
other is not
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• Such stipulations do not dictate how and when should the referee
blow the whistle and make calls;
• PBA had no authority to reverse the calls of the referee even though
the call is deemed wrong
▪ Such stipulations are mere rules on conduct in order to maintain the
integrity of the professional basketball league.
o The means and methods of officiating the game remain under the absolute
discretion of Bernate
▪ The said stipulations are only incidental
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- Leonardo case
o Bowtel*, a telecommunications company, engaged to a contract with DigiTel, for
the latter to manage the former’s facilities and employees.
o The control has no application where the exercise of the power of control flows
from a management contract
o SC ruled that the employers of the worker remained to be Bowtel notwithstanding
the fact that the DigiTel is exercising the right to control over the workers.
o The exercise by DigiTel of control was only pursuant to the management contract
▪ Exercise of power of control MAY BE DELEGATED
THERE MAY BE INSTANCES WHERE THE FOUR-FOLD TEST IS INSUFFICIENT TO
DETERMINE AN EMPLOYER-EMPLOYEE RELATIONSHIP
SC: usage of Two-Tiered Test
- Francisco case
o In certain cases the control test is not sufficient to give a complete picture of the
relationship between the parties, owing to the complexity of such a relationship
where several positions have been held by the worker.
Two-Tiered Test
1. The putative employer’s power to control the employee with respect to the means
and methods by which the work is to be accomplished
2. The underlying economic realities of the activity or relationship
o The extent to which the services performed are an integral part of the employer’s
business
▪ Nature of the services may not be controlling but could be indicative if the
four-fold test is insufficient
▪ How intimately related the services are to the company’s business
▪ The more integral the services are, the more probable the worker is an
employee of the company
o The extent of the worker’s investment in equipment and facilities
▪ The more the investment the worker has, the less likely that he is an
employee of the company
• An employee does not have to invest in equipment and facilities
because equipment and facilities are supplied by the company
o The nature and degree of control exercised by the employer*
▪ Also considered as the control test
o The worker’s opportunity for profit and loss
▪ The more opportunity the worker has, the lesser probability that the worker
is an employee.
• The employee does not stand to profit or to lose from the
engagement
• He is assured his wages
• As compared to a contractor who may either profit or loss from the
arrangement
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o The amount of initiative, skill, judgment or foresight required for the success of the
claimed independent enterprise
▪ The more evidence there is of the circumstances, the more probable the
worker is a contractor.
o The permanency and duration of the relationship between the worker and the
employer
▪ The longer the relationship is, the more probable the worker is an
employee.
o The degree of dependency of the worker upon the employer for his continued
employment in that line of business.
▪ Does the worker have other clients?
• If the worker has other clients, then he is not dependent on the
company for his continued employment in that line of business.
• If the worker is in that industry solely, such that when he is
dismissed or terminated, he would no longer be in that industry,
then it it was quite probable that the worker is an employee.
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WAGES
- The single most important benefit of the employees
- Forms a basis of other benefits (e.g. overtime pay is 125% of the regular wage, separation
pay is either ½ of 1 month’s pay)
6 Chapters on Wages
1. Preliminary Matters – definition and coverage
2. Minimum Wage Rates – provides that the minimum wage shall be those prescribed by the
Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards; Non-diminution rule
3. Payment of Wages – deals with what employers are required to do; provisions on
contracting and labor-only contracting (106-109)
4. Prohibitions Regarding Wages – tells what employers should not do
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5. Wage Studies, Wage Agreements and Wage Determination – how minimum wages are
set
6. Administration and Enforcement - statutory basis for labor inspections and DOLE
jurisdiction over simple money claims
- Wage means:
Renumeration for work or for services payable by an ER to an EE, capable of being
expressed in terms of money
o however designated
▪ as long as the payment meets the definition of wage, no matter how it is
called, it still considered as a wage.
o however computed (time, task, piece, or commission basis, or other method of
calculating the same_
o Under a written or unwritten contract of employment
- Includes the fair and reasonable value, as determined by the Secretary of Labor and
Employment, of board, lodging, or other facilities customarily furnished by the employer to
the employee.
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Wage v. Salary
- "wages" differs from the term "salary."
- Wages apply to compensation for manual labor, skilled or unskilled, paid at stated times
and measured by the day, week, month or season
- Salary denotes a higher grade of employment or a superior grade of services and implies
a position or office.
- Blue collar (wages) v. White collar (salary)
- The distinction between salary and wage in Gaa vs CA was only for the purpose of Art.
1708 of the Civil Code which provides that "the laborers' wage shall not be subject to
execution or attachment except for debts incurred for food, shelter, clothing, and medical
attendance.
o Wage of blue-collar worker – exempt
o Salary of white-collar worker – not exempt
“however designated”
You can call it: “Sahod” “Sweldo” “Salary” “Allowance” “Stipends” “Shares” “Dividends”
“Commission” “RATA”
- But as long as it falls within the definition of a wage, then it is a wage.
“Includes the fair and reasonable value of board, lodging, or other facilities”
- What are facilities?
o articles or services for the benefit of the employee or his family but excluding tools
of the trade or articles or service primarily for the benefit of the employer or
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necessary to the conduct of the employer's business. • Sec. 5, Rule VII, Book III,
IRR.
- What are supplements?
o Constitute extra remuneration or special privileges or benefits given to or received
by laborers over and above their ordinary earnings or wages. (DO 126-13)
Facilities v. Supplements
- The criterion in making a distinction between the two not so much lies in the kind (food,
lodging) but the purpose.
- If for the benefit of the employee or his family, it is a facility
- A benefit or privilege granted to an employee for the convenience of the employer is not
a facility but a supplement. • (Mabeza v. NLRC; GR 118506, April 18, 1997)
Mabeza v. NLRC
- Employer is a hotel; employees are hotel staff
- Hotel provided them with food, lodging, electricity, and water.
- WON those items are facilities or supplements
- SC: Supplements; intended to ensure their ready availability since hotel workers are
required to work different shifts and are expected to be available at various odd hours,
their ready availability is a necessary matter for the operations of a small hotel
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Supplements include:
1. Emergency medical and dental services furnished by employer by virtue of the requirement of
the Labor Code, as amended and its Implementing Rules and Regulations;
2. Cost, rental and/or laundry of uniform where the nature of the business requires the employees
to wear a uniform;
3. Transportation charges where such transportation is in incident to or necessary to the
employment;
4. Shares of capital stock of the employee in an employer’s company;
5. Paid vacation, sick and maternity leaves; and
6. Tools of the trade or articles or services primarily for the benefit of the employer or necessary
to the conduct of the employer’s business.
***Meals, housing, and electricity, though included in the list of facilities, does not automatically
render it impossible to become supplements
o In Mabeza, these are considered supplements
o Criterion in differentiating the two not lies in the kind but for its purpose
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*In meals, it must also be nutritionally adequate, and the employer is required to subsidize at
least 30% of the cost of the meals
**In housing, it must be used exclusively for the living quarters of the employees.
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BASIC WAGE
IRR of RA 6727 (Wage Ra-onaliza-on Act) as follows: • "Basic Wage" means all remuneration
or earnings paid by an employer to a worker for services rendered on normal working days
and hours but does not include:
- cost of living allowances,
- profit sharing payments, (bonuses)
- premium payments (OT, NSD, holiday premium)
- 13th month pay, or
- other monetary benefits which are not considered as part of or integrated into the regular
salary of the workers
There are benefits that are based or computed on the basis wage ONLY
ISAE v. Quisimbing
- Intl school paid its foreign-hired faculties 25% more than the local-hired faculties
- RD: Significant economic disadvantage suffered by foreign hires (dislocation and limited
tenure)
- Higher pay is necessary to attract competent professionals
- SC: while it recognizes the need of the school to attract foreign hires, salaries should not
be used as inducement to the prejudice of local hires.
- SC: local hires perform the same services with the foreign hires. Same salaries with
foreign hires
- SC: no evidence that foreign hires 25% more efficiently and effectively than local hires
- SC: Dislocation factor and limited tenure cannot serve as valid basis for the distinction of
salary rates; these factors were already adequately compensated with certain benefits.
- SC: Incentivizing and attracting professionals can be done through other items and not
through salary (housing, transportation, shipping costs).
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Minimum wage can by no means imply only the actual minimum. (Atok-Big Wedge
Mining Co., Inc. v. Atok-Big Wedge Mutual Benefit Assn.)
- A person's needs increase as his means increase. This is true not only as to food but as
to everything else — education, clothing, entertainment, etc. The law guarantees the
laborer a fair and just wage.
- Minimum – bust be complied with at the least, but there has to be something more that
would allow for the person to survive.
- Some margin or leeway must be provided, over and above the minimum, to take care of
contingencies, such as increase of prices of commodities and increase in wants, and to
provide means for a desirable improvement in his mode of living
Minimum Wage Fixing
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Procedure
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APPEAL
- Any party aggrieved by the Wage Order may APPEAL TO THE NWPC WITHIN 10
CALENDAR DAYS from the publication of such order.
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Floor-Wage Method
The first method involves the fixing of determinate amount that would be added to the prevailing
statutory minimum wage.
- Ex:
o Prevailing minimum wage = P300/day
o Increase = P30
o New minimum wage = P330/day (new floor)
- Old Minimum Wage = P300
- New Minimum Wage = P330
o A = P300 = P330 (+30)
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Salary-Ceiling Method
the wage adjustment is applied to employees receiving a certain denominated salary ceiling.
- Ex: “Upon the effectivity of this Wage Order, all workers and employees in the
private sector in the National Capital Region already receiving wages above the
statutory minimum wage rates up to four hundred pesos (P400.00) per day shall
also receive an increase of thirty pesos (P30.00) per day.”
o Prevailing minimum wage = P300/day
o Increase = P30/day
o New minimum wage = P330/day
- Ceiling = P330
- Increase = P30 (identical to all employees with salaries within the ceiling)
o A = P300 = P330 (+30)
o B = P310 = P340 (+30)
o C = P320 = P350 (+30)
o D = P330 = P360 (+30)
o E = P410 = P410 (+0)
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WAGE DISTORTION
A situation where
1. An increase in prescribed wage rates
• Presence of wage order
2. Increase results in the elimination or severe contraction of intentional quantitative
differences in wage or salary rates between and among employee groups in an
establishment;
--as to effectively obliterate the distinction embodied in such wage structure based on skills, length
of service, or other logical bases of differentiation.
The difference in salary is based on skills, length of service, or other logical bases of differentiation
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The distinction between the two (2) groups is obliterated. Even though they are not of the same
rank, they are receiving the same wages.
Wage Distortion is still possible under the Salary Ceiling Method.
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Criminal Liability under the RPC for failure to pay in the prescribed form
ARTICLE 288. Other Similar Coercions.
The penalty of arresto mayor or a fine ranging from 200 to 500 pesos, or both, shall be
imposed upon any person who shall pay the wages due a laborer or employee
employed by him, by means of tokens or objects other than the legal tender
currency of the Philippine Islands, unless expressly requested by the laborer or
employee.
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- The employer shall pay the wages immediately after such force majeure or
circumstance/s have ceased.
- No employer shall make payment with less frequency than once a month.
Ex: A was employed as a project employee to paint B’s warehouse for P20,000.00. When should
A be paid?
1. If completed within 2 weeks = 100% upon completion.
2. If not completed within 2 weeks = progress-based payment every 2 weeks, with final
settlement upon completion.
Payment to payroll only once a month = prohibited by the Labor Code, but the Labor Code is also
silent as to the consequences for failing to observe the twice a month payment schedule.
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• The employer may pay the wages of the deceased worker to the heirs of the latter
without the necessity of intestate proceedings.
• An Affidavit of Heirs is required by the Labor Code, attesting to the heirs’ relationship
to the employee and the fact that they are his heirs to the exclusion of all other persons.
o If heir is minor, affidavit shall be executed in his behalf by his natural guardian
or next of kin.
o Upon presentation of the affidavit to the employer, he shall make payment to
the heirs as representative of the Secretary of Labor and Employment. (Sec 6,
Rule VIII, Book III, Labor Code IRR)
3. Where the employer is authorized in writing by the employee to pay his wages to a
member of his family
- Sec. 5, Rule VIII, Book III, IRR of Labor Code)
4. When employer is authorized by existing law to pay the wages to other than the employee.
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*facilities could be merchandise, commodities, or other property from the employer, since the
value of the facilities may be deducted from the wages of the employee, it would be as if the
employee purchases the facilities from the employer.
Would facilities be violative of this rule?
- NO. The rule on Deductibility of facilities requires the agreement of the employee and the
employer; no force or compulsion in facilities
- The prohibition is against forcing, compelling, or obliging.
- Harmonization with the provision of the RPC (Art. 288) and the provision on facilities.
o The facilities and their deductibility are explicitly recognized by law
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- The compensation shall take place when two persons are creditors and debtors of each
other in their own right.
- Art. 1278, in relation to Art. 1706 of the CC and Art. 113[c] of the LC
Milan v. NLRC
- SC recognized the validity of clearance requirements
- ER may require clearance before the release of an employee’s last pay.
- Under Art. 1706 of CC, an outstanding debt to the employer is sufficient reason to
withhold last pay.
- For purposes of set-off, “debt” refers to any obligation due from the employee to the
employer. It includes any accountability that the employee may have to the employer.
There is no reason to limit its scope to uniforms and equipment.
- Withholding of payment by the employer does not mean that the employer may renege
on its obligation to pay employees their wages, termination payments, and due benefits.
- The employees’ benefits are also not being reduced. Benefits may still be claimed in full,
- It is only subjected to the condition that the employees return properties property
belonging to the employer.
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DOLE LA 11-14: No other deductions or cash deposits or bonds shall be required by the employer
without the express authorization of the Secretary of Labor through advisory or guidelines.
Other Prohibitions
ARTICLE 117. Deduction to ensure employment. — It shall be unlawful to make any deduction
from the wages of any employee for the benefit of the employer or his representative or
intermediary as consideration of a promise of employment or retention in employment.
ARTICLE 118. Retaliatory measures. — It shall be unlawful for an employer to refuse to pay or
reduce the wages and benefits, discharge or in any manner discriminate against any employee
who has filed any complaint or instituted any proceeding under this Title or has testified or is about
to testify in such proceedings.
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ARTICLE 119. False reporting. — It shall be unlawful for any person to make any statement,
report or record filed or kept pursuant to the provisions of this Code knowing such statement,
report or record to be false in any material respect
*Though the aforementioned acts are inappropriate per se, it is explicitly stated to allow
employees to cite an explicit provision of law against the employer, which will settle the matter
conclusively right away.
It is also important because of the word “unlawful” makes it a potential criminal act under Art. 303
of the LC, giving rise to a criminal action by the employee.
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*Gray area to consider as reasonable time, considering the Sevilla and Supreme Steel cases
is 1-2 years
**Whether or not a practice can be considered as already been done for a considerable period
of time from a period of at least 1-2 years would depend on the circumstances of each case
(i.e. how many times has the benefit been given for the said period of time?)
1. Where the elimination or diminution is made with the consent of the employee.
• Basis of this rule is the benefit is granted to employees pursuant to an express policy,
a written contract or a company practice, if those benefits are rights.
o Rights may be waived by a person xxx (Art. 6, NCC)
o Waiver applies not only to employees, but also to labor unions in a CBA
o Insular Hotel Employees Union v Waterfront Insular Hotel Davao
▪ SC: Art 100 does not prohibit a union from offering and agreeing to
reduce wages and benefits of the employees. The validity of an
elimination of diminution of a benefit with the consent of the employee
is further confirmed by the fact that the prohibition applies only to
unilateral elimination or diminution by employers, and not when the
same is bilateral
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4. Where the benefit to be eliminated or diminished does not come from an express policy,
a written contract, or a company practice.
• Situations where the SC said that the non-diminution principle arises from
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Will the workers get paid? How will all the debtors (the company, the government, the workers)
get paid given that the total assets are less than the total debts?
- In the event of bankruptcy or liquidation of an employer’s business, his workers shall
enjoy first preference as regards their wages and other monetary claims.
- Any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding.
- Such unpaid wages and monetary claims shall be paid in full before the claims of the
government and other creditors may be paid.
o The old IRR used to say that there must be a declaration of bankruptcy and that
there must be judicial liquidation.
o DBP v. NLRC case (1990)
▪ The terms declaration of bankruptcy and judicial liquidation have been
eliminated from the IRR following the amendment introduced by R.A.
6715 to the Labor Code
▪ SC considered whether the deletion of the words declaration and judicial
meant that liquidation proceedings have been done away with in order for
Art. 110 to apply.
▪ “It is quite clear from the provisions that a declaration of bankruptcy or a
judicial liquidation must be present before the worker’s preference may be
enforced.”
▪ Because of the impact on the entire system of credit, Art. 110 of the Labor
Code cannot be viewed in isolation must be read in relation to the Civil
Code scheme on classification and preference of credit, in the same way
that the Civil Code provisions on classification of credit and insolvency law
have been brought into harmony so also must the kindred provisions of the
Labor Code be harmonized with those laws.
▪ In the event of insolvency, a principal objective is to effect an equitable
distribution of the insolvent’s property among its creditors
▪ There must be proceeding where notice to all its creditors may be
given and here the claims of preferred creditors may be bindingly
adjudicated
o If there is no proceeding/declaration of bankruptcy or no
judicial liquidation, it would be a free-for-all. The first creditor
who can grab whatever asset he could grab would most
probably get paid its debt in the entirety
o On the other hand, the creditors who arrive later might see
that their credits will not get fully paid because the other
creditors have already used up or have gotten the assets of
the debtor-employer.
o There should be a court-directed proceeding where all the
assets will be accounted for and all the debts will be
accounted for, all the creditors will be notified, and there will
be an orderly and equitable distribution of the remaining
assets
- Bankruptcy: inability to pay the outstanding debts.
o May potentially lead to liquidation of the business
- Liquidation: process of turning assets into cash.
Does this mean that workers will get paid ahead of the State and all other creditors?
- Art. 110 of the Labor Code: “first preference”, “workers will get paid in full before the
Government or other creditors”
o A need to harmonize Labor Code provisions with Civil Code provisions
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▪ The following claims, mortgages and liens shall be preferred, and shall
constitute an encumbrance on the immovable or real right:
1. Taxes due upon the land or building;
2. xxx;
3. Claims of laborers, masons, mechanics and other workmen, as
well as of architects, engineers and contractors, engaged in
the construction, reconstruction or repair of buildings, canals
or other works, upon said buildings, canals or other works;
➢ Illustration under Example 1.1 (claims for laborers’ wages) does
NOT apply because the claims of unpaid wages of laborers in
this situation apply only with respect to the inventory. They only
made the inventory, they did not perform work on the real
property.
4. xxx;
5. Mortgage credits recorded in the Registry of Property, upon
the real estate mortgaged;
6. xxx…
▪ Applying to the earlier example (Example 1.1; refer to corresponding
colors)
Employer has the following assets:
o Art. 2243
▪ Claims enumerated in 2241 and 2242 shall be considered as liens. Duties,
taxes, and fees due upon specific movable or immovable property shall
be first satisfied.
▪ This places the government at the top of the list.
o Art. 2244
▪ Enumerates ordinary preferred credits.
▪ Refers to all other properties in general
▪ With reference to other property, real and personal, of the debtor, the
following claims or credits shall be preferred in the order named:
1. Proper funeral expenses for the debtor, or children under his or her
parental authority who have no property of their own, when
approved by the court;
2. Credits for services rendered the insolvent by employees.
Laborers, or household helpers for one year preceding the
commencement of the proceedings in insolvency;
3. Expenses during the last illness of the debtor or of his or her spouse
and children under his or her parental authority, if they have no
property of their own;
4. Compensation due the laborers or their dependents under
laws providing for indemnity for damages in cases of labor
accident, or illness resulting from the nature of the employment;
5. until 14. xxx…
- Summary of the Scheme under the Civil Code
1. Taxes under Arts. 2242-2242
2. Preferred liens under Arts. 2242 and 2242, if there are specific properties.
3. Only after the specially preferred claims under # and #2 are satisfied may the
ordinary preferred claims enumerated under Art. 2244 be paid.
o Applied to the earlier example (Example 1.1; refer to the corresponding colors
Employer has the following assets:
***The bank, with respect to the vehicles would be paid P50M, so it loses
P10M
***The bank also loses P200M on its loan secured by the REM on the land
and the building.
***The laborers will lose 85% (P85M) of their unpaid wages.
- Claims of separation pay for months worked prior to the commencement date shall be
considered a pre-commencement claim.
o They will be lumped together with all the other claims. They will still be paid if
rehabilitation is successful
o Part of rehab plan would include a schedule of payment of debts
- Claims for salary and separation pay for work performed after the commencement date
shall be an administrative expense.
o This also shall continue to be paid notwithstanding the Stay Order
Does this mean that a lawyer may only charge his client a maximum of 10% for every case of
unlawful withholding of wages?
- NO. The limit under Article 111 applies only to attorney’s fees in the concept of damages
under Article 2208 of the Civil Code.
- It does not refer to the compensation or payment due to the lawyer payable by the client.
Exclusions
The following employers are not covered (therefore, as well as its employees), are NOT covered:
1. The government;
2. Employers who are already paying their employees 13th month pay or more in a calendar
year or its equivalent at the time of the issuance of P.D. 851 (13th Month Pay Law)
- “or its equivalent” includes Christmas bonus, midyear bonus, cash bonuses, and
other payments amounting t not less than 1/12 of the basic salary
- It shall not include cash and stock dividends, cost of living allowances, and other
allowances regularly enjoyed by the employee, as well as non-monetary benefits
- Where the employer pays less than the required 1/12 of the employee’s basic
salary, the employer shall pay the difference.
3. Persons in the personal service of another in relation to such workers (but kasambahays
are entitled to 13th month pay); and
4. Employers of those paid on purely commission, boundary or task basis, and those who
are paid a fixed amount for performing specific work, irrespective of the time consumed in
the performance thereof, except where the workers are paid on a piece-rate basis in which
case the employer shall grant the required 13th month pay to such workers.
Time of Payment
- Not later than December 24
o In practice, companies give the 13th month pay way ahead, because it is meant to
give additional money for the celebration of the holidays.
o ½ may be given before the opening of the regular school year and the remaining
half on or before December 24
▪ The first half usually meant to help the workers in the payment of tuition of
their child/ren
13th month pay is not necessarily 1 month’s pay
Total basic salary earned during the year = proportionate 13th month pay
12 months
- It may lead to the payment of one month’s pay if the employee has perfect attendance or
at least, his absences were with pay; if he was absent without leave or leave without pay,
his basic salary shall be reduced, hence, his 13th month pay would go below his usual 1
month.
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Basic salary
- All remuneration or earnings paid for services rendered
- Unless included by agreement, policy, or practice, it does not include:
o COLA
o Profit sharing payments
o Cash equivalent of unused vacation leave/sick leave
o Overtime pay – already a premium pay
o Premium pay
o Night Shift Differential
o Holiday Pay
o Other payments not considered or integrated as part of the regular or basic salary
of the employee.
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HOURS OF WORK
Minimum Wage in NCR as per Wage Order No. 22:
P537.00 per 8 hours of work or P67.125 per hour of work (for non-ariculture)
When is an employee considered working?
What if an employee works for more than 8 hours?
What if an employee works at night?
COVERAGE
GR: All employees in all establishments are covered by the rules on hours of work
XPNs:
1. Government employees
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2. Managerial employees
o SC: LA and NLRC lost sight of the definition of the continuation of the definition
under Art. 82
o The phrase “and to other officers or members of the managerial staff”
could refer to supervisory employees.
***refer to definition of managerial employees in II, Rules I-V, page 2
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3. Field employees
- The rules are essentially the same across the different benefits (Rules I-V), with the
exception of service charges
o Field personnel are excluded from the coverage of those Rules (I-V), except
for service charges where only managerial employees are excluded.
the standards prescribed under the Implementing Rules or where those rates
are not fixed by the Secretary of Labor
- With respect to night shift differential and service incentive leave, they are entitled if
they are supervised by the employer.
- With respect to holiday pay, by explicit provision of the rules, they are entitled.
5. Members of the family of the employer who are dependent on him for support
- Not entitled to any of the benefits (HoW, NSD, WRP, Holidays with Pay, SIL, SC)
- Mainly because their support is dependent on the employer itself
Excluded establishments
How many hours per day may an employee be required to work? What time may they be required
to work?
Brief history
- Came as a result of 150-year struggle by generations of working people all over the world.
- The first workplaces were agricultural fields, where people would be made to work as long
as there was light, or from sunrise to sunset.
- When work shifted to factories during the industrial revolution, employers demanded a
similar work shift for men, women, and children. It became even longer when artificial
lighting became widespread.
- In Britain, when labor began to push back, unions first popularized the slogan “Eight hours
labor, eight hours recreation, eight hours rest”
What about time reduction? Can the number of hors of work be reduced by an employer?
Linton Commercial Co., Inc. v. Hellera (2007)
- Financial losses must be shown before a company can validly opt to reduce the
work hours of its employees.
o The employees would suffer a reduction in pay if their work hours are
unilaterally reduced by the employer
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- Work hours per day may still exceed 12 hours but the excess would already be
subject to payment of overtime premium.
- Coverage:
o May be used in all establishments, except
1. In the construction industry
2. In health services
3. In occupations requiring heavy manual labor; or
4. In occupations or workplaces in which workers are exposed to:
• Airborne contaminants;
• Human carcinogens;
• Substances;
• Chemicals; or
• Noise
*that exceed threshold limit values or tolerance levels for an
8-hour workday as prescribed under existing Occupational
Safety and Health Standards (OSHS).
HOURS WORKED
Hours worked = compensable time
a) Time employee is required to be on duty or to be at a prescribed workplace. (Art. 84)
b) Time employee is required to give his employer, whether or not spent in productive labor
or involve physical or mental exertion. (IRR)
- As long as the time is required by the employer from the employee, regardless of
what the employee is actually doing is still considered compensable time.
c) Time employer is suffered or permitted to work (Art. 84)
d) Short rest periods (5 to 20 minutes) during working hours. (Art. 84)
e) If the worked performed was
- Necessary; or
- Benefited the employer; or
- The employee could not abandon his work at the end of his normal working hours
because he had no replacement.
…then it is considered as hours worked, if the work was with the knowledge of
his employer or immediate superior.
Ex: Security guards working on shifts
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f) Work interruptions beyond employer’s control shall be considered working time either
- If the imminence of the resumption of work requires the employee’s presence at
the place of work; or
- If the interval is too brief to be utilized effectively and gainfully in the employee’s
own interest.
An employee who is required to be on call shall be considered as working while on call if:
- In the employer’s premises; or
- So close thereto that he cannot use the time effectively and gainfully for his own
purpose.
*While one is on call, he is not actually rendering any action or work for the
employer, unless employer is under the above situations
NOT HOURS WORKED
- An employee who is not required to leave word
o At his home; or
o With company officials
…where he may be reach is not working while on call
Union of Sual Power Plant Employees (USPPE) v. Team Sual Corp. (2016)
- Employees were required to keep their cellphone on for 24 hours a day.
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- Should employees be compensated for that entire duration that they were required
to keep their cellphones on for them to be reachable?
- SC: “On call” time of employees was not considered compensable because of:
1. They were not deprived of the time to attend to their personal pursuits;
2. Their physical presence were not required in the employer’s premises;
and
3. No disciplinary sanction for failure to report after being contacted or
reached.
- Pursuant to the on call agreement between the employer and the employees, if the
on-call employee was not available, all he has to do is inform his supervisor so that
another on call employee could take its place.
An employee need not leave the premises of the workplace in order that his rest period shall
not be counted, it being enough that:
- He stops working;
- May rest completely; and
- May leave his workplace, to go elsewhere, whether within or outside the premises
of his workplace.
TRAVEL TIME
Travel from home to work
GR: Travel from home to work and vice versa is not compensable.
Regular workday = 8am to 5pm
Home to work travel = 6am to 7:30am; not compensable
Work to home travel = 5:01pm to 8pm; not compensable
XPN: If called back at 8:30pm, all travel time (home to work and work to home) is
compensable.
Travel that is all in the day’s work is typically travel from worksite to worksite
GR: Travel from jobsite to jobsite during workdays is compensable
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Travel from main workplace (5pm) to jobsite A (6pm) to jobsite B (7pm) to jobsite C (8pm)
to main workplace (9pm) is compensable.
But, if instead of travelling back to main workplace, employee decides to go home
from jobsite C, travel time from 8pm is no longer compensable, because it would already
fall under the category of work to home travel.
Travel away from home is travel that keeps an employee away from home overnight.
GR: Only the time that cuts across the typical working hours of the employee will be
considered as compensable.
Employee who typically works from 8am-5pm travelled away from home from
7am to 7pm
7am to 7:59am = Not compensable
8am to 12pm; 1:01pm to 5pm = Compensable
12:01pm to 1pm = Not compensable (meal period; not compensable)
All work required while travelling is compensable
CBA NEGOTIATIONS
GR: NOT compensable
XPNs: Compensable under:
1. Company policy or practice
2. CBA stipulation
3. Employer agrees
STRIKES
GR: NOT compensable
XPNs: Compensable if
1. Company practice;
2. Policy; or
3. CBA stipulation
MEAL PERIOD
ARTICLE 85. Subject to such regulations as the Secretary of Labor may prescribe, it shall be the
duty of every employer to give his employees not less than 60 minutes time-off for their regular
meals.
GR: meal periods must be at least 60 minutes = NOT hours worked
XPNs:
1. Work is non-manual or does not involve strenuous physical exertion;
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Provided it cannot be less than 20 minutes and that the entire meal period shall be
considered hours worked.
May an employer change a 30-minute compensable lunch break back to 1 hour non
compensable lunch break?
Sime Darby Pilipinas, Inc. v. NLRC (1998)
- YES
- With the new work schedule, the employees are now given a one-hour lunch break
without interruption from their employer. For a full one-hour undisturbed lunch
break, the employees can freely and effectively use this hour not only for eating
but also for their rest and comfort which are conducive to more efficiency and better
performance in their work. Since the employees are no longer required to work
during this one-hour break, there is no more need for them to be compensated for
this period.
May an employer change a 1-hour compensable lunch break to a 1-hour NON compensable
lunch break?
- NO
- It would violate the prohibition against diminution of benefits
- The employer is not required to compensate a 1-hour lunch break. The fact that it
compensates the 1-hour lunch break means it voluntarily accorded a benefit to its
employees.
o That benefit was vested and may no longer be unilaterally withdrawn by
the employer.
Pan American World Airways System v. Pan American Employees Association (1961)
- SC: 1-hour meal period was still considered compensable.
1. The mechanics were still required to stand by for emergency work;
2. They were reprimanded if they were not available when called;
3. The mechanics had been called from their meals or told to hurry up eating
to perform work during this period.
- The meal hour was not one of complete rest, but was a work hour, since, for
its duration, the laborers had to be on ready call.
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OVERTIME WORK
ARTICLE 87. Overtime work. Work may be performed beyond eight (8) hours a day provided
that the employee is paid for the overtime work, an additional compensation equivalent to his
regular wage plus at least twenty-five percent (25%) thereof. Work performed beyond eight hours
on a holiday or rest day shall be paid an additional compensation equivalent to the rate of the first
eight hours on a holiday or rest day plus at least thirty percent (30%) thereof.
“Work day”
- “Day” = a work of 24 consecutive hours beginning at the same time each calendar
day
- “Day” is not necessarily calendar day
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Permission given to the employee to go on leave on some other day of the week shall not
exempt the employer from paying the additional compensation required in this Chapter
(Hours of Work)
- Applicable to rest days and holidays too
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BUILT-IN OT PAY
Pesala v. NLRC (1996)
- Whether or not an employee is entitled to OT pay for work rendered in excess of
8 hours a day given the fact that his employment contract specified a 12-hour
workday at a fixed monthly salary rate that is above the legal minimum wage.
- Employment contract provided for amonthly salary of P1,990 and 12 hours of work
a day
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Key differences
- Work for more than 5 days a week already OT even if it does not exceed 8 hours.
- Work for more than 40 hours a week already OT even if it does not exceed 8 hours
a day.
- OT premium is 30% (instead of just 25%).
Work Week
- A "week" shall mean the work of 168 consecutive hours, or seven consecutive
24-hour workdays, beginning at the same hour and on the same calendar day each
calendar week.
Coverage
This Rule shall apply to:
a) All hospitals and clinics, including those with a bed capacity of less than one hundred
(100) which are situated in cities or municipalities with a population of one million or more
(as determined by the latest census) (regardless of bed capacity); and
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b) All hospitals and clinics with a bed capacity (not actual occupancy) of at least one hundred
(100), irrespective of the size of the population of the city or municipality where they may
be situated. (regardless of area population)
Hospitals or clinics
- a place devoted primarily to the maintenance and operation of facilities for the
diagnosis, treatment and care of individuals suffering from illness, disease,
injury, or deformity, or in need of obstetrical or other medical and nursing care.
- Either term shall also be construed as any institution, building, or place where there
are installed beds, or cribs, or bassinets for twenty-four (24) hours use or longer
by patients in the treatment of disease, injuries, deformities, or abnormal physical
and mental states, maternity cases or sanitorial care; or infirmaries, nurseries,
dispensaries, and such other similar names by which they may be designated.
o Lying-in clinics or “paanakan” are included in the definition of hospital or
clinics for purposes of special rules on hospital workers, assuming they fall
within the coverage rules in terms of bed capacity or area population.
Covered Personnel
- all persons employed by any private or public hospital or clinic
- including, but not limited to:
o resident physicians,
o nurses,
o nutritionists,
o dieticians,
o pharmacists,
o social workers,
o laboratory technicians
o paramedical technicians,
o psychologists,
o midwives, and
o attendants.
- Enumeration is not exclusive
REST DAY
ARTICLE 91. Right to weekly rest day.
a) It shall be the duty of every employer, whether operating for profit or not, to provide each
of his employees a rest period of not less than twenty-four (24) consecutive hours after
every six (6) consecutive normal work days.
b) The employer shall determine and schedule the weekly rest day of his employees, subject
to collective bargaining agreement and to such rules and regulations as the Secretary of
Labor may provide. However, the employer shall respect the preference of employees as
to their weekly rest day when such preference is based on religious grounds.
Rest day = 24 hours every 6 days
- It shall be the duty of every employer, whether operating for profit or not, to provide each
of his employees a rest period of not less than twenty-four (24) consecutive hours after
every six (6) consecutive normal work days.
What is a normal work day?
ARTICLE 83. Normal hours of work. The normal hours of work of any employee shall not exceed
eight (8) hours a day.
- Not necessarily a calendar day
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Not accurate because the Saturday workday (starting 8am) does not end at Sunday midnight.
Instead, it continues until 7:59am of Sunday. 12mn to 7:59am of Sunday is not a part of the rest
day but is still a part of the Saturday work day. The employee’s rest day would be from 8am of
Sunday to 7:59am of the following Monday
The distinction is important because covered employees rendering work on a rest day is entitled
to a rest day premium.
If one follows the notion that the whole Sunday is the rest day of an employee with a 6-day work
week, the employer will be overpaying. Also, if one follows the notion that the work rendered
from 12mn to 7:59pm of Monday is considered part of an ordinary work day, the employee will
be underpaid.
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Are managerial employees (and other excluded employees) entitled to a rest day?
YES, even managerial employees are entitled to a rest day, from a reading of Art. 91
ARTICLE 91. Right to weekly rest day.
a) It shall be the duty of every employer, whether operating for profit or not, to provide
each of his employees a rest period of not less than twenty-four (24) consecutive
hours after every six (6) consecutive normal work days.
b) Xxx
o A & B are cumulative requirements before the XPN to the XPN can apply.
o When both conditions are present, the employer may so schedule the weekly rest
day of his choice for at least two (2) days in a month.
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When employer may require work on a rest day. (Under the IRR)
The employer may require his employees to work on any day:
a) In case of actual or impending emergencies caused by serious accidents, fire, flood,
typhoon, earthquake, epidemic or other disaster or calamity to prevent loss of life and
property, or in cases of force majeure or imminent danger to public safety;
b) In cases of urgent work to be performed on the machinery, equipment, or installation, to
avoid serious loss which the employer would otherwise suffer;
o Same with the circumstance when overtime work may be required.
o Rialda case: SC considered the necessity of meeting a production deadline to eb
a valid ground to require compulsory overtime work; such reason may also justify
the rendering of compulsory work on rest day
c) In the event of abnormal pressure of work due to special circumstances, where the
employer cannot ordinarily be expected to resort to other measures;
d) To prevent serious loss of or damage to perishable goods;
o Instead of ordinary loss, it must be serious.
o There must be loss and not just damage.
e) Where the nature of the work is such that the employees have to work continuously for
seven (7) days in a week or more, as in the case of the crew members of a vessel to
complete a voyage and in other similar cases requires continuous operations and the
stoppage of work may result in irreparable injury or loss to the employer;
o These changes have effectively clarified and limited the meaning of continuing
operations to work continuously for 7 days in a week or more.
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Special Days (per E.O. 292, as amended) Special Days for 2020 (per Proclamation 845)
• Ninoy Aquino day (Monday nearest • Chinese New Year (January 25)
August 21) • EDSA People Power Revolution
• All Saints Day (November 1) (February 25)
• Last Day of the Year (December 31) • Black Saturday (April 11)
• Ninoy Aquino Day (August 21)
• All Saints Day (November 1)
• Feast of the Immaculate Concepcion of
Mary (December 8, per R.A. 10966)
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HOLIDAY PAY
Regular Holidays
Special Days Regular Holidays
If unworked = no pay If unworked = 100%
If worked = 130% If worked = 200%
COLA is not included in the computation COLA is included
Summary
- If holiday is worked = 200%
- If holiday is unworked:
o Immediately preceding workday (IPWD) is worked or paid leave = 100%
o Immediately preceding Holiday is worked = 100%
o IPWD is unpaid leave or absence = 0
Simultaneous Holidays
- e.g. Araw ng Kagitingan and Maundy Thursday this 2020.
- Unworked = 200%
- Worked = 300%
- Asian Transmission Corporation v. Court of Appeals, et.al.
o SC: since the workers are entitled to 10, now 12 paid regular holidays, the fact that
2 holidays fall on the same date should not operate to reduce the holiday pay
Seasonal Workers
- NOT PAID during off-season when they are not at work.
o Their employment relationship is deemed to be suspended during the off-season
for seasonal workers
Whether the monthly salaries of monthly paid employees already include the payment of holiday
pay
- If included: no obligation to pay the 100% holiday pay. If worked: additional 100% holiday
premium
- If not included: if a holiday falls in a month, they should be paid 100% if unworked and
200% if worked
How do we know if the monthly salary already includes payment of the holiday pay?
Union of Filipro Emplyees v. Vivar
- The divisor (“x”) assumes an important role in determining whether or not holiday pay is
- already included in the monthly paid employee's salary and in the computation of his
daily rate. (
- Formula to compute daily rate of employees uniformly paid by the month
([Monthly rate] x [12 months])/x = daily rate
If divisor (x)is:
365 = paid for all the days of the year; holidays already paid
If divisor (x) for a 5-day workweek:
261 = holidays are paid (261 is 365 less 104 Saturdays and Sundays)
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249 = holidays are unpaid (365 less 104 Sat and Sun; less 12 Holidays).
If divisor (x) for a 6-day workweek:
313 = holidays are paid (365 less 52 Sundays)
301 = holidays are unpaid (365 less 52 Sundays; less 12 hlidays)
Muslim Holidays
- Muslims outside of Muslim areas are entitled to Muslim holiday pay during Muslim
holidays.
- Non-Muslims in Muslim areas are also entitled to Muslim holiday pay during Muslim
holidays. Monthly-paid employees.
Provinces where Muslim holidays are Cities where Muslim holidays are officially
officially observed observed
• Basilan, Cotabato
• Lanao del Norte, • Iligan
• Lanao del Sur, • Marawi
• Maguindanao, • Pagadian
• North Cotabato, • Zamboanga
• Sultan Kudarat, • and in such other Muslim provinces and cities
• Sulu, as may hereafter be created. (Art. 170, PD
• Tawi-Tawi, 1083)
• Zamboanga del Norte
• Zamboanga del Sur
b) This provision shall not apply to those who are already enjoying the benefit herein
provided, those enjoying vacation leave with pay of at least five days and those employed
in establishments regularly employing less than ten employees or in establishments
exempted from granting this benefit by the Secretary of Labor after considering the viability
or financial condition of such establishment.
c) The grant of benefit in excess of that provided herein shall not be made a subject of
arbitration or any court of administrative action.
Coverage
- Same inclusions and exclusions except for:
o Those who are already enjoying the benefit herein provided;
o Those enjoying vacation leave with pay of at least five days; and
o Those employed in establishments regularly employing less than ten employees.
- Supervised piece rate workers are entitled to SIL.
Furthermore, if the employee entitled to SIL does not use or commute the
same, he is entitled upon his resignation or separation from work to the
commutation of his accrued service incentive leave
- In computing, the basis shall be the salary rate at the date of conversion.
The use and conversion of this benefit may be on a pro rata basis.
Pro Rata Use and Conversion
An employee was hired on 1 January 2000 and resigned on 1 March 2001. Assuming
he/she has not used or commuted any of his/her accrued SIL, he/she is entitled to the
conversion of his/her accrued SIL, upon his/her resignation, as follows:
SIL earned as of 31 December 2000 5 days
Proportionate SIL for Jan-Feb 2001 (2/12)x 5 days 0.833 day
Total accrued SIL as of 1 March 2001 5.833 days
OTHER LEAVES
- Maternity Leave (105 days for normal deliveries/120 days for Caesarian deliveries with full
pay; plus 30 days extension without pay)
o Old Law: 60 days/78 days; the mother will only get the benefits from the SSS.
Employer. has no obligation to pay the mother employee
o New Law: Employer is supposed to pay out the whole salary due to the employee.
However, the employer may obtain reimbursement from the SSS to the extent of
the benefits originally granted by the law.
- Paternity Leave (7 days = 7 days allocated maternity leave)
- Solo Parent’s Leave (7 working days)
- VAWC Leave (10 days)
- Special leave benefits for women (up to 2 months)
PATERNITY LEAVE
- Every married male employee in the private sector shall be entitled to paternity leave
benefits of seven (7) days with full pay for the first four deliveries by his lawful spouse
under subject to the following conditions:
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“Cohabiting”
- GR: For purposes of the PL, "cohabiting" means the obligation of the husband and wife to
live together.
- XPN: If the spouses are not physically living together because of the workstation or
occupation, the male employee is still entitled to the paternity leave benefit.
- Pursuant to 2020 Handbook on Workers’ Statutory Monetary Benefits
VAWC LEAVE
- Medical and legal concerns of the victim-employee.
- In addition to other paid leaves under existing labor laws, company policies, and/or
collective bargaining agreements, the qualified victim-employee shall be entitled to a leave
of up to ten (10) days with full pay, consisting of basic salary and mandatory allowances
fixed by the Regional Wage Board, if any.
- The said leave shall be extended when the need arises, as specified in the protection
order issued by the barangay or the court.
ADOPTIVE PARENTS
- Adoptive parents shall, with respect to the adopted child, enoy all the benefits to which
biological parents are entitled.
- Maternity and paternity benefits and other benefits given to biological parents upon the
birth of a child shall be enjoyed if the adoptee is below 7 as of the placement date
through the Pre-Adoptive Placement Authority issued by the DSWD.
- Pursuant to Rules and Regulations to Implement the Domestic Adoption Act of 1988, IRR
of R.A. 8552 (December 8, 1998)
Covered employers
- This rule shall apply only to establishments collecting service charges such as hotels,
restaurants, lodging houses, night clubs, cocktail lounge, massage clinics, bars, casinos
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and gambling houses, and similar enterprises, including those entities operating primarily
as private subsidiaries of the Government.
- This rule shall apply to all employees of covered employers, regardless of their positions,
designations or employment status, and irrespective of the method by which their wages
are paid except to managerial employees.
o "managerial employee" shall mean one who is vested with powers or prerogatives
to lay down and execute management policies and/or to hire, transfer, suspend,
lay-off, recall, discharge, assign, or discipline employees or to effectively
recommend such managerial actions. All employees not falling within this definition
shall be considered rank-and-file employees.
Tips
- Where a restaurant or similar establishment does not collect service charges but has a
practice or policy of monitoring and pooling tips given voluntarily by its customers to its
employees, the pooled tips should be monitored, accounted, and distributed in the same
manner as the service charges.
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WOMEN EMPLOYEES
- Entitled to all the rights and benefits that male employees are entitled to, unless they fall
under any of the excluded groups of employees (i.e. managerial employees, where
exclusion would not be on account of their gender, but because of their status)
- Entitled to all labor standard, plus:
o Facilities for women
o Family planning services
o Maternity leaves
o No discrimination
o No stipulation against marriage
o Additional prohibitions
FACILITIES
ARTICLE 132. Facilities for women. The Secretary of Labor and Employment shall establish
standards that will ensure the safety and health of women employees. In appropriate cases, he
shall, by regulations, require any employer to:
a. Provide seats proper for women and permit them to use such seats when they are free
from work and during working hours, provided they can perform their duties in this position
without detriment to efficiency;
b. To establish separate toilet rooms and lavatories for men and women and provide at
least a dressing room for women;
c. To establish a nursery in a workplace for the benefit of the women employees therein;
and
d. To determine appropriate minimum age and other standards for retirement or
termination in special occupations such as those of flight attendants and the like.
*NOT a self-executing provision, unless there is a corresponding issuance from the DOLE
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Breastfeeding Act
- Employers are required to provide lactation stations
o private, clean, sanitary, and well-ventilated rooms or areas in the workplace or
public places where nursing mothers can wash up, breastfeed or express their milk
comfortably and store this afterwards.
o In no case shall the lactation stations be located in a toilet.
o A private establishment may apply for an exemption to establish a lactation station
at the DOLE Regional Office having jurisdiction over them
o An application for exemption may be granted upon determination whether the
establishment of a lactation station is not feasible or necessary due to the peculiar
circumstances of the workplace, taking into account the number of women
employees, the physical size of the establishment, and the average number of
women who will use the facility.
- Nursing employees are also entitled to lactation breaks.
o Minimum of 40 mins/day
o Usually 2-3 breaks of 15-30 minutes each, considered as compensable time
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MATERNITY LEAVE
Maternity Leave under Previous Laws
- Labor Code = at least 6 weeks of maternity leave with full pay
- SSS Law = 60 days (normal/miscarriage); 78 days (caesarian) of average daily salary
credit (not full pay); advanced by the employer but subject to reimbursement from SSS
*Article 135 is consistent with the Declaration of Policy under Article 3, where the State shall
ensure equal work opportunities regardless of sex.
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- Whether the policy of the employer banning spouses from working in the same company
violates the rights of the employee under the Constitution and the Labor Code or is a valid
exercise of management prerogative.
o The answer to such issue is hinger on whether or not the policy stated a Bona Fide
Occupational Qualification (BOFQ)
- Bona Fide Occupational Qualification (BOFQ)
o There must be a compelling business necessity for which no alternative exists
other than the discriminatory practice.
o To justify a bona fide occupational qualification, the employer must prove two
factors:
▪ that the employment qualification is reasonably related to the essential
operation of the job involved; and,
▪ that there is a factual basis for believing that all or substantially all persons
meeting the qualification would be unable to properly perform the du*es of
the job.
- SC: There is no BOFQ
- Petitioners failed to show how the marriage of Simbol, then a Sheeting Machine Operator,
to Alma Dayrit, then an employee of the Repacking Section, could be detrimental to its
business operations.
- Neither did petitioners explain how this detriment will happen in the case of Wilfreda
Comia, then a Production Helper in the Selecting Department, who married Howard
Comia, then a helper in the cutter-machine.
- The policy is premised on the mere fear that employees married to each other will be less
efficient. If we uphold the questioned rule without valid justification, the employer can
create policies based on an unproven presumption of a perceived danger at the expense
of an employee's right to security of tenure.
- People, especially the riding public, expect no less than that airline companies transport
their passengers to their respective destinations safely and soundly. A lesser performance
is unacceptable.
- The task of a cabin crew or flight attendant is not limited to serving meals or attending to
the whims and caprices of the passengers.
- The most important activity of the cabin crew is to care for the safety of passengers and
the evacuation of the air cab when an emergency occurs.
- Passenger safety goes to the core of the job of a cabin attendant. Truly, airlines need
cabin attendants who have the necessary strength to open emergency doors, the agility
to attend to passengers in cramped working conditions, and the stamina to withstand
grueling flight schedules.
- SC: We do not lose sight of the reality that pregnancy does present physical limitations
that may render difficult the performance of functions associated with being a flight
attendant.
- Nevertheless, it would be the height of iniquity to view pregnancy as a disability so
permanent and immutable that, it must entail the termination of one's employment.
- We fail to appreciate how pregnancy could be such an impairing occurrence that it leaves
no other recourse but the complete termination of the means through which a woman
earns a living.
a. The sexual favor is made as a condition in the hiring or in the employment, re-
employment or continued employment of said individual, or in gran-ng said
individual favorable compensation, terms, conditions, promotions, or privileges; or
the refusal to grant the sexual favor results in limiting, segregating or classifying
the employee which in any way would discriminate, deprive or diminish
employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect said employee;
b. The above acts would impair the employee's rights or privileges under existing
labor laws; or
c. The above acts would result in an intimidating, hostile, or offensive
environment for the employee.
How did the SC determine in the Domingo case that the acts were intimidating and hostile?
- The acts of Rayala generated an intimidating and hostile environment for Domingo is
clearly shown by [the fact] that Domingo –
o reported the matter to an officemate and,
o after the last incident, filed for a leave of absence, and
o requested transfer to another unit.
- RA 7877: If the employer fails to discharge these duties, the employer or head of office
shall be solidarily liable for damages arising from the act of sexual harassment committed
in their employment environment, if the employer or head or office is informed of such act
by the offended party, and no immediate action is taken thereon.
o Immediate action is left to the discretion of the employees. What is important is
that there must be some action done.
- RA 11313: The employer shall be liable for fines up to P15,000.00 for failure to perform
its duties under the law.
ARTICLE 136. Classification of certain women workers. Any woman who is permitted or
suffered to work with or without compensation in any night club, cocktail lounge, massage clinic,
bar or similar establishment, under the effective control or supervision of the employer for a
substantial period of time as determined by the Secretary of Labor and Employment, shall be
considered as an employee of such establishment for purposes of labor and social legislation.
*This article intends to make it clear that these women workers are employees.
- Analyzing the article, it actually places these women at some sort of greater disadvantage.
o Applying the four-fold test, as long as they work under the effective control or
supervision of the employer, they are considered employees from day one.
However, due to the requirement under Article 136 that they shall be employed for
a substantial period of time, they do not become employees immediately, and
requires the lapse of a substantial period of time as determined by the Secretary
of DOLE.
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XPN: It shall not be unlawful for an employer to set age limitations in employment if:
a) Age is a bona fide occupational qualification reasonable necessary in the normal
operation of a particular business, or where the differentiation is based on reasonable
factors other than age; xxx
Bona Fide Occupational Qualification
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- There must be a compelling business necessity for which no alternative exists other
than the discriminatory practice.
- There must really be a need to discriminate against a particular age group.
- Employee must prove two (2) factors:
i. that the employment qualification is reasonable related to the essential
operation of the job involved; and
ii. That there is a factual basis for believing that all or substantially all persons
meeting the qualification would be unable to properly perform the duties
of the job.
Apart from the existence of the exceptions under the IRR of AADA, the employer is required to
submit a report to the DOLE prior to the implementation of the age-based limitations
Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act
(R.A. No. 9231)
- 3 age groups
18 and up
15 to <18
<15
- Pyramid represents the opportunities of work. Those who are 18 and above have more
opportunities of work compared to those in the bottom of the pyramid, who are restricted
from employment.
Hazardous Workplaces
a) Where the nature of the work exposes the workers to dangerous environmental elements,
contaminations or work conditions including ionizing radiations, chemicals, fire, flammable
substances, noxious components and the like.
b) Where the workers are engaged in construction work, logging, firefighting, mining,
quarrying, blasting, stevedoring, dock work, deep-sea fishing and mechanized farming.
c) Where the workers are engaged in the manufacture or handling of explosives and other
pyrotechnic products.
d) Where the workers use or are exposed to heavy or power-driven machinery or equipment.
e) Where the workers use or are exposed to power-driven tools.