Labor Code of the Philippines

Presidential Decree No. 442, AS AMENDED

May 1, 1974

A DECREE INSTITUTING A LABOR CODE THEREBY REVISING AND

CONSOLIDATING LABOR AND SOCIAL LAWS TO AFFORD PROTECTION TO LABOR, PROMOTE
EMPLOYMENT AND HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT AND INSURE INDUSTRIAL PEACE BASED ON
SOCIAL JUSTICE.

PRELIMINARY TITLE

Chapter I
GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Name of Decree. This Decree shall be known as the "Labor Code of the Philippines".

Article 2. Date of effectivity. This Code shall take effect six (6) months after its promulgation.

Declaration of basic policy. The State shall afford protection to labor, promote full
employment, ensure equal work opportunities regardless of sex, race or creed and regulate the
relations between workers and employers. The State shall assure the rights of workers to self-
organization, collective bargaining, security of tenure, and just and humane conditions of work.

Article 4. Construction in favor of labor. All doubts in the implementation and interpretation of the
provisions of this Code, including its implementing rules and regulations, shall be resolved in favor of
labor.

Article 5. Rules and regulations. The Department of Labor and other government agencies charged with
the administration and enforcement of this Code or any of its parts shall promulgate the necessary
implementing rules and regulations. Such rules and regulations shall become effective fifteen (15) days
after announcement of their adoption in newspapers of general circulation.

Article 6. Applicability. All rights and benefits granted to workers under this Code shall, except as may
otherwise be provided herein, apply alike to all workers, whether agricultural or non-agricultural. (As
amended by Presidential Decree No. 570-A, November 1, 1974)

BOOK THREE
CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT
Title I
WORKING CONDITIONS AND REST PERIODS
Chapter I
HOURS OF WORK
Article 82. Coverage. The provisions of this Title shall apply to employees in all establishments and
undertakings whether for profit or not, but not to government employees, managerial employees, field
personnel, members of the family of the employer who are dependent on him for support, domestic
helpers, persons in the personal service of another, and workers who are paid by results as determined
by the Secretary of Labor in appropriate regulations.

Article 83. Normal hours of work. The normal hours of work of any employee shall not exceed eight (8)
hours a day.

Article 84. Hours worked. Hours worked shall include (a) all time during which an employee is
required to be on duty or to be at a prescribed workplace; and (b) all time during which an employee
is suffered or permitted to work.

Rest periods of short duration during working hours shall be counted as hours worked.

Article 85. Meal periods. 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 sixty (60) minutes time-off for their
regular meals.

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.

******EXAMPLE of overtime pay is OVERLOAD PAY:

Overload Pay - DOLE-DECS-CHED-TESDA Order No. 02, Series of 1996 Overload is essentially a
temporary arrangement resorted to when there is no teacher available to teach the subject/course as
part of his regular teaching load. Overload constitutes overtime work and thus entitled to overtime
pay.

Article 88. Undertime not offset by overtime. Undertime work on any particular day shall not be offset
by overtime work on any other day. 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.

Chapter II
WEEKLY REST PERIODS

Article 93. Compensation for rest day, Sunday or holiday work.

Where an employee is made or permitted to work on his scheduled rest day, he shall be paid
an additional compensation of at least thirty percent (30%) of his regular wage. An employee shall be
entitled to such additional compensation for work performed on Sunday only when it is his
established rest day.
 When the nature of the work of the employee is such that he has no regular workdays
and no regular rest days can be scheduled, he shall be paid an additional compensation of at least
thirty percent (30%) of his regular wage for work performed on Sundays and holidays.

Work performed on any special holiday shall be paid an additional compensation of at

least thirty percent (30%) of the regular wage of the employee. Where such holiday work falls on the
employee’s scheduled rest day, he shall be entitled to an additional compensation of at least fifty per
cent (50%) of his regular wage.

Chapter III
HOLIDAYS, SERVICE INCENTIVE LEAVES AND SERVICE CHARGES

Article 94. Right to holiday pay.

Every worker shall be paid his regular daily wage during regular holidays, except in
retail and service establishments regularly employing less than ten (10) workers;

The employer may require an employee to work on any holiday but such employee
shall be paid a compensation equivalent to twice his regular rate; and

As used in this Article, "holiday" includes: New Year’s Day, Maundy Thursday, Good
Friday, the ninth of April, the first of May, the twelfth of June, the fourth of July, the thirtieth of
November, the twenty-fifth and thirtieth of December and the day designated by law for holding a
general election.

****HOLIDAY PAY FOR CERTAIN EMPLOYEES

Private school teachers, including faculty members of colleges and

universities, may not be paid for the regular holidays during semestral vacations. They shall, however,
be paid for the regular holidays during Christmas Vacation;

( Source: Book 3, Rule IV, Section 8, Omnibus Rules to Implement the Labor Code of the Philippines)

WAGES

Chapter III
PAYMENT OF WAGES

Article 102. Forms of payment. No employer shall pay the wages of an employee by means of
promissory notes, vouchers, coupons, tokens, tickets, chits, or any object other than legal tender,
even when expressly requested by the employee.

However, “ payment of wages by bank check, postal checks or money orders is allowed where
such manner of wage payment is customary on the date of the effectively of the (Labor) Code, where it
is stipulated in a collective agreement, or where all of the following conditions are met:
1) There is a bank or other facility for encashment within a radius of one kilometer from the
workplace.
2) The employer or any of his agents or representatives does not receive any pecuniary benefits
directly or indirectly from the arrangement.
3) The employees are given reasonable time during banking hours to withdraw their wages from the
bank which time shall be considered as compensable hours worked if done during working hours; and
4) The payment by check is with the written consent of the employees concerned if there is no
collective agreement authorizing the payment of wages by bank checks." (Rule VIII, Book III, Section 1,
Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Labor Code of the Philippines)

Article 113. Wage deduction. No employer, in his own behalf or in behalf of any person, shall
make any deduction from the wages of his employees, except:

In cases where the worker is insured with his consent by the employer, and the
deduction is to recompense the employer for the amount paid by him as premium on the insurance;
For union dues, in cases where the right of the worker or his union to check-off has
been recognized by the employer or authorized in writing by the individual worker concerned; and
In cases where the employer is authorized by law or regulations issued by the
Secretary of Labor and Employment.

The following deductions are authorized by law -

a) Deduction from facilities damaged by an employer (Section 7, Rule VII, Book III, Implementing
Rules and Regulations of the Labor Code);
b) Deductions for loss or damage to tools, materials or equipment supplied by the employer in
trades, occupation or business where the practice of making deductions is recognized (Section 14,
Rule VII, Book III, Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Labor Code);
c) Deductions for a demandable debt due the employer (Art. 1706, New Civil Code of the
Philippines);
d) Deductions for income tax or withholding tax (Sections 71-76 of the National International
Revenue Code of the Philippines);
e) Deductions for Social Security premiums (Republic Act No. 1161);
f) Deductions for Medicare premiums (PD 1519 as amended); ( Philhealth today)
g) Deduction for Pag-Ibig Contributions of the employee (PD 1752 as amended);
h) Deductions for employees compensation premiums (PD 1752 as amended by Republic Act 7742);
i) Deduction of union dues in case of a check-off agreement between the employee or union and the
employer

 Where a uniform is required by the employer, the cost thereof may not be deducted from the
employee's wages (Salvatierra,et al vs. Sugar Cinerama, NLRC Case No. R04-8-4194-74, 02
August 1975).

Title III
WORKING CONDITIONS FOR
SPECIAL GROUPS OF EMPLOYEES
Chapter I
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN

Article 133. Maternity leave benefits.

Every employer shall grant to any pregnant woman employee who has rendered an
aggregate service of at least six (6) months for the last twelve (12) months, maternity leave of
at least two (2) weeks prior to the expected date of delivery and another four (4) weeks after
normal delivery or abortion with full pay based on her regular or average weekly wages. The
employer may require from any woman employee applying for maternity leave the
production of a medical certificate stating that delivery will probably take place within two
weeks.

The maternity leave shall be extended without pay on account of illness medically
certified to arise out of the pregnancy, delivery, abortion or miscarriage, which renders the
woman unfit for work, unless she has earned unused leave credits from which such extended
leave may be charged.

The maternity leave provided in this Article shall be paid by the employer only for the
first four (4) deliveries by a woman employee after the effectively of this Code.

****Every pregnant private school employee, whether married or unmarried, is entitled to

maternity.

*****Every married male employee of the school is entitled to a paternity leave with pay.

*****Paternity Leave Act - "married employee in the private and public sectors shall be
entitled to a paternity leave of seven days with full pay for the first four (4) deliveries of the
legitimate spouse with whom he is cohabitating"

****A teacher who is a solo parent is entitled to a Parental Leave. - Solo Welfare's Act of 2000

Article 135. Discrimination prohibited. It shall be unlawful for any employer to discriminate
against any woman employee with respect to terms and conditions of employment solely on
account of her sex.

The following are acts of discrimination:

Payment of a lesser compensation, including wage, salary or other form of

remuneration and fringe benefits, to a female employees as against a male employee, for
work of equal value; and

Favoring a male employee over a female employee with respect to promotion,

training opportunities, study and scholarship grants solely on account of their sexes.
 Article 136. Stipulation against marriage. It shall be unlawful for an employer to require as a
condition of employment or continuation of employment that a woman employee shall not
get married, or to stipulate expressly or tacitly that upon getting married, a woman employee
shall be deemed resigned or separated, or to actually dismiss, discharge, discriminate or
otherwise prejudice a woman employee merely by reason of her marriage.

Chapter II
COVERAGE AND LIABILITY

Article 168. Compulsory coverage. Coverage in the State Insurance Fund shall be compulsory
upon all employers and their employees not over sixty (60) years of age: Provided, That an employee
who is over (60) years of age and paying contributions to qualify for the retirement or life insurance
benefit administered by the System shall be subject to compulsory coverage.

Chapter VII
DEATH BENEFITS
Article 194. Death.
Under such regulations as the Commission may approve, the System shall pay to the
primary beneficiaries upon the death of the covered employee under this Title, an amount equivalent to
his monthly income benefit, plus ten percent thereof for each dependent child, but not exceeding five,
beginning with the youngest and without substitution.