Rights of Workers and Labor Standards

Atty. Ida Marie V. Escolano-Canton

➢ LABOR- physical or mental effort
- Work for which someone is paid
- Workers considered as a group
- Done voluntarily
- He is being paid for the services/work he rendered
➢ TWO TYPES OF LABOR:
• EMPLOYER- pays wages
• EMPLOYEE- renders services/work
➢ LABOR LAW- laws governing employment and employer-employee relationships
➢ SOURCES OF LABOR LAWS:
- Section 3, Article XIII of the 1987 Constitution
- Labor Code of the Philippines
- Implementing Rules and Regulations by DOLE
- Supreme Court Decisions (Art. 8, Civil Code)
- Special Laws (i.e., Migrant Workers’ Act, Anti-Sexual Harassment Law, Magna Carta Law for
Private School Teachers)
➢ PROTECTION-TO-LABOR CLAUSE: “The State shall afford full protection to labor, local and
overseas, organized and unorganized, and promote fill 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. xxx”
➢ Labor Code of the Philippines:
• Presidential Decree 442, as amended.
• Was enacted on May 1, 1974 and took effect six months thereafter.
• Stands as the law governing employment practices and labor relations in the Philippines,
primarily in the private sector
➢ EMPLOYEES:
• Private Sector- Labor Code (DOLE, SSS)
• Public Sector/Government- Civil Service (CSC, GSIS)
- Labor Code only applies suppletorily
➢ TWO PARTS OF LABOR:
• LABOR STANDARDS- refers to that part of labor law which prescribes the minimum
terms and conditions of employment which the employer is required to grant to its
employees.
- working conditions, wages, hours of work, holiday pay and other benefits, conditions of
employment of women, minors, house helpers and homeworkers, termination of employment
and retirement.
• LABOR RELATIONS- refers to that part of labor law which regulates the relations
between employers and employees.
- labor organizations, collective bargaining, grievance machinery, voluntary arbitration,
conciliation and mediation, unfair labor practices, strikes, picketing and lockout.
“Know your rights, know the law.”
 Rights of Workers and Labor Standards
Atty. Ida Marie V. Escolano-Canton

➢ Who is considered an employee?

• FOUR-FOLD TEST
- Selection/Hiring
- Payment of Wages
- Power of Dismissal and Discipline
- Power of Control- most important; how employees do the work
If any of these are absent, then there is no employer-employee relationship and the provisions of the
Labor Code will not apply.
➢ MANAGEMENT’S PREROGATIVE- an employer can regulate, generally without restraint
according to its own discretion and judgement, every aspect of its business
- Employers have the freedom and prerogative, according to their discretion and best judgement
to regulate and control all aspects of employment in their business organizations, from hiring
to firing.
- The employer’s right to do what he wants in his business
- Not absolute and has limitations
➢ Scope of management’s prerogative:
- Hiring, work assignments, working methods, time, place and manner of work, tools to be used,
processes to be followed, supervision of workers, working regulations, transfer of employees,
work supervision, lay-off of workers and the discipline, dismissal and recall of workers.
- Labor laws discourage interference in employers‟ judgment concerning the conduct of their
business.
- So long as the employers have complied with the Labor code, labor laws will not interfere
➢ Limitation to management’s prerogative:
- Needless to state, the exercise of management prerogative is not absolute. The exercise of
management prerogative is subject to the limitations imposed by law or by CBA, employment
contract, employer policy or practice and general principles of fair play and justice.
➢ ANTI-DISCRIMATION- The Bill of Rights in the 1987 Constitution guarantees equal protection
for every Filipino, and prohibits discrimination of persons based on age, ethnicity, race, religion or
belief, political inclination, social class, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender
expression, civil status, medical condition, or any other status in the enjoyment of rights.
- The fundamental law also declares that the State values the dignity of every human person and
guarantees full respect for human rights (Section 11, Article II, 1987 Constitution).
- It also imposes on the State the duty to ensure the fundamental equality before the law of
women and men (Sec. 14, Id.).
- Employers should be careful with the hiring posts
- Educational qualification is not included
➢ ARTICLE 136 LC- employer cannot prohibit women to get married
- Discrimination against married women
➢ Legal Limitations/Prohibitions Prior to Hiring:
- An employer is prohibited from requiring as a condition of employment that a woman
employee shall not get married (Art. 136, LC)
- An employer is prohibited from employing any person below eighteen (18) years old in an
undertaking which is hazardous and deleterious in nature.
 Rights of Workers and Labor Standards
Atty. Ida Marie V. Escolano-Canton
- An employer is prohibited from employing children below fifteen (15) years of age, except
when he works directly under the sole responsibility of his parents or guardian, and his
employment does not in any way interfere with his schooling. (Art.139, LC)
➢ Special Laws Against Child Labor:
- DOLE Department Order Np. 4, Series of 1999
- Section12, Republic Act No. 7610, as amended by Republic Act No. 7658, and further
amended by Republic Act Np. 9231 (Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse,
Exploitation and Discrimination)
- Child actor/model
➢ RA 7610- Child models have limitations on what products they can endorse
➢ ARTICLE 139 LC- An employer is prohibited from employing children below fifteen (15) years
of age, except when he works directly under the sole responsibility of his parents or guardian, and
his employment does not in any way interfere with his schooling.
➢ YELLOW DOG CONTRACT- employer cannot prohibit its employees to join/form union
➢ RA 7277- Magna Carta for Disabled Persons
- Employer cannot discriminate qualified disabled persons by a reason of disability
➢ RA 7877- Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995
- Employer cannot ask for sexual favor as a condition in the hiring
- Abused of authority
➢ RA 8791- General Banking Laws of 2000
- Only regular employees can handle bank transactions/business involving deposits
➢ RA 8504- Philippine AIDS Prevention and Control Act of 1998
- Discrimination in any form from perceived or suspected HIV status
➢ RA 10911- Anti-Age Discrimination
- Print or publish notice of advertisement relating to employment suggesting preferences,
limitations, specifications, and discrimination based on age;
- Require the declaration of age or birth date during the application process;
- Decline any employment application because of the individual’s age;
- Forcibly lay off an employee or worker because of old age;
- Age is a bona fide occupational qualification
- Age is a bona fide occupational qualification reasonably necessary in the normal operation of
a particular business or where the differentiation is based on reasonable factors other than age;
➢ Bona fide seniority system- The intent is to observe the terms of bona fide seniority system that
is not indicated to evade the purpose of this Act
➢ Payment of wages:
- It is the remuneration or earnings however designated, for work done or to be done or for
services rendered or to be rendered;
- it is capable of being expressed in terms of money, whether fixed or ascertained on a time, task,
piece, or commission basis, or other method of calculating the same;
- it is payable by an employer to an employee under a written or unwritten contract of
employment for work done or to be done, or for services rendered or to be rendered; and
- it includes the fair and reasonable value of board, lodging, or other facilities customarily
furnished by the employer to the employee.
➢ NO WORK, NO PAY- If there is no work performed by the employee, then there can be no wages
or pay.
EXCEPTIONS:
 Rights of Workers and Labor Standards
Atty. Ida Marie V. Escolano-Canton
✓ Unless otherwise provided by law (i.e., Holiday Pay, Maternity Leave)
✓ Unless otherwise provided by the employer (i.e., Vacation Leave)

➢ EQUAL PAY FOR EQUAL WORK- Persons who work with substantially equal qualifications,
skill, effort and responsibility, under similar conditions, should be paid similar salaries.
➢ STATUTORY MINIMUM WAGES- refers simply to the lowest basic wage rate fixed by law
that an employer can pay his workers.
- The minimum wage rates for employees in every region shall be those prescribed by the
Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards (RTWPB), in the form of wage orders.
- Any party aggrieved by the Wage Order issued by the RTWPB may appeal such order to the
National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC).
➢ The standards/criteria for minimum wage fixing:
- The demand for living wages;
- Wage adjustment vis-à-vis the consumer price index;
- The cost of living and changes or increases therein;
- The needs of workers and their families;
- The need to induce industries to invest in the countryside;
- Improvements in standards of living;
- The prevailing wage levels;
- Fair return of the capital invested and capacity to pay of employers;
- Effects on employment generation and family income; and
- The equitable distribution of income and wealth along the imperatives of economic and social
development.
➢ MINIMUM DAILY WAGE RATE: P537.00
- Wage Order Np. NCR-22
- Effective November 22, 2018
➢ Violation of Wage Order- "Section 12. Any person, corporation, trust, firm, partnership,
association or entity which refuses or fails to pay any of the prescribed increases or adjustments in
the wage rates xxx shall be punished by a fine not less than Twenty-five thousand pesos (P25,000)
nor more than One hundred thousand pesos (P100,000) or imprisonment of not less than two (2)
years nor more than four (4) years, or both such fine and imprisonment at the discretion of the court
➢ SEC. 12, RA 6727- as amended by RA 8188
- "The employer concerned shall be ordered to pay an amount equivalent to double the unpaid
benefits owing to the employees: Provided, That payment of indemnity shall not absolve the
employer from the criminal liability imposable under this Act.
➢ Exemption from Wage Orders:
- Household or domestic helpers and persons employed in the personal service of another,
including family drivers. (RA6727, as amended by RA10361, Kasambahay Law)
- Retail/service establishments regularly employing not more than ten (10) workers may be
exempted from the applicability of this Act upon application with and as determined by the
appropriate Regional Board in accordance with the applicable rules and regulations issued by
the Commission. (RA6727)
- Farm tenancy or leasehold, domestic service and persons working in their respective homes in
needle work or in any cottage industry duly registered in accordance with law. (Art. 98, LC)
- Barangay Micro Business Enterprises (RA9178)
- Learners, Apprentice
 Rights of Workers and Labor Standards
Atty. Ida Marie V. Escolano-Canton
➢ Forms of Payment of Wages:
- Wages shall be paid in legal tender and the use of tokens, promissory notes, vouchers, coupons
or any other form alleged to represent legal tender is prohibited even when expressly requested
by the employee. (Art. 102, LC)
- Payment in kind is not allowed
EXC: Payment by check or money order
Payment by ATM
➢ Payment thru ATM:
1. The ATM system of payment is with the written consent of the employees
concerned;
2. The employees are given reasonable time to withdraw their wages from the bank facility which time, if
done during working hours, shall be considered compensable hours worked;
3. The system shall allow workers to receive their wages within the period or frequency and in the amount
prescribed under the Labor Code, as amended;
4. There is a bank or ATM facility within a radius of one (1) kilometer to the place of work;
5. Upon request of the concerned employee/s, the employer shall issue a record of payment of wages,
benefits and deductions for a particular period;
6. There shall be no additional expenses and no diminution of benefits and privileges as a result of the ATM
system of payment;
➢ PLACE OF PAYMENT OF WAGES- the place of payment shall be at or near the place of
undertaking
➢ TIME OF PAYMENT OF WAGES- Wages shall be paid at least once every two (2) weeks or
twice a month at intervals not exceeding sixteen (16) days. If on account of force majeure or
circumstances beyond the employer’s control, payment of wages on or within the time herein
provided cannot be made, the employer shall pay the wages immediately after such force majeure
or circumstances have ceased. No employer shall make payment with less frequency than once a
month. (Art. 103, LC)
➢ NON-INTERFERENCE IN DISPOSAL OF WAGES- No employer shall limit or otherwise
interfere with the freedom of any employee to dispose of his wages. He shall not in any manner
force, compel, or oblige his employees to purchase merchandise, commodities or other property
from any other person, or otherwise make use of any store or services of such employer or any
other person. (Art. 112, LC)
➢ 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:
(a) 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;
(b) 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
(c) In cases where the employer is authorized by law or regulations issued by the Secretary of
Labor and Employment. (Art. 113, LC)
➢ Other Laws on wages:
• ART. 116- Withholding of wages and kickbacks prohibited.
• ART. 117- Deduction to ensure employment.
• ART. 118- Retaliatory measures.
• ART. 119- False reporting * Prohibition against debt bondage (Kasambahay Law)
➢ Minimum Standard Benefits:
 Rights of Workers and Labor Standards
Atty. Ida Marie V. Escolano-Canton
• HOLIDAY PAY- refers to the payment of the regular daily wage for any unworked
regular holiday
- If unworked, 100% of daily rate
- If worked, 200% of daily rate

• CAUTION ON LONG WEEKENDS- All covered employees shall be entitled to

holiday pay when they are on leave of absence with pay on the workday immediately
preceding the regular holiday
- Employees who are absent without
- pay on the day immediately preceding a regular holiday may not be paid the required holiday
pay, if they do not work on such regular holiday
• REST DAY, DAY OFF- It shall be the duty of every employer 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.
- An employee is not paid during rest days
- The employer shall determine and schedule the weekly rest day of his employees. However,
the employer shall respect the preference of employees as to their weekly rest day when such
preference is based on religious grounds.
• PREMIUM PAY- refers to the additional compensation for work performed within
eight (8) hours on non-work days, such as rest days and special days.
- If worked, +30% of daily rate = 130%
- If rest day is special day, and worked, +50% of daily rate = 150%
- If holiday is scheduled rest day, and worked, 130% x 2 =260%
• NORMAL HOURS OF WORK- The normal hours of work of any employee shall
not exceed eight (8) hours a day.
• 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.
• 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.
- Lunch break is not compensable
• OVERTIME PAY- refers to the additional compensation for work performed beyond
eight (8) hours a day.
- OT on ordinary day, +25% of hourly rate
- OT on rest/special day, +30% of hourly rate
- Undertime not offset by overtime (Art. 88)
• NIGHT SHIFT DIFFERENTIAL- refers to the additional compensation of ten
percent (10%) of an employee’s regular wage for each hour of work performed
between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
• SERVICE INCENTIVE LEAVE- Every employee who has rendered at least one (1)
year of service is entitled to Service Incentive Leave (SIL) of five (5) days with pay.
- Vacation Leave, Sick Leave, Birthday Leave, Sabbatical etc. are company-initiated benefits,
and thus not legally demandable.
 Rights of Workers and Labor Standards
Atty. Ida Marie V. Escolano-Canton
• MATERNITY LEAVE- Every pregnant employee in the private sector, whether
married or unmarried, is entitled to maternity leave benefit of sixty (60) days in case
of normal delivery or miscarriage, or seventy-eight (78) days, in case of Caesarian
section delivery, with benefits equivalent to one hundred percent (100%) of the average
daily salary credit of the employee as defined under the law.
• PATERNITY LEAVE- The paternity leave shall be for seven (7) calendar days, with
full pay
- The purpose of this benefit is to allow the husband to lend support to his wife during her period
of recovery and/or in nursing her newborn child.
➢ RA 8972- Parental Leave for Solo Parents
- +7days, flexible work schedule
➢ RA9262- Leave for Victims of Violence Against Women and Their Children
- Up to 10 days
➢ RA9710- Special Leave for Women
- two months
➢ 13th MONTH PAY (PD851)- All employers are required to pay their rank and file employees 13th
month pay, provided they worked for at least one (1) month during a calendar year.
- The thirteenth-month pay shall not be less than one-twelfth (1/12) of the total basic salary
earned by an employee in a calendar year.
➢ SEPARATION PAY- An employee is entitled to separation pay where the termination is for
authorized cause.
- An employee is NOT entitled to separation pay where the termination is for just cause (fault of
the employee) and for resignation
➢ RETIREMENT PAY - Employees shall be retired upon reaching the age of sixty (60) years or
more but not beyond sixty-five (65) years old [and have served the establishment for at least five
(5) years].
➢ SECURITY OF TENURE (Art. 279)- The employer shall not terminate the services of an
employee except for a just cause or when authorized by this Title.
➢ RIGHT TO DISMISS- The right of the employer to dismiss its erring employees is a measure of
self-protection.
• WRITTEN NOTICE- served on the employee specifying the ground or grounds for
termination, and giving to said employee reasonable opportunity to explain his side;
• HEARING/CONFERENCE- or at least an opportunity to be heard
- During which the employee concerned, with the assistance of counsel if the employee so
desires, is given opportunity to respond to the charge, present his evidence or rebut the evidence
presented against him
• WRITTEN NOTICE OF TERMINATION- (second notice) served on the employee
indicating that upon due consideration of all the circumstances, grounds have been
established to justify his termination.
➢ RIGHT TO SELF-ORGANIZATION- A right guaranteed under the constitution and the Labor
Code
- „For together we stand, divided we fall‟.
- Union to represent the employees in bargaining with the employer. In case of deadlock,
employees strike
 Rights of Workers and Labor Standards
Atty. Ida Marie V. Escolano-Canton
➢ RA 3350- does not violate the constitutional provision on freedom of association. It is enacted to
provide an exception that members of said religious sects cannot be compelled or coerced to join
labor unions even when said unions have closed shop agreements with the employers.