Know The Basics of Philippine Labor Law

Last updated: 27 July 2016 12:26

Created: 27 July 2016 11:21

Once you are employed, you need to equip yourself with basic knowledge about
Philippine labor law for you to know your rights as an employee. Aside from wage and
monetary benefits, employees may also have lingering questions about the hours of
work, rest day and even holidays. Here are the basics:

Hours of work
Employees must not exceed 8 hours a day while health personnel must have a
maximum of 40 hours per week. If hours of work exceed 40 hours, the employee is
entitled to 30% additional pay. While the law suggests 8 hours to be the maximum
number of work hours, the law the does prohibit working less than eight hours. Part-time
work is allowed and the pay will correspond to the actual hours worked. When it comes
to the wage and benefits of part-time workers, they should be in proportion to the
number of hours worked. For instance, if the part-time worker earns P400.00 for an
eight-hour work, P200.00 will be received for work done in four hours.

The law on overtime applies to everyone. However, the following are exempted by the
law: government employees, managerial personnel, househelpers, piece rate workers,
non-agricultural field personnel whose work hours cannot be determined and family
members who are dependent upon the support of employer. For work done between
10PM and 6AM, the rate is higher than normal. Under the Labor Code, employees who
work between the specified time shall be paid a night shift differential of not less than
10% of the regular wage for each hour of worked performed.

Overtime work refers to work rendered beyond 8 hours and the employee who renders
overtime work shall earn an additional pay of 25%. If overtime work is done on a rest
day or holiday, the rate will be 30%. In the event of undertime on another day, overtime
pay should still apply as the law prohibits offsetting overtime with undertime on another
day.

Rest Day
Weekly rest day includes rest period of not less than 24 consecutive hours after every
six normal workdays. The weekly rest day is determined by the employer, but shall
respect the employee's preference if such reference is based on religious grounds. If
employees work on a rest day, the compensation will be the regular wage plus 30%
thereof. For employees working on a Sunday, the employee shall be entitled to the
additional 30% pay if Sunday happens to be the rest day.

Holidays
Holiday pay is received by employees on the occasion of a special day or a regular
holiday. For regular holidays, the employee is still paid even if she did not work. The

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employee will be entitled to double pay if she works on a regular holiday. When it comes
to a special day, the employees will not be paid if they do not report for work. If
employees work on a special day, they will be entitled to 130% of the regular pay.

https://attorney.org.ph/legal-news/158-know-the-basics-of-philippine-labor-law