Recruitment
the recruitment and placement of workers for
3. Are any grants or incentives available for
employing people? Does any information/paperwork
need to be filed with the authorities when employing
people?
Grants or incentives
There are laws which grant incentives to companies
which employ specific classes of employees. For
example, the Magna Carta for Persons with
Disabilities gives tax incentives (for example,
additional income tax deductions) to employers who
employ persons with disabilities. Under Republic
Act No 7916 (the Special Economic Zone Act of
1995, as amended), enterprises in the ECOZONE are
given an additional deduction equivalent to one-half
of the value of training expenses incurred in
developing skilled or unskilled labour or for
managerial or other management development
programmes.
Filings
Recruitment for local employment. A Private
Recruitment and Placement Agency (PRPA) must
secure a licence from the Department of Labour and
Employment (DOLE). The licence is valid all over
the Philippines for two years from the date of
issuance, unless it is suspended, cancelled or revoked
by the Regional Director before the end of this two-
year period.
In addition to the licence, a PRPA or its authorised
representative must secure an authority to recruit
from the Regional Office of the DOLE which has
jurisdiction over the place where recruitment
activities will be undertaken. The authority to recruit
operates on the same terms as the licence, unless it is
revoked or cancelled by the issuing Regional Office
or terminated by the PRPA. Only representatives
duly authorised to recruit and whose names are
registered with the Regional Office can engage in
recruitment activities.
Recruitment for overseas employment. The
Philippine Overseas Employment Administration
(POEA), which is under the DOLE, regulates private
sector participation in the recruitment and overseas
placement of workers through a licensing and
registration system (Migrant Workers' Act, section
23(b.1)).
A Private Employment Agency (PEA) engaged in
overseas employment must secure a licence to
operate from the DOLE through the POEA.
Minimum wage
9. Is there a national (or regional) minimum wage?
Republic Act No 6727 (1989) is the law governing
the minimum wages that apply to different industrial
sectors. The Regional Tripartite Wages and
Productivity Boards prescribe the minimum wage
rates for agricultural and non-agricultural employees
in different regions based on established criteria. As
of 4 October 2013, the minimum wage rates of these
employees in the National Capital Region (NCR),
inclusive of the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA),
are PHP429.00 and PHP466.00, respectively.
Petitions for exemption from the prescribed wage
rates can be filed with the appropriate Regional
board, under certain circumstances. Different
minimum wage rates apply to helpers or "domestic
workers", and a different mechanism for determining
the minimum wage applies to those who are paid by
results.
In industries where apprentices or learners are
employed, the wage rate for these employees must in
no case start below 75% of the applicable minimum
wage. If disabled persons are employed as
apprentices or learners, they are entitled to a
compensation that begins at not less than 75% of the
applicable minimum wage. However, a qualified
disabled employee is entitled to receive the same
compensation, privileges, fringe benefits, incentives
or allowances as any other qualified able-bodied
employee.
Illness and injury of employees
12. What rights do employees have to time off in the
case of illness or injury? Are they entitled to sick pay
during this time off? Who pays the sick pay and, if
the employer, can it recover any of the cost from the
government?
Entitlement to time off
Philippine laws do not automatically grant
employees sick leave, although employees are
entitled to be given service incentive leaves.
However, there is nothing that prohibits the
employer and employee from agreeing on the grant
of sick leave through voluntary employer policy or
collective bargaining agreements.
Under Republic Act No 8282, an employee who has
paid at least three monthly Social Security System
(SSS) contributions in the 12-month period
immediately preceding the period of sickness or
injury, and is confined for more than three days in a
hospital or elsewhere with the approval of the SSS,
will be paid by his employer a daily sickness benefit
equivalent to 90% of his average daily salary credit
for each day of confinement. However, this
allowance will only begin to be paid after all sick
leave with full pay due from the employer has been
exhausted.
Under Republic Act No. 9710, a woman employee
who has rendered a continuous aggregate service of
at least six months for the last twelve months is
entitled to a special leave benefit of two months with
full pay based on her gross monthly compensation
following surgery caused by gynaecological
disorders.
Entitlement to paid time off
The SSS will reimburse the employer 100% of the
daily sickness benefits, provided the SSS receives
satisfactory proof of that payment, and the legality of
that payment, and the employer has notified the SSS
of the confinement within five calendar days after
receipt of the notification of sickness or injury from
the employee.
Recovery of sick pay from the state
Employees who become ill or experience work-
related injuries can make a claim to the Employees'
Compensation Programme (ECP). The ECP is
designed to provide assistance (in the form of
medical services, rehabilitation services, and/or
income cash benefit) to employees for work-related
injury, sickness, disability or death. Only the
employer is required to pay monthly contributions,
no contribution is due from the employee. The
employer's contributions for the ECP make up the
State Insurance Fund, from which compensation for
approved claims is sourced.
Statutory rights of parents and
carers
13. What are the statutory rights of employees who
are:
Parents (including maternity, paternity, surrogacy,
adoption and parental rights, where applicable)?
Carers (including those of disabled children and
adult dependants)?
Maternity rights
A female member of the Social Security System
(SSS) who has paid at least three monthly
contributions in the 12-month period immediately
preceding her childbirth or miscarriage will be paid
a daily maternity leave benefit equivalent to 100% of
the average daily salary credit (based not on actual
salary but on the SSS graduated scale, with a
maximum monthly salary credit of PHP15,000) for:
60 days in the case of a normal delivery.
78 days in the case of a caesarian delivery.
This is subject to the conditions prescribed by the
SSS which include notification requirements
(Republic Act No 8282 (SSS Law of 1997), section
14-A).
Full payment of the maternity leave benefit will be
advanced by the employer within 30 days from the
filing of the maternity leave application. The SSS
will immediately reimburse the employer 100% of
the amount of maternity leave benefits advanced to
the employee upon receipt of satisfactory proof of
that payment.
In addition to the maternity leave benefit, the
Republic Act No 9710 (also known as the "Magna
Carta for Women") also guarantees access for
women to services such as:
Maternal care including pre- and post-natal
services to address pregnancy and infant health and
nutrition.
Promotion of breastfeeding.
Responsible, ethical, legal, safe and effective
methods of family planning.
Paternity rights
Every married male employee is entitled to a
paternity leave of seven days with full pay for the
first four deliveries of his legitimate spouse with
whom he is cohabiting. "Delivery" includes
childbirth or any miscarriage. Unused paternity leave
benefits are not convertible to cash (Republic Act No
8187, section 2).
Surrogacy rights
There are no provisions governing surrogacy in the
Philippines.
Adoption rights
Adoption leave is available to an employee who
adopts a child from a child-placement or child-caring
agency that is duly licensed and accredited by the
Department of Social Welfare and Development
(DSWD). The adoptive parents will, with respect to
the adopted child, enjoy all the benefits to which
biological parents are entitled. Maternity and
paternity and other benefits given to biological
parents upon the birth of a child will be enjoyed if the
adoptee is below seven years of age as of the date the
child is placed with the adopted parents through the
Pre-Adoptive Placement Authority issued by the
DSWD (Rules and Regulations to Implement
Republic Act No 8552 (The Domestic Adoption Act
of 1998), Article VI, section 34).
Parental rights
A single or solo parent as defined by law who has
served at least one year of service is entitled to a
parental leave of not more than seven days with full
pay per year. Unused parental leave benefits are not
convertible to cash and cannot be accumulated
(Republic Act No 8972, section 3). As defined, a
single or solo parent is:
A married person whose spouse is absent or
incapacitated.
A woman who gives birth as a result of rape and/or
other crimes.
A person left alone:
due to the death of the spouse;
while the spouse is detained or is serving
sentence for a criminal conviction for at least a year;
due to legal or de facto separation from the
spouse for at least a year, or a declaration of nullity
of marriage decreed by a court or church as long as
he/she is entrusted with custody of the children;
due to abandonment of the spouse for at least a
year;
as an unmarried mother/father who has
preferred to keep and rear her/his child/children
instead of having others care for them;
who is any person who solely provides parental
care and support to a child;
who is any family member who assumes the
responsibility of head of the family.
In addition to providing parental leave, the law also
requires employers:
To give solo parent employees a flexible working
schedule provided that this does not affect individual
and company productivity.
Not to discriminate against solo parent employees
with respect to terms and conditions of employment
on account of their status.
An employer can be exempted by the Department of
Labour and Employment (DOLE) from the
requirement to provide a flexible working schedule
on meritorious grounds.
The employee must obtain a Solo Parent
Identification Card, which is issued by the
Municipal/City Social Welfare and Development
Office after assessment and evaluation, in order to be
eligible to take advantage of these benefits.
Carers' rights
There are no provisions governing carers' rights in
the Philippines.
Discrimination and harassment
17. What protection do employees have from
discrimination or harassment, and on what grounds?
Protection from discrimination
The Labour Code prohibits discrimination against any
female employee with respect to the terms and
conditions of employment solely on the basis of her sex
(Labour Code, Article 133), by, for example:
Paying a lesser compensation than that applicable to a
male counterpart.
Favouring a male employee over a female employee
with respect to promotion, training opportunities and
study and scholarship grants.
It further prohibits discriminating, or otherwise
prejudicing, a female employee merely by reason of her
marriage (Labour Code, Article 134). The Republic Act No
9710 (also known as the "Magna Carta for Women") also
penalises public and private entities and individuals
found to have committed discrimination against women.
The law is an expression of the state's policy to eliminate
all forms of discrimination against women and ensure
equality between men and women.
The Labour Code also prohibits the following forms of
discrimination:
Discriminating against a person with respect to their
terms and conditions of employment based on age
(Labour Code, Article 138).
Discriminating against workers who exercise their right
to self-organisation (Labour Code, Article 255).
Discriminating with respect to wages, hours of work,
and other terms and conditions of employment in order
to encourage or discourage membership in any labour
organisation; or discriminating against an employee for
giving, or being about to give, testimony under the
Labour Code (Labour Code, Articles 257 (e) and (f)).
Finally, Republic Act No 7277, as amended (also known
as the "Magna Carta for Persons with Disability"),
provides that:
No disabled person can be denied access to
opportunities for suitable employment.
A qualified disabled employee must be subject to the
same terms and conditions of employment and the same
compensation and benefits as a qualified able bodied
person.
Protection from harassment
The Philippines has laws relating to sexual harassment
requiring employers to take certain measures to prevent
and address it.
Sexual harassment is committed when a person
demands, requests or otherwise requires any sexual
favour from another. The harasser can be an employer,
employee, manager, supervisor, agent of the employer
or any other person who has authority, influence or
moral ascendancy over the person who is being
harassed.
In a work-related or employment environment, sexual
harassment is committed when:
The sexual favour is made as a condition in the hiring,
the employment, the re-employment or the continued
employment of the person being harassed, or in granting
the person being harassed favourable compensation,
terms, conditions, promotions, or privileges, or the
refusal to grant the sexual favour results in limiting,
segregating or classifying the person being harassed in
such a way that it would discriminate, deprive or
diminish their employment opportunities or otherwise
adversely affect that employee.
The above acts would impair the employee's rights or
privileges under existing labour laws.
The above acts would result in an intimidating, hostile,
or offensive environment for the employee.
It is the duty of the employer, or the head of the work-
related institution, to prevent or deter the commission
of acts of sexual harassment and to provide procedures
for the resolution, settlement or prosecution of acts of
sexual harassment. The employer must promulgate
appropriate rules and regulations prescribing the
procedure for investigating cases of sexual harassment,
and put in place administrative sanctions so that
incidents of harassment can be dealt with appropriately.
Whistleblowers
18. Do whistleblowers have any protection?
While there is no law specifically protecting
whistleblowers, the Labour Code prohibits
discrimination against any employee who has filed any
complaint, or instituted any proceeding, against their
employer. It is unlawful for an employer to refuse to pay,
or reduce the wages and benefits of, or dismiss, or in any
manner discriminate against any employee who has
either:
Filed any complaint or proceeding relating to their
conditions of employment.
Testified, or is about to testify, in such proceedings.
An employer's act of discriminating against an employee
for having given, or being about to give, testimony in
such proceedings is specifically classified as an unfair
labour practice under the Labour Code.