II.

PAYMENT OF WAGES

ARGUMENT FOR THE PRESENCE OF THE ELEMENT OF PAYMENT OF

WAGES

The second indication of an existing employer-employee relationship is the payment of

wages. According to the Labor Code, wage is the remuneration or earnings, however
designated, 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,
which 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
includes the fair and reasonable value, as determined by the Secretary of Labor, of board,
lodging, or other facilities customarily furnished by the employer to the employee. 1
TNVS drivers here in the Philippines are paid on a commission basis. 2 According to
jurisprudence, the mere fact that workers are paid on commission basis does not affect or
change their status as regular employees; the test for determining whether there exists an
employer-employee relationship has nothing to do with the manner of computing or
paying a employee’s wages or compensation.3

ARGUMENT FOR THE ABSENCE OF THE ELEMENT OF PAYMENT OF

WAGES

1
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 Ensure Industrial Peace Based on Social Justice [LABOR CODE OF
THE PHILIPPINES], Presidential Decree No. 442, Art. 97, (1974).
2
Ellson Quismoro, Nograles: Grab Ignoring PH Laws, MANILA BULLETIN, June 3, 2018,
available at https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/06/03/nograles-grab-ignoring-ph-laws/ (last
accessed September 27, 2019).
3
San Miguel Jeepney Service and Mamerto Galace vs. NLRC, G.R. No. 92772 (1996).
According to jurisprudence, in legitimate job contracting, an independent contractor
undertakes to perform work on its own account, under its own responsibility and
according to its own manner and method, free from the control and direction of the
principal. No employment relationship arises between its employees and the principal. 4
The Supreme Court Ruled that it does not follow that every employee paid (whether
wholly or partly) on commission basis can be considered a regular employee, or an
employee at all, for that matter. In today’s world, where the gig economy is flourishing,
there are businesses which engage the services of workers who are paid on commission
basis to perform activities without creating any kind of employer-employee relationship
at any time.5 TNVS are part of the gig economy; it does not fit the typical employer-
employee relationship since these drivers are paid by the job or work done which are not
covered by the traditional wage defiinition under the Labor Code.

SOURCES UNDER PAYMENT OF WAGES

1. 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 Ensure Industrial Peace Based on Social Justice
[LABOR CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES], Presidential Decree No. 442, Art. 97,
(1974).
 This source is vital to this paper since it is the legal basis as to whether or not
the element of Payment of Wages exist.
2. Ellson Quismoro, Nograles: Grab Ignoring PH Laws, MANILA BULLETIN, June 3,
2018, available at https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/06/03/nograles-grab-ignoring-
ph-laws/ (last accessed September 27, 2019).
 This source is vital to this paper since this explains the compensation system
of TNVS in out country.
3. San Miguel Jeepney Service and Mamerto Galace vs. NLRC, G.R. No. 92772
(1996).

4
Philippine Airlines, Inc., vs. NLRC, G.R. No. 15792 (1998).
5
Singer Sewing Machine Company vs. Drilon, 193 SCRA 270 (1991).
  This source is vital to this paper since the Supreme Court explained that
workers paid on commission does not affect the existence of an employee-
employer relationship.
4. Philippine Airlines, Inc., vs. NLRC, G.R. No. 15792 (1998).
 This source is vital to this paper since the Supreme Court gave its definition of
an Independent Contractor.
5. Singer Sewing Machine Company vs. Drilon, 193 SCRA 270 (1991).
 This source is vital to this paper since the Supreme Court explained that
payment on a commission basis does not mean that there exists an employee-
employer relationship.