• Preliminary Title (General Provisions): Articles 1-6

• Pre-Employment (Recruitment & Placement of Workers):

Articles 12-24

• Regulation of Recruitment and Placement Activities:

Articles 25-35

• Miscellaneous Provisions: Articles 36-39

• Employment of Non-Resident Aliens: Articles 40-42

• Human Resources Development Program: Articles 43-56

1. What is labor law and what does it aim
to achieve?

2. What are the constitutional mandates

pertaining to labor and labor-management
relations?

3. Do Philippine labor laws meet

international labor standards?

4. Are Philippine labor laws pro-labor?

ARTICLE 1. NAME OF DECREE

This Decree shall be known as the

“Labor Code of the Philippines.”

What is a Presidential Decree?

Presidential Decrees were an innovation made by

President Ferdinand E. Marcos with the proclamation of
Martial Law. They served to arrogate unto the Chief
Executive the lawmaking powers of Congress. Only
President Marcos issued Presidential Decrees. In the
Freedom Constitution of 1986, President Corazon C.
Aquino recognized the validity of existing Presidential
Decrees unless otherwise repealed.
ARTICLE 1. NAME OF DECREE

This Decree shall be known as the

“Labor Code of the Philippines.”

What is Labor Legislation?

It consists of statutes, regulations and jurisprudence

governing the relations between capital and labor, by
providing for certain employment standards and a legal
framework for negotiating, adjusting and
administering those standards and other incidents of
employment.
ARTICLE 1. NAME OF DECREE

This Decree shall be known as the

“Labor Code of the Philippines.”

LABOR STANDARDS LABOR RELATIONS

-provide the least terms and
conditions of employment
-minimum requirements
prescribed by existing laws,
rules and regulations relating
to wages, hours of work,
cost-of-living allowance, and
other monetary and welfare
benefits.
-defines the status, rights and
duties, and the institutional
mechanisms that govern the
individual and collective
interactions, of employers,
employees or their
representatives.
ARTICLE 1. NAME OF DECREE

This Decree shall be known as the

“Labor Code of the Philippines.”

LABOR STANDARDS OR LABOR RELATIONS?

1. Grievance machinery to resolve complaints

2. Unpaid overtime work
3. Employment tenure
4. Wage
5. Termination
ARTICLE 1. NAME OF DECREE

This Decree shall be known as the

“Labor Code of the Philippines.”

LABOR
• Physical toil although it does not necessarily exclude the
application of skill

SKILL
• Familiar knowledge of any art or science, united with
readiness and dexterity in execution or performance or in the
application of the same to practical purpose

WORK
• Covers all forms of physical or mental exertion, or both
combined, for the attainment of some object other than
recreation or amusement per se.
ARTICLE 1. NAME OF DECREE

This Decree shall be known as the

“Labor Code of the Philippines.”

WORKER
• May refer to self-employed people and those working
in the service and under the control of another,
regardless of rank, title or nature of work. (In fact, in
Article 13 of the Labor Code, any member of the labor
force, whether unemployed or employed, is a
“worker.”

EMPLOYEE
• Salaried person working for another who controls
or supervises the means, manner or method of
doing work.
ARTICLE 1. NAME OF DECREE

This Decree shall be known as the

“Labor Code of the Philippines.”

SOCIAL LEGISLATION LABOR LAW

-provide particular kinds of -are necessarily social

protection or benefits to legislation
society or segments thereof
in furtherance of social -directly affect employment
justice.

-governs the effects of

employment (emergency
medical treatment in the
worksite and off-worksite)
ARTICLE 1. NAME OF DECREE

This Decree shall be known as the

“Labor Code of the Philippines.”
aim and reason

SOCIAL JUSTICE
“neither communism, nor despotism, nor atomism, nor anarchy, but the
humanization of laws and the equalization of social and economic forces
by the State so that justice in its rational and objectively secular conception
may at least be approximated. Social justice means the promotion of the
welfare of all the people, the adoption by the Government of measures
calculated to insure economic stability of all the component elements of society
through the maintenance of proper economic and social equilibrium in the
interrelations of the members of the community, constitutionally, through
the adoption of measures legally justifiable, or extra-constitutionally, through
the exercise of powers underlying the existence of all governments, on the
time-honored principle of salus populi est suprema lex.
(Dr. Jose P. Laurel in Calalang vs. Williams, 70 Phil. 726 [1940])
ARTICLE 1. NAME OF DECREE

This Decree shall be known as the

“Labor Code of the Philippines.”

SOCIAL JUSTICE

JURIDICAL PRINCIPLE SOCIETAL GOAL

-it prescribes equality of -the attainment of decent

the people, rich or poor, quality of life of the
before the law masses through humane
productive efforts.
ARTICLE 1. NAME OF DECREE

This Decree shall be known as the

“Labor Code of the Philippines.”

SOCIAL JUSTICE

Social justice does not champion division of property or equality

of economic status; what it and the Constitution do guaranty are
equality of opportunity, equality of political rights, equality
before the law, equality between values given and received,
and equitable sharing of the social and material goods on
the basis of efforts exerted in their production. (Guido vs.
Rural Progress Administration, L-2089, October 31, 1949)
ARTICLE 1. NAME OF DECREE

This Decree shall be known as the

“Labor Code of the Philippines.”

1987 CONSTITUTION
(Declaration of State Policies)
“the State shall promote a just and dynamic social order that will ensure
the prosperity and independence of the nation and free the people from
poverty through policies that provide adequate social services, promote
full employment, a rising standard of living, and an improved quality
of life for all.”

“the State shall promote social justice in all phases of national

development.”

“the State affirms labor as a primary social economic force…it shall

protect the rights of workers and promote their welfare.”
ARTICLE 1. NAME OF DECREE

This Decree shall be known as the

“Labor Code of the Philippines.”
1987 CONSTITUTION
(Article XIII – SOCIAL JUSTICE AND HUMAN RIGHTS)
“Section 1. The Congress shall give highest priority to the enactment of
measures that protect and enhance the right of all the people to
human dignity, reduce social, economic, and political inequalities,
and remove cultural inequities by equitably diffusing wealth and
political power for the common good.

“To this end, the State shall regulate the acquisition, ownership, use,
and disposition of property and its increments.

“Sec. 2. The promotion of social justice shall include the commitment

to create economic opportunities based on freedom of initiative and
self-reliance.”
 ARTICLE 2. DATE OF EFFECTIVITY

This Code shall take effect six (6)

Took effect on November 1, 1974,
promulgate on May 1, 1974
months after its promulgation.

SEVEN (7) BASIC RIGHTS OF WORKERS AS GUARANTEED

BY THE CONSTITUTION (OCESHLP):

1. Right to Organize
2. Right to Conduct Collective Bargaining or Negotiation with
Management
3. Right to Engage in Peaceful Concerted Activities including
strike in accordance with law
4. Right to Enjoy Security of Tenure
5.Right to Work Under Humane Conditions
6.Right to Receive a Living Wage
7. Right to Participate in Policy & Decision-Making Processes
affecting their rights and benefits as may be provided by law
 ARTICLE 2. DATE OF EFFECTIVITY

This Code shall take effect six (6)

months after its promulgation.

BALANCING OF RIGHTS IN PRIVATE ENTERPRISE SYSTEM

“the State recognizes the indispensable role of the private sector,

encourages private enterprise, and provides incentives to needed
investments.”

PRIVATE ENTERPRISE
• Is an economic system under which property of all kinds can
be privately owned and in which individuals, alone or in
association with another, can embark on a business
activity.” (Sec. 4, TESDA Law / RA 7796)
 ARTICLE 2. DATE OF EFFECTIVITY

This Code shall take effect six (6)

months after its promulgation.

THE PRIVATE SECTOR PLAYS

AN “INDISPENSABLE” ROLE,
SOMETHING THE STATE
CANNOT DO WITHOUT.
 ARTICLE 2. DATE OF EFFECTIVITY

This Code shall take effect six (6)

months after its promulgation.

3 INHERENT POWERS OF THE STATE

POLICE POWER POWER OF EMINENT DOMAIN POWER OF TAXATION

-power of promoting -affects only property rights. It -affects only property

the public welfare by may be exercised by some rights and may be
restraining and private entities. The property exercised only by the
regulating the use of forcibly taken under this government.
both liberty and power, upon payment of just
property of all the compensation, is needed for
people conversion to public use.
 ARTICLE 2. DATE OF EFFECTIVITY

This Code shall take effect six (6)

months after its promulgation.

as the basis

POLICE POWER

The power of the Government to enact

laws, within constitutional limits, to
promote the order, safety, health,
morals and general welfare of the
society.
 ARTICLE 2. DATE OF EFFECTIVITY

This Code shall take effect six (6)

months after its promulgation.

Police power in itself has to respect the Constitution.

But the state, when providing by legislation for the

protection of the public health, the public morals, or the
public safety, is subject to and is controlled by the
paramount authority of the constitution of the state,
and will not be permitted to violate rights secured or
guaranteed by that instrument or interfere with the
execution of the powers and rights guaranteed to the
people under their law – the constitution. (Mugler vs.
Kansas, 123 US, 623) (People vs. Pomar, 46 Phil. 455)
 ARTICLE 2. DATE OF EFFECTIVITY

This Code shall take effect six (6)

months after its promulgation.

HISTORY
1968
BLAS F. OPLE
FORMER MINISTER OF LABOR
 ARTICLE 2. DATE OF EFFECTIVITY

This Code shall take effect six (6)

months after its promulgation.

LABOR CODE CONTRIBUTORS

• Department of Labor
• Department of Industry and the Board of Investments
• UP Law Center
• Integrated Bar of the Philippines
• Personnel Management Association of the Philippines
• National Economic and Development Authority
• Various trade union centers
 ARTICLE 2. DATE OF EFFECTIVITY

This Code shall take effect six (6)

months after its promulgation.

• The Code was drafted by the National Tripartite

Congress on April 28, 1973.

• Submitted to the President on May 1, 1974

• On May 1, 1974, it was signed into law as PD No. 442

• PD 570-A
 ARTICLE 2. DATE OF EFFECTIVITY

This Code shall take effect six (6)

PRINCIPLES UNDERLYING
months after its promulgation.
THE CODE

1) Labor relations must be made both responsive and responsible to national

development.

2) Labor laws or labor relations during a period of national emergency must

substitute rationality for confrontation; therefore, strikes or lockouts give away
to a rational process which is arbitration.

3) Laggard justice in the labor field is injurious to the workers, the employers and the
public; labor justice can be made expeditious without sacrificing due process.

4) Manpower development and employment must be regarded as a major

dimension of labor policy, for there can be no real equality of bargaining
power under conditions of severe mass unemployment.
 ARTICLE 2. DATE OF EFFECTIVITY

This Code shall take effect six (6)

PRINCIPLES UNDERLYING
months after its promulgation.
THE CODE
5) There is a global labor market available to qualified Filipinos, especially
those who are unemployed or whose employment is tantamount to
unemployment because of their very little earnings.

6) Labor laws must command adequate resources and acquire a capable

machinery for effective and sustained implementation; otherwise,
they merely breed resentment not only of the workers but also of the
employers. When labor laws cannot be enforced, both the employers
and the workers are penalized, and only a corrupt few — those who
are in charge of implementation — may get the reward they do not
deserve.

7) There should be popular participation in national policy-making

through what is now called tripartism.
 ARTICLE 3. DATE OF EFFECTIVITY
SOME LABOR LAWS
This Code shall take effect six (6)
BEFORE THE PASSAGE
months after its promulgation.
OF THE CODE
• Act No. 1874 – Employer’s Liability Act (June 19, 1908)
• Act No. 2549 – prohibited payment of wages in non-cash form (January 21, 1916)
• Act. 2071 – prohibiting slavery or involuntary servitude
• RA 1054 – Occupation health act; requiring emergency medical treatment for
employees (June 12, 1954)
• CA 444 – Eight-hour labor law (June 3, 1939)
• CA 103 – created the Court of Industrial Relations, precursor of National Labor
Relations Commission
• Industrial Peace Act (RA No. 875) – law governing labor-management relations
• RA 946 (Blue Sunday Law) – used to forbid commercial, industrial, or agricultural
enterprises to open on any Sunday, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, Holy
Thursday, and Good Friday (June 20, 1953)
• RA 1052 as amended by RA 1787 – enumerates the “just causes” for terminating
an employment; security of tenure was non-existent
ARTICLE 3. 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.

PRINCIPLE OF INTERDEPENDENCE
The idea that both sectors – labor and capital - and that one is
inutile without the other.
 ARTICLE 4. CONSTRUCTION IN FAVOR OF
LABOR
All doubts in the implementation and interpretation of the
INTERPRETATION & provisions of this Code, including its implementing rules
and regulations, shall be resolved in favor of labor.
CONSTRUCTION
1. Laborer’s Welfare: Liberal Approach
- working man’s welfare should be the primordial and paramount
consideration.
2. Concern for Lowly Worker
- the lowly worker himself/herself looks up to the law for protection; how
society treats him determines what he does with his knife
3. Reason for According Greater Protection to Employee
- supply and demand for labor; need for employment by labor comes from
vital, even desperate, necessity; equal bargaining relations

4. Justice, the Intention of the Law

- Justice for everyone; justice, not expediency, as the higher end.
 ARTICLE 4. CONSTRUCTION IN FAVOR OF
LABOR
All doubts in the implementation and interpretation of the
MANAGEMENT provisions of this Code, including its implementing rules
and regulations, shall be resolved in favor of labor.
RIGHTS

• It should not be supposed that every labor

dispute will be automatically decided in favor
of labor.
• Entitlement to respect and enforcement in the
interest of simple fair play
• Justice is in every case for the deserving
 ARTICLE 4. CONSTRUCTION IN FAVOR OF
LABOR
All doubts in the implementation and interpretation of the
MANAGEMENT provisions of this Code, including its implementing rules
and regulations, shall be resolved in favor of labor.
RIGHTS

• Right to ROI (return of investment)

• Right to prescribe rules

• Right to select employees

• Right to transfer or discharge employees

 ARTICLE 4. CONSTRUCTION IN FAVOR OF
LABOR
All doubts in the implementation and interpretation of the
MANAGEMENT provisions of this Code, including its implementing rules
and regulations, shall be resolved in favor of labor.
PREROGATIVES
Except as limited by special laws, an employer is free to
regulate, according to his own discretion and judgment, all
aspects of employment, including:

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 DISCIPLINE, DISMISSAL AND RECALL OF
WORKERS.