PHILIPPINES Law and Practice Contributed by: Francis L. Fragante and Jennifer Marie G. Castro, Cruz Marcelo & Tenefrancia
tered with the Department of Labor and Employment to enjoy the rights granted by law to labour unions. The Labor Code provides that employees have the right to conduct a strike in accordance with law. On the other hand, the employer has the right to lock out employees in accordance with the circumstances under the Code. Further, employees may form and join workers’ asso - ciations and other mutual aid and benefit associations for legitimate purposes, other than collective bargain - ing. The following are the minimum standards of benefits: • as a general rule, employers can only require employees to work a maximum of eight hours a day. If the employer requires the employee to work for more than eight hours, such employee is enti - tled to overtime pay at the rate of 25% of the basic hourly rate for an ordinary working day or 30% of the hourly rate for the day for work performed on a holiday or rest day; • it is the duty of the employer to give its employees a rest period of not less than 24 consecutive hours after every six consecutive normal working days; • as a general rule, the employer must give its employees a break of not less than 60 minutes to allow them to have their regular meals; • an employee who has rendered at least one year of service shall be entitled to a yearly paid service incentive leave of at least five days; • any pregnant female employee shall be granted a maternity leave of 105 days with full pay; • a married male employee cohabiting with his spouse is entitled to seven days of leave with pay on the condition that his spouse has delivered a child or suffered a miscarriage; • in addition to leave privileges under existing laws, a solo parent is entitled to not more than seven days leave with pay provided that they had rendered one year of service; • women who are victims of violence shall be entitled to ten days of leave with pay; • women employees who undergo surgery caused by gynaecological disorders shall be granted two months of leave with full pay;
• compliance with the minimum wage; • if an employee works on their rest day or on a special day (which is not a holiday), the employee is entitled to premium pay of at least 30% of their regular wage; • if an employee works on a holiday, that employee is entitled to holiday pay; • if an employee works between the hours of ten o’clock in the evening to six o’clock in the morning, such employee is entitled to night shift differential which is equivalent to 10% of the employee’s regu - lar wage for each hour of work performed; • employers must pay their employees the 13th month pay, which should not be less than one- twelfth of the total basic salary earned by an employee within a calendar year; • retiring employees must receive their retirement pay equivalent to one-half month salary for every year of service; and • provision of lactation stations and lactation breaks for nursing employees. In addition, the employer is required to register itself and its employees with the Social Security System (SSS), Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Phil - Health) and the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG). 10.2 Employee Compensation Employees are generally compensated through cash and statutory benefits (including discretionary bonus - es, stock options, retirement benefits, etc) under the Labor Code. Other kinds of compensation, or amounts above the minimum standards under the Labor Code, may be as stipulated in the employment contract (including performance/discretionary bonuses, stock options, retirement benefits, etc). Republic Act No 7641, amended Article 301 of the Labor Code, governs company retirement plans. Upon reaching the retirement age established in the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) or applicable employee contract, an employee may be retired. Upon retirement, an employee is entitled to the retirement benefits established in the CBA or applicable employ - ee contract, provided that the terms thereof are not less than those established in law.
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