Labor Laws in the Philippines

This article covers:

• What are Philippine Time Management Laws?
• What are the Hiring, Working, and Termination Laws in the Philippines?
• Philippine Payment Laws
• What are Philippine Overtime Laws?
• What are Philippine Time Off/Break Laws?
• Philippine Leave Laws
• What are Philippine Child Labor Laws?

What are Philippine Time Management Laws?

In the Philippines, the Labor Code of the Philippines governs working conditions and labor relations in the country. Also known as Presidential Decree No. 442, this legislation was promulgated in 1974 to define and protect the rights of Filipino workers. It’s an exhaustive document that outlines everything employers and employees need to know about labor legalities in the Philippines in seven books, such as minimum employable age, work hours and overtime, wages, holidays, hiring and firing of private employees, employee benefits including holiday, thirteenth-month, and retirement pay, benefits, and guidelines in organizing and joining labor unions and collective bargaining among others.

The Labor Code of the Philippines contains the specifications of conditions of employment such as normal hours of work, overtime, holidays, service incentive leaves, and service charges. Normal hours of work shall not exceed 8 hours a day and include short rest periods and at least an hour of time off for regular meals. The right to a weekly rest day is also defined in this legislation, which amounts to 24 consecutive hours after six consecutive working days. 

Wages and their payment, including minimum wage rates, overtime rates, rates for work done on holidays, Sundays, and rest days, night shift differential, prohibitions, as well as wage agreements and determinations are also discussed in a general manner by the Code. However, it does not prescribe a country-wide minimum wage. Rates vary per region according to the prescriptions of the proper Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards.

Over the years, the Labor Code of the Philippines has been amended many times to make it even more comprehensive and true to its purpose of protecting the rights of Filipino workers and is most certainly going to be further amended as times change and Philippine society progresses in its understanding of labor and all its intricacies.

In 2017, the Philippine Congress approved House Bill No. 6152, also known as the Compressed Workweek Scheme. It allowed the increase of normal work hours per day without increasing the 48-hour per week limit under a compressed workweek scheme to promote work efficiency and labor productivity, amending several provisions of the Labor Code. Under this legislation, businesses can adopt a compressed workweek scheme that reduces the normal workweek to less than six days, allowing them to increase daily working hours beyond the original 8-hour period but without exceeding the 48-hour weekly limit. It also increased the rest day rights of employees working under a compressed workweek scheme from at least 24 consecutive hours to at least 48 consecutive hours, but not more than 72 hours. The schedule for these rest periods shall be determined by the employer based on collective bargaining agreements and any directives from the Secretary of Labor, and fully respecting employee preferences based on religious grounds. 

Aside from the Labor Code and its amendments over the years, there are also other laws passed by the Philippine Congress, as well as Presidential Decrees, departmental orders from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), other jurisprudence — and even a handbook — that are promulgated to safeguard the rights and working conditions of Filipino workers and special groups of employees. These include women, minors, house helpers, and home workers, who were historically marginalized and accorded lesser rights and privileges than adult male colleagues before the Code was promulgated. 

With the promulgation of the Code, women’s equal footing with male colleagues was enshrined in law, such as being paid the same rates as men and having equal opportunities for promotion, training opportunities, study, and scholarship grants, and the prohibition against terminating or depriving female employees of any of those rights and benefits due to pregnancy and pregnancy-related confinement.

Aside from that, the Labor Code also outlines health, safety, and social welfare benefits for workers. It also contains post-employment and termination guidelines, penal provisions and liabilities, and prescription of offenses and claims, clearly defining unfair labor practices and the penalties for those.

Employers who willfully act in contravention of the specifications of the Labor Code of the Philippines will find themselves facing severe repercussions as outlined in its various articles. And since the Code heavily favors employees, it would be in the best interest of employers to adhere to its prescriptions to avoid incurring costly penalties, in addition to ensuring that their employees are treated and compensated fairly, protected from abuse, and able to enjoy an optimal work-life balance.

What are the Hiring, Working, and Termination Laws in the Philippines?

Hiring, firing, and working laws are exhaustively discussed in the Labor Code of the Philippines. It specifies the minimum employable age, conditions for work, and the procedures and various causes for termination that employers and employees must follow in order to avoid penalties.

The minimum employable age for Filipino workers is 15 years old provided that their employment does not interfere with their schooling, and persons under 18 years old are prohibited from being employed in jobs that are considered hazardous according to the Secretary of Labor and Employment.

What are the Hiring Laws in the Philippines?

Hiring in the Philippines falls under two categories, regular and casual. 

• Casual employment means that an employee is contracted to work for a specific project with effectivity terms clearly defined at the time of hiring, or for a project or season not exceeding twelve months, after the completion of which they are considered terminated. 
• Regular employment is when an employee is hired to perform tasks necessary or desirable activity that is beneficial to the business or trade of the employer, usually after rendering at least a year of service. An employee may also be considered regularized when casual employment exceeds twelve months. 

Employment discrimination is prohibited by the Labor Code of the Philippines. When hiring, employers are not allowed to discriminate against employees based on, but not limited to the following:

• Sex, gender, and sexual orientation
• Age
• Ethnicity or race
• Religion or lack of one
• Marital and pregnancy status
• Solo parent status
• Disability including mental health conditions
• Medical conditions and diseases, including HIV, tuberculosis, Hepatitis B, and cancer
• Union membership

The Code directs organizations to ensure that policies aimed at preventing and punishing discrimination according to the tenets of the law are in place and enforced. 

What are Termination Laws in the Philippines?

Termination of employment in the Philippines requires just causes or authorized causes. It must be understood that unlike most other countries, at-will employment is non-existent in the Philippines, and the right to security of tenure is guaranteed by the Labor Code and subsequent legislation. This means that when terminating a casual employee before the end of a contract or a regular employee at any time during their employment, employers must first identify and prove a just cause or an authorized cause for their dismissal. 

Just causes are grounds for dismissal based on undesirable behavior that the employer has observed in the employee during the period of their employment. These include serious misconduct or improper actions against the employer, co-workers, or the organization, such as the following: 

• Sexual harassment
• Substance use in the workplace
• Theft from the company or a colleague
• Physical assault of a colleague
• Forgery
• Inappropriate remarks
• Immorality
• Pressure and influence on a colleague that leads to physical and/or moral damage,
• Consistent irregularities such as habitual tardiness and absenteeism
• Willful disobedience
• Gross and habitual neglect of duty
• Fraud or breach of trust
• Commission of a crime or offense that causes bodily harm against the employer, their family members, or their duly appointed representatives
• Violation of company policies and regulations
• Incompetence or inefficiency
• Failure to achieve work quota
• Attitude problems that put a strain on company performance or negatively affect the working environment

Dismissing employees based on just causes requires the employer to ensure that due process is followed. This means identifying the causes, gathering evidence supporting the justification, and providing them with a written notice of intent to terminate that outlines the reason for their termination along with the evidence for it at least 30 days before the termination date. A copy of the notice must also be sent to the regional office of the Department of Labor and Employment governing the location. 

Once the notice has been given, employees may submit a written response to either accept the dismissal or challenge it. Should they choose to challenge it, they should be given a fair hearing where they can plead their case. If after that the employer still thinks that it’s justifiable to dismiss the employee, they should then submit a second and final notice of termination, with copies furnished to the governing DOLE regional office. As soon as termination is finalized, the employer must calculate and disburse the appropriate amount of severance pay for the employee. 

Authorized causes on the other hand refer to legally justified reasons based on business or health considerations, and not any wrongdoing of the employee. These causes include the following:

• Installation of labor-saving devices that render manual labor obsolete or unprofitable
• Redundancy in positions or tasks in relation to what economic and operational capacity dictates
• Retrenchment to prevent losses
• Closure of business
• Illness or diseases that prohibit their employment, are proven to negatively affects their health and that of their colleagues, or is declared by a competent public health authority to be incurable within six months even with appropriate medical treatment.

Dismissing employees based on authorized causes requires employers to identify the cause and establish proof of it. Once an authorized cause has been identified and established, employers must then send termination notices to affected employees outlining the cause and proof at least 30 days before the termination date with copies furnished to the governing DOLE regional office. After that, employers must immediately calculate and disburse the appropriate amount of separation pay for the affected employees as dictated by the Labor Code:

• Termination due to the installment of labor-saving devices or redundancy: One month’s salary or an amount equivalent to one month’s salary multiplied by the number of years they’ve served in the company rounded to a year after six months, whichever is higher. 
• Termination due to retrenchment, closure, or illnesses and diseases: One month’s salary or an amount equivalent to a half-month’s salary multiplied by the number of years in service rounded to a year after six months, whichever is higher.

Wrongful or illegal dismissal is the failure to establish a just cause or an authorized cause, as well as failure to follow the due process of dismissal in part or in full. If found guilty of such, employers may face a host of harsh penalties that include heavy fines, as well as litigation costs and indemnifications mandated by the court. Indemnifications may include the following:

• Immediate reinstatement to the position from which they were terminated without impact on seniority rights
• Payment of back wages including salary, allowances, and other monetary benefits that span the period of their dismissal up to their reinstatement
• Separation pay based on the previously-discussed calculation policies if the courts find that the relationship between employer and employee does not allow the option of reinstatement
• Damages if dismissal is done illegally or wrongfully

Retirement is considered to be another form of termination. Upon reaching the retirement age specified in their employment contract or the specifications of the collective bargaining agreement, employees are entitled to retirement benefits outlined by the law, collective bargaining agreements, and other agreements. In case there are no plans or agreements for retirement, the Labor Code of the Philippines specifies that an employee may choose to retire once they reach 60 years old, and it becomes compulsory once they reach 65, provided that they have served at least 5 years in the organization. Once retired, they are entitled to retirement pay that is at least a half month’s salary for every year of service rendered. If their duration of service contains a fraction of at least six months, it shall be considered a full year.

Termination of the working relationship by the employee is also an option. Employees can also choose to terminate their working relationship with the employer without a just cause by serving a written notice to their employer at least 30 days before the date of effectivity. This notice, more commonly referred to as a resignation letter, is important, as employees may be held liable for damages by the employer if no such notice is served, a practice called “awol” in the local parlance, which finds its roots in the acronym AWOL, standing for “absent without leave”.

When there are just causes for the termination of the working relationship by the employee, they are not required to serve a written notice when terminating their working relationship with their employer. These causes include the following: 

• Insults to the person and honor of the employee by the employer or their duly appointed representative
• Inhuman and unbearable treatment
• Commission of a crime or offense by the employer or their authorized representatives against the employee and/or their immediate family members
• Any similar causes

What are the Key Labor Laws in the Philippines?

Aside from the Labor Code of the Philippines and its amendments that were discussed previously, there are also other legislation that govern labor and labor relations in the Philippines. Here is a list of significant Philippine labor laws and their brief descriptions. 

• Herrera Law (R.A. No. 6175) — This is first major revision of the Labor Code 1989 authored by Senator Ernesto Herrera, from whom the law takes its name. It is intended to extend protection to workers, strengthen their rights, foster industrial peace and harmony, promote the preferential use of voluntary means of settling labor disputes, and reorganize the National Labor Relations Commission.
• Wage Rationalization Act (R.A. No. 6727) — This law codified the creation of the National Wages and Productivity Comission (NWPC) as the central advisory and consultative body on wages, incomes, and productivity, and the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards (RTWPBs) composed of representatives from the government, corporations, and labor to ensure a fair and equitable system for setting wages and determining wage increases across different regions of the country
• Social Security Law of 1954 (R.A. No. 1161) — This law created the social security system that provides sickness, unemployment, retirement, disability, and death benefits to employees.
• 13th-Month Pay Law (P.D. No. 851) — This Presidential Decree requires all employers to provide a 13-month pay equivalent to a month’s salary before the end of the year. In the latest guidelines released by the Department of Labor and Employment through Labor Advisory No. 25, Series of 2023, the minimum 13th-month pay should be at least one-twelfth (1/12) of the total salary earned by an employee within the calendar year.
• Expanded Maternity Leave Law (R.A. No. 11210) — This law is an update on the provisions of previous legislations, expanding paid maternity leave and benefits from 60 days for normal delivery and 78 days for a caesarian operation to 105 days with an option to add 30 more days without pay. It also grants 15 additional paid maternity leave days for solo parents. 
• Paternity Leave Act (R.A. No 8187) — The Paternity Leave Act grants married male employees seven days of paid leave for the first four deliveries of their legitimate spouse. 
• Domestic Workers Act/Kasambahay Law (R.A. No. 10361) — This law repealed certain provisions of the Labor Code of the Philippines to promote the welfare and protect the rights of house helpers, setting forth minimum labor standards including wages, benefits, and working conditions.
• Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Law (R.A. No. 9262) — Under this law, victims are granted 10 days of paid leave of absence plus other paid leaves under the Labor Code and Civil Service Rules and Regulations. This leave can be extended as necessary according to the stipulations of the protection order.
• Retirement Pay Law  (R.A. No. 7641) — This law mandates the provision of retirement benefits by private organizations to their qualified members.
• Employee’s Compensation and State Insurance Fund (P.D. No. 626) — This Presidential Decree codifies the promotion and development of a compensation program for employees who suffer work-related disability or death  and their dependents. The Employees Compensation Commission is the agency in charge of the implementation of the Employees’ Compensation Program, the review and decision of EC claims denied by the Social Security System (SSS) and Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), and the initiation of policies and programs for occupational health and safety.
• Magna Carta for Persons with Disability (R.A. No. 7277) — This law ensures equal opportunity for employment of disabled persons. It prohibits employers from denying them access to employment opportunities and states that employees with disability should be given the same compensation, privileges, and benefits as qualified able-bodied employees.
• Anti-Sexual Harassment Act (R.A. No. 7877) — This law declares sexual harassment by a superior in the workplace as unlawful, with prescribed penalties. Such harassment includes instances when the act is made as a condition for hiring.
• Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act (R.A. No. 7160) — Under this law, the employment of children below 15 years old is legalized, on the condition that the employer secures a work permit from the Department of Labour and Employment beforehand and ensures the protection of the child.
• Service Charge Law (R.A. No. 11360) — This law amends a section of the Labor Code to provide the distribution of 100% of service charges collected by hotels, restaurants, and similar establishments to their employees. Previously, only 85% of service charges went to employees, and employers kept 15%. 
• Anti-Age Discrimination in Employment Law (R.A. No. 10911) — This law promotes equal work opportunities through the prohibition of arbitrary age limitations in the hiring of applicants and the dismissal and retirement of employees.

Philippine Payment Laws

Previously, we’ve discussed provisions of the Labor Code of the Philippines regarding wages. In this section, we’ll look into the details of minimum wage standards, including any exceptions that may apply.

What is the Minimum Payment in the Philippines?

The Philippines does not have a standard minimum wage that covers all employees in the country, as wages are decided upon by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board proper to each region. Minimum wages also differ by sector, and in most cases, daily rates for the agricultural sector are lower than those of other sectors, and wages for domestic workers are prescribed in monthly terms in contrast to the daily rates of other sectors. 

Here’s a rundown of the minimum wages for all 12 regions of the Philippines as of the end 2023.

What are the Exceptions for Minimum Payment in the Philippines?

It is illegal for employers to pay less than the wage specified by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board governing their business location. However, the Wage Rationalization Act of 1989 automatically exempts BMBE-certified businesses classified as micro or sole proprietorships from paying minimum wage rates.

Retail and service businesses with 10 employees or less in Metro Manila and Western Visayas and micro-enterprises still recovering from the effects of the pandemic, natural calamities, or human-induced disasters may also apply for exemptions for a limited time. However, until and unless they have secured an exemption, they are still obligated to pay minimum wage rates.

The Labor Code also allows employers to pay employees classified as apprentices and learners up to 25% less than the minimum wage rate applicable to their location and sector.

What is the Pay for Night Shifts in the Philippines?

The Labor Code of the Philippines states that employers should pay their workers a night shift differential for work conducted from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. the following day. The night shift differential is defined as an addition of at least 10% to the basic pay rate. 

What is the Payment Due Date in the Philippines?

According to the Labor Code of the Philippines, employers should pay their employees at least once every two weeks, with intervals of no more than 16 days. A degree of leniency is afforded with the stipulation that employers can pay once a month, but no less frequently than that. 

When force majeure or circumstances beyond the employer’s control interfere with their ability to pay according to the specifications of the code, they must pay the wages owed as soon as circumstances allow. 

In the case of contractual work where the task cannot be completed within two weeks, workers must be paid at intervals of no more than 16 days, proportionate to the progress of the work. The final settlement must be accomplished once the project is finished.

What are Philippine Overtime Laws?

In the Philippines, any work done over the 8 hours allotted as normal hours per workday is considered overtime. For this, employees must be paid their regular rate plus an additional OT pay of at least 25% of their regular rate. On rest days and holidays, employees must be paid the prescribed holiday and rest day rates plus an additional OT pay of at least 30% of their holiday or rest day rates.

The Code further states that undertime on any particular day cannot be offset by overtime on any other day.

What are Overtime Exceptions and Exemptions in the Philippines?

According to the Labor Code of the Philippines, employees exempt from being paid overtime are managerial employees, and field personnel who are defined as non-agricultural employees working away from the main place of business and whose actual hours of work cannot be determined with absolute certainty.

What are Philippine Time Off/Break Laws?

The Philippine Labor Code directs employers to give their workers “rest periods of short duration” within regular hours, such as coffee breaks or rest periods of 15-20 minutes. However, it does not explicitly say when and how many of these breaks employees may take during the workday, though it is common practice for establishments to allow one rest period every four hours.

What are Philippine Meal-Break Laws?

In the Philippines, the Labor Code specifies that employers must provide their employees a break of at least one hour for regular meals for every workday. 

This hour-long break can be abbreviated to as short as 20 minutes when:

• work is non-manual or does not involve strenuous physical exertion;
• the establishment regularly operates not less than sixteen hours a day
• there are actual or impending emergencies
• there is urgent work to be performed on machinery and equipment or installations that may cause serious losses to the employer if delayed
• work is necessary to prevent serious loss of perishable goods

What are Philippine Breastfeeding Laws?

Pursuant to R.A. No. 10028, the DOLE Department Order No. 143 s. 2015 dictates that employees who are lactating or breastfeeding their infants or young children should be given paid lactation periods of no less than 40 minutes for every 8-hour work period, separate from their regular meal breaks. 

Furthermore, establishments are directed to provide a lactation station or breastfeeding room where lactating or breastfeeding employees can safely and comfortably express their breast milk or breastfeed their infants or young children. Lactation stations must be private, clean, sanitary, and conducive for expressing breastmilk, storing it, and washing up afterward.

What is the Philippine Day of Rest Law?

The Labor Code of the Philippines specifies that employees have a right to a day of rest lasting no less than 24 hours after working for six consecutive normal working days. If the workplace operates under a compressed workweek scheme, the period is expanded to at least 48 hours but no more than 72 hours. 

The schedule and duration of weekly rest days are to be determined by employers subject to collective bargaining agreement and any directives from the Secretary of Labor. However, such scheduling must fully respect the preferences of employees when based on religious grounds — usually Sundays, as the majority of the population identifies as Catholic Christians.

Under certain circumstances, employers may require their employees to show up for work on their rest days. Reasons for such requirements include the need to prevent loss of life or property in the face of actual or impending emergencies caused by serious accidents, fire, flood, typhoons, earthquakes, epidemics, or similar disasters or calamities, prevention of serious loss to the employer by performing urgent work on equipment, machinery, and installations, preservation of perishable goods, abnormal work pressure due to circumstances beyond the control of the employer, and when operations require continuity and the stoppage work would cause severe losses to the employer. Other similar circumstances may also be considered as grounds by the Secretary of Labor for requiring work on rest days. 

If employees are made to work on their rest days or Sundays, they are entitled to an additional pay of at least 30% of their regular pay rate. If they are required to work on rest days that also fall on holiday dates, they are entitled to an additional pay amounting to at least 50% of their holiday pay rate. 

Philippine Leave Laws

The right to service incentive leaves is outlined in the Labor Code of the Philippines. However, beyond that, the Code does not say much else about leave rights. Thankfully, subsequent legislation has expanded on the concept, resulting in the current legal guidelines governing leaves in the Philippines. 

What is Philippine Required Leave?

The original stipulations of the Labor Code of the Philippines require employers to provide their workers who have served the establishment for at least a year with service incentive leaves of five full days of leave with pay every year. These paid leave days may be used for vacation or sickness. However, it does not apply to employees already enjoying paid vacation leaves of at least five days. If these leaves are unused at the end of the year, the Code directs employers to convert them to cash.

Maternity leave is another required leave for Philippine employers, as directed by R.A. No. 7322. This law expanded the period of paid maternity leave from 60 days for normal delivery and 78 days for a caesarian operation to 105 days regardless of the method of delivery. In addition to that, maternity leave may be expanded with the addition of 30 days without pay subject to certain conditions, which helps new mothers to maximize the time that they spend with their infants in the postnatal period. 

Solo parents who have recently given birth are also granted an additional 15 days of paid maternity leave on top of the 105 days specified in the Expanded Maternity Leave Law.

In the case of miscarriage or emergency termination of pregnancy, affected employees are still entitled to paid maternity leave, but only for 60 days. 

Paternity Leave applies to married male employees whose spouses are about to give birth or have recently given birth. This amounts to 7 days of paid leave which may be expanded to 14 days if the male employee’s wife is employed in the same establishment and decides to transfer her leave credits to him under the stipulations of the Expanded Maternity Leave Law.

However, paternity leave can only be claimed four times, regardless of whether the cause is a live birth or termination of pregnancy (either by miscarriage or emergency termination). The Paternity Leave Law also specifies that to claim the leave, the male employee must be legally married and cohabiting with the pregnant woman. Children born out of wedlock do not qualify male employees for paternity leave.

Parental leave for solo parents, amounting to seven paid full days a year, is provided by R.A No. 8972 to employees who are left alone with the duties and responsibilities of parenthood due to a variety of circumstances. These include giving birth as a result of rape, the death of a spouse, the detention of a spouse due to criminal conviction for at least a year, and the physical or mental incapacitation of a spouse. Employees suffering the abandonment by a spouse or legal separation for at least one year or those whose marriages were annulled, provided that they have custody of the children, are also qualified for parental leave for solo parents. 

Unmarried fathers and mothers who chose to keep and rear their children alone, duly licensed foster parents or duly appointed legal guardians providing sole care for children, and any family members who solely assume the responsibility of being the head of a family due to the death or at least a year-long abandonment, absence, or disappearance of a child’s parents are likewise entitled to this leave.

Leave for Victims of Violence Against Women and Their Children is provided by R.A. No. 9262 for female employees who may be experiencing such, amounting to 10 fully paid days, intended to give them time to attend to medical and legal concerns. This leave may be extended as the need arises according to the specifications of protection orders issued by the barangay or the court.

R.A. No. 9710, also known as the Magna Carta Of Women, provides Special Leave Benefits for women who undergo operations for gynecological disorders. The law entitles women who have served for at least six months continuously for the last twelve months before surgery to a two-month leave with pay. 

What is Philippine Non-Required Leave?

Aside from the leave types previously discussed, the Labor Code of the Philippines does not require employers to grant any other types of leave. However, it is customary and even expected of employers to provide time off such as the following:

• Sick leave (outside of the Special Incentive Leave): up to 15 days
• Bereavement leave (for the death of immediate family members, grandparents, and parents-in-law): up to three days
• Vacation leave:up to 18 days

What are Philippine Holiday Laws?

The Philippines is noted for having a lot of holidays, which are classified as either regular or special non-working holidays. On these days, employees may take the day off unless required to work by their employers. 

The Labor Code dictates that employers should pay employees their full daily rate on regular holidays even when they don’t show up for work, and if they are required to work on those days, they are entitled to double wages. On special non-working holidays, employees can take the day off without pay, but if they are required to work on those days, they are entitled to receive an additional payment of at least 30% of their daily rate.

Here’s a rundown of holidays in the Philippines for 2024.

What are Philippine Child Labor Laws?

In the Philippines, The Labor Code specifies the minimum employable age for Filipino workers is 15 years old. It is legal to employ minors 15 to 18 years old, provided that their employment does not interfere with their schooling. The Labor Code states that children aged 15 to 18 years old may only work jobs that are not considered to be hazardous or deleterious as defined by the Secretary of Labor and Employment, such as those with a risk of exposure to harmful chemicals, exposure to viral or bacterial agents, operation of dangerous machinery, and similar jobs.

Children below 15 years old may be permitted to work according to the Labor Code provided that their job is under the direct and sole responsibility of a parent or guardian in an establishment where only family members are employed. Such employment should not involve any hazardous undertakings.

P.D. No. 603, otherwise known as the Child and Youth Welfare Code, stipulates that the employment of children below 16 years old must not prejudice their attendance in school. R.A. 7610, also known as the Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse, Exploitation, and Discrimination Act, further specifies that the employment of children below 15 years old should not be detrimental to their health, morals, development, and safety.

Important Cautionary Note

When making this guide, we have tried to make it as accurate as possible. However, we do not give any guarantee that the information provided is correct or up-to-date. We therefore strongly advise you to seek advice from qualified professionals before acting on any information provided in this guide. We do not accept any liability for any damages or risks incurred by the use of this guide.