LABOR STANDARDS

INTRODUCTION
Atty. Rene Bonto
July 9, 2018, Monday
COURSE OBJECTIVE
★ To introduce the students to the basic concepts related to labor law,
particularly with labor standards.
GRADING SYSTEM
1. There will be two (2) major exams: midterm and final

1. Grading System:

a. Oral Recitation - 25%

b. Quizzes – 25%
c. Mid/Final Examinations – 50%
HOUSE RULES
1. Minimize noise. Let us maximize our limited time.
2. No cellphones during class
3. Do not delay the class. Prepare before going to class.
4. Prepare the projector before the start of the class
5. Pay your tuition fees/get your permits
6. Ask good questions
7. All senses geared towards passing the BAR!
A. Definition of labor, work v. labor; worker v.
employee
➢ Labor -
❖ it is the exertion by human beings of physical or mental efforts,
or both towards the production of goods and services

❖ It also means the sector or group which derive its livelihood

chiefly from a rendition of work or services in exchange for
compensation under managerial direction
Art. 1. Name of the decree
To understand labor laws, we must study the ff:

➢ Labor Code of the Philippines (PD 442)

➢ Constitution
➢ IRRs (Labor Code, NLRC, POEA)
➢ Other related labor laws and their IRR
➢ cases
B. Date of effectivity of the Labor Code
➢ November 1, 1974 (6 months after its promulgation on May 1, 1974)

➢ Labor legislation

❖ governs the relation between capital and labor

❖ Provides for certain employment standards and a legal
framework to enforce them

➢ Divided into 2 (labor standards and labor relations)

B1. APPLICABILITY OF THE LABOR CODE
The Labor Code does not apply to GOCCs with original charters.

Art. IX, Section 2.

1. The civil service embraces all branches, subdivisions, instrumentalities, and
agencies of the Government, including government-owned or controlled
corporations with original charters.
B1. APPLICABILITY OF THE LABOR CODE
Is ER-EE relationship a precondition for the Labor Code to apply? Not at all times.

Ex: the code applies even in ff cases where there is no ER-EE relationship

1. Indirect ER’s responsibility (DO 174)

2. Illegal recruitment cases
3. Misuse of POEA license
SOCIAL LEGISLATIONS
Those laws that provide particular kinds of protection or benefits to society or
segments thereof in furtherance of social justice.
C. Labor legislations v. Social legislations

*Maternity Children's Hospital v. SOLE, GR 78909, June 30, 1989 - Badon

Labor law v. Social legislation
LABOR LEGISLATION SOCIAL LEGISLATION

Effect to employment Directly affects employment Governs the effects of

(eg wages) employment (eg compensation
for injuries)

purpose Designed to meet the daily needs Involves long range benefits
of workers

coverage Covers employment for profit or Covers employment for profit and
gain non-profit

Effect to employee Affects the work of employee Affects the life of employee

payor Benefits are paid by the worker’s Benefits are paid by government
employer agencies (eg ECC)
D. Labor standards v. Labor relations
➢ Labor standards

■ deals with the minimum standards as to wages, hours of work,

other terms and conditions of employment

➢ Labor relations

❖ Defines the status, rights, and duties, as well as the institutional

mechanism that govern the individual as well as collective
interactions between employers, employees and their
representatives
Sample Bar exam illustrating the connection
between Labor Standards and Relations
Welfare legislation
● Provides for the minimum economic security of the worker and his family in
case of loss of earnings due to death, old age, disability, dismissal, injury or
disease. (Alcantara)
E. Welfare legislation v. Social legislation

Welfare legislation Social legislation

Provides for the minimum economic Provides for particular kinds of protection or
security of the worker and his family benefits to society or segments thereof in
furtherance of social justice

Predicated upon Er-Ee relationship NOT PREDICATED - intended to enhance

the welfare of the people even without Er-
Ee relationship
F. Sources of labor laws, special laws
● Constitution
● Legislation
● Implementing Rules and Regulations
● Contracts/CBA
● Company policy
● Company past practices
Constitutional
G. Constitutional
Mandates
provisions on labor, mandates
Art XIII. Section 3. The State shall afford full protection to labor, local and overseas, organized and
unorganized, and promote full employment and equality of employment opportunities for all.

It shall guarantee the rights of all workers to self-organization, collective bargaining and negotiations, and
peaceful concerted activities, including the right to strike in accordance with law. They shall be entitled to
security of tenure, humane conditions of work, and a living wage. They shall also participate in policy and
decision-making processes affecting their rights and benefits as may be provided by law.

The State shall promote the principle of shared responsibility between workers and employers and the
preferential use of voluntary modes in settling disputes , including conciliation, and shall enforce their
mutual compliance therewith to foster industrial peace.

The State shall regulate the relations between workers and employers, recognizing the right of labor to its
just share in the fruits of production and the right of enterprises to reasonable returns to investments, and
to expansion and growth.
Constitutional
G. Constitutional
Mandates
provisions on labor, mandates
Art II. Section 9. 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.
Constitutional
G. Constitutional
Mandates
provisions on labor, mandates
Art. II, Section 10. The State shall promote social justice in all phases of national
development.
Constitutional
G. Constitutional
Mandates
provisions on labor, mandates
Art. II, Section 18. The State affirms labor as a primary social economic force. It
shall protect the rights of workers and promote their welfare
Constitutional
G. Constitutional
Mandates
provisions on labor, mandates
Art. II, Section 18. The State affirms labor as a primary social economic force. It
shall protect the rights of workers and promote their welfare
Constitutional
G. Constitutional
Mandates
provisions on labor, mandates
● Art. XIII, Sec 3 - full protection to labor
● Art. II, Sec 9 - full employment
● Art. II, Sec 18 - labor as a primary social economic force
● Art. III, Sec 8 - right to form unions, associations or societies
● Art. III, Sec 18 (2) - involuntary servitude
● Art VI, The Labor Sector (party list)
● Art. XII, Sec. 12 - preferential use of Filipino labor, materials
● Art XIII, Sec 14 - protection of working women
● Art. XVI, Sec 8 - pension of retirees
H. Other laws related to labor
RELATED LAWS: Special Laws
1. Social Security System (RA 8282)
2. GSIS LAW (RA 8291)
3. National Health Insurance Act (7875 as amended)
4. Paternity Leave Act (RA 8187)
5. Retirement Pay Law (RA 7641)
6. Home Mutual Development Fund Law (RA 9679)
7. Anti-sexual Harassment Act (RA 7877)
8. Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination
Act (RA 9231)
RELATED LAWS: Special Laws
9. 13th Month Pay Law (PD 851)
10. Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act (RA 8042)
11. Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (RA 6657)
12. Magna Carta for Public Health Workers (RA 7305)
13. Limited Portability Law (RA 7699)
14. An Act allowing the Employment of Night Workers (RA 10151)
15. Magna Carta for Disabled Persons (RA 7277)
16. Domestic Workers Act or Batas Kasambahay (RA 10361)
17. AN ACT TO ENCOURAGE PRODUCTIVITY AND MAINTAIN
INDUSTRIAL PEACE (RA 6971)
RELATED LAWS: Civil Code
● Art 19 - abuse of rights
● Art 1700 - relation between labor and capital is impressed with public interest
● Art 1701 - oppression between capital and labor
● Art 1702 - construction in favor of the safety and decent living of laborer
(related to Art 4, LC)
● Art 1703 - involuntary servitude
● Art 1708 - tools and other articles of the laborer
● Art 1710 - Dismissal of laborers
RELATED LAWS: Revised Penal Code
● Art 272 - slavery
● Art 273 - exploitation of child labor
● Art 274 - compulsion in payment of debt
● Art 278 - exploitation of minors
● Art 297 - revealing secrets with abuse of office
● Art 292 - revelation of industrial secrets
● Art 289 - formation, maintenance and prohibition of combination of capital or
labor
I. International aspect
● The International Labor Organization ( ILO)

● CEDAW
J. Police power as the basis, social justice as the
aim
Police power as the basis
● It is the power of the government to enact laws, within constitutional limits, to
promote the order, safety, health, morals, and general welfare of society
(People v. Reyes, GR 45748)
Social Justice as the aim

*Calalang v. Williams, GR 47800 - Balbuena

*Philippine Association of Service Exporters v. Drilon, GR 81958, June 30, 1988 -
Bangcal
Calalang v. Williams

What is Social Justice?

“It is the promotion of the welfare of all people. It is neither

communism, 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.”
K. The Principle of Shared Responsibility (Art. xIII,
Sec 3)

Section 3, last para.

“The State shall regulate the relations between workers and employers,
recognizing the right of labor to its just share in the fruits of production and the
right of enterprises to reasonable returns to investments, and to expansion and
growth.
The Bolshevik Revolution of 1917
In the early 1900s, Russia was one of the most impoverished countries in Europe with an enormous
peasantry and a growing minority of poor industrial workers.
The Maoist Ideology
The Philippine brand of Communism
The CPP / NPA / NDF
L. Basic rights of workers guaranteed by the
Constitution
Under Labor Standards

○ Right to security of tenure

○ Right to receive a living wage
○ Right to share in the fruits of production
○ Right to work under humane conditions (Art. XIII, Sec 3)

Under Labor Relations

○ Right to organize
○ Right to conduct collective bargaining or negotiation with management
○ Right to engage in peaceful concerted activities including to strike
○ Rights to participate in policy and decision-making making process (Art. XIII, Sec. 3)
M. Employer and Employee, defined
Varying definitions of EMPLOYER and EMPLOYEE in the
Labor Code
EMPLOYER EMPLOYEE

Art. 97 Any person acting directly or indirectly in the interest of Includes any individual employed
(Wages) an employer in relation to an employee and shall include by an employer
the govt and all its subdivisions, agencies and
instrumentalities, GOCCs and institutions, as well as
profit/non-profit organizations

Art 167 Any person natural or juridical, employing the services Any person compulsorily covered
(State of an employee by the GSIS, including the
Compensa members of the AFP, and any
tion and person employed as casual,
Insurance emergency, temporary, etc OR
Fund) any person compulsorily covered
by the SSS
Varying definitions of EMPLOYER and EMPLOYEE in the
Labor Code
EMPLOYER EMPLOYEE

Art. 212 Includes any person acting in the interest of an Includes any person in the employ
(Labor employer, directly or indirectly of an employer
Relations)
END