INTRODUCTION

1987 Constitution

Article II, Sec. 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 18, 20

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.

Section 10. The State shall promote social justice in all phases of national development.

Section 11. The State values the dignity of every human person and guarantees full respect for human
rights.

Section 13. The State recognizes the vital role of the youth in nation-building and shall promote and protect
their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual, and social well-being. It shall inculcate in the youth patriotism
and nationalism, and encourage their involvement in public and civic affairs.

Section 14. The State recognizes the role of women in nation-building, and shall ensure the fundamental
equality before the law of women and men.

Section 18. The State affirms labor as a primary social economic force. It shall protect the rights of workers
and promote their welfare.

Section 20. The State recognizes the indispensable role of the private sector, encourages private
enterprise, and provides incentives to needed investments.

Article III, Sec. 1, 4, 8, 10, 16, 18 (2)

Section 1. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall any
person be denied the equal protection of the laws.

Section 4. No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, or the
right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances.

Section 8. The right of the people, including those employed in the public and private sectors, to form
unions, associations, or societies for purposes not contrary to law shall not be abridged.

Section 10. No law impairing the obligation of contracts shall be passed.

Section 16. All persons shall have the right to a speedy disposition of their cases before all judicial, quasi-
judicial, or administrative bodies.

Section 18 (2). No involuntary servitude in any form shall exist except as a punishment for a crime whereof
the party shall have been duly convicted.

Article XIII, Sec. 1, 2, 3, 13, 14

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.

Section 2. The promotion of social justice shall include the commitment to create economic opportunities
based on freedom of initiative and self-reliance.

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.

Section 13. The State shall establish a special agency for disabled person for their rehabilitation, self-
development, and self-reliance, and their integration into the mainstream of society.

Section 14. The State shall protect working women by providing safe and healthful working conditions,
taking into account their maternal functions, and such facilities and opportunities that will enhance their
welfare and enable them to realize their full potential in the service of the nation.

Labor Code
Article 3, 4, 172, 218, 290 (as amended by R.A. 10395)

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.

Article 4. Construction in favor of labor. All doubts in the implementation and interpretation of the provisions
of this Code, including its implementing rules and regulations, shall be resolved in favor of labor.

ARTICLE 172. [166] Policy. — The State shall promote and develop a tax-exempt employees'
compensation program whereby employees and their dependents, in the event of work-connected disability
or death, may promptly secure adequate income benefit and medical related benefits.

ARTICLE 218. [211] Declaration of Policy. 157 — A. It is the policy of the State:

a. To promote and emphasize the primacy of free collective bargaining and negotiations, including
voluntary arbitration, mediation and conciliation, as modes of settling labor or industrial disputes;
b. To promote free trade unionism as an instrument for the enhancement of democracy and the
promotion of social justice and development;
c. To foster the free and voluntary organization of a strong and united labor movement;
 d. To promote the enlightenment of workers concerning their rights and obligations as union members
and as employees;
e. To provide an adequate administrative machinery for the expeditious settlement of labor or
industrial disputes;
f. To ensure a stable but dynamic and just industrial peace; and
g. To ensure the participation of workers in decision and policy-making processes affecting their
rights, duties and welfare.

ARTICLE 290. [275] Tripartism, Tripartite Conferences, and Tripartite Industrial Peace Councils. 225 — (a)
Tripartism in labor relations is hereby declared a State policy. Towards this end, workers and employers
shall, as far as practicable, be represented in decision and policy-making bodies of the government.

(b) The Secretary of Labor and Employment or his duly authorized representatives may from time to time
call a national, regional, or industrial tripartite conference of representatives of government, workers and
employers, and other interest groups as the case may be, for the consideration and adoption of voluntary
codes of principles designed to promote industrial peace based on social justice or to align labor movement
relations with established priorities in economic and social development. In calling such conference, the
Secretary of Labor and Employment may consult with accredited representatives of workers and employers.

(c) A National Tripartite Industrial Peace Council (NTIPC) shall be established, headed by the Secretary of
Labor and Employment, with twenty (20) representatives each from the labor and employers' sectors to be
designated by the President at regular intervals. For this purpose, a sectoral nomination, selection, and
recall process shall be established by the DOLE in consultation with the sectors observing the 'most
representative' organization criteria of ILO Convention No. 144.

Tripartite Industrial Peace Councils (TIPCs) at the regional or industry level shall also be established with
representatives from government, workers and employers to serve as a continuing forum for tripartite
advisement and consultation in aid of streamlining the role of government, empowering workers' and
employers' organizations, enhancing their respective rights, attaining industrial peace, and improving
productivity.

The TIPCs shall have the following functions:

1. Monitor the full implementation and compliance of concerned sectors with the provisions of all
tripartite instruments, including international conventions and declarations, codes of conduct, and
social accords;
2. Participate in national, regional or industry-specific tripartite conferences which the President or the
Secretary of Labor and Employment may call from time to time;
3. Review existing labor, economic and social policies and evaluate local and international
developments affecting them;
4. Formulate, for submission to the President or to Congress, tripartite views, recommendations and
proposals on labor, economic, and social concerns, including the presentation of tripartite positions
on relevant bills pending in Congress;
5. Advise the Secretary of Labor and Employment in the formulation or implementation of policies and
legislation affecting labor and employment;
6. Serve as a communication channel and a mechanism for undertaking joint programs among
government, workers, employers and their organizations toward enhancing labor-management
relations; and

Adopt its own program of activities and rules, consistent with development objectives.

All
 TIPC shall be an integral part of the organizational structure of the TIPC. The operations of all TIPCs
shall be funded from the regular budget of the DOLE.
Civil Code
Article 19, 1700, 1702

Article 19. Every person must, in the exercise of his rights and in the performance of his duties, act with
justice, give everyone his due, and observe honesty and good faith.

Article 1700. The relations between capital and labor are not merely contractual. They are so impressed
with public interest that labor contracts must yield to the common good. Therefore, such contracts are
subject to the special laws on labor unions, collective bargaining, strikes and lockouts, closed shop, wages,
working conditions, hours of labor and similar subjects.

Article 1702. In case of doubt, all labor legislation and all labor contracts shall be construed in favor of the
safety and decent living for the laborer.

EMPLOYER-EMPLOYEE RELATIONSHIP
A. Elements of Relationship

Labor Code: Article 97 (a), (b), (c), (e); 173 (f), (g); 219 (e) & (f)

Article 97. Definitions. As used in this Title:

(a) "Person" means an individual, partnership, association, corporation, business trust, legal
representatives, or any organized group of persons.
(b) "Employer" includes any person acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to
an employee and shall include the government and all its branches, subdivisions and instrumentalities,
all government-owned or controlled corporations and institutions, as well as non-profit private
institutions, or organizations.
(c) "Employee" includes any individual employed by an employer.

(e) "Employ" includes to suffer or permit to work.

Article 173. Definition of terms. As used in this Title, unless the context indicates otherwise:

(f) "Employer" means any person, natural or juridical, employing the services of the employee.

(g) "Employee" means any person compulsorily covered by the GSIS under Commonwealth Act Numbered
One hundred eighty-six, as amended, including the members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and
any person employed as casual, emergency, temporary, substitute or contractual, or any person
compulsorily covered by the SSS under Republic Act Numbered Eleven hundred sixty-one, as amended.

ARTICLE 219. Definitions.

(e) "Employer" includes any person acting in the interest of an employer, directly or indirectly. The term
shall not include any labor organization or any of its officers or agents except when acting as employer.

(f) "Employee" includes any person in the employ of an employer. The term shall not be limited to the
employees of a particular employer, unless the Code so explicitly states. It shall include any individual
whose work has ceased as a result of or in connection with any current labor dispute or because of any
unfair labor practice if he has not obtained any other substantially equivalent and regular employment.