Book 1

• PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 442, AS AMENDED


  A DECREE INSTITUTING A LABOR CODE THEREBY REVISING AND CONSOLIDATING LABOR AND SOCIAL LAWS TO AFFORD PROTECTION TO LABOR, PROMOTE EMPLOYMENT AND HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT AND INSURE INDUSTRIAL PEACE BASED ON SOCIAL JUSTICE
• Labor Code of the Philippines


  The name of the decree
• This Code shall take effect

  6 months after its promulgation
• 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
• 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
• The Department of Labor and other government agencies charged with the administration and enforcement of this Code or any of its parts shall promulgate the necessary implementing rules and regulations
• All rights and benefits granted to workers under this Code shall, except as may otherwise be provided herein, apply alike to all workers, whether agricultural or non-agricultural
• Emancipation of Tenants


  Reformation with the emancipation of the tiller of the soil from his bondage
• Transfer of lands to tenant-workers

  1. Tenant-farmers on private agricultural lands primarily devoted to rice and corn under a system of share crop or lease tenancy shall be deemed owner of a family-size farm

  2. Landowner may retain an area of not more than seven (7) hectares if such landowner is cultivating such area or will now cultivate it
• Determination of land value

  • Value of the land shall be equivalent to two and one-half (2-1/2) times the average harvest of three (3) normal crop years immediately preceding the promulgation of Presidential Decree No. 27
  • The total cost of the land, including interest at the rate of six percent (6%) per annum, shall be paid by the tenant in fifteen (15) years of fifteen (15) equal annual amortizations
• No title to the land acquired by the tenant-farmer under Presidential Decree No. 27 shall be actually issued to him unless and until he has become a full-fledged member of a duly recognized farmers' cooperative
• Title to the land acquired pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 27 or the Land Reform Program of the Government shall not be transferable except by hereditary succession or to the Government in accordance with the provisions of Presidential Decree No. 27, the Code of Agrarian Reforms and other existing laws and regulations
• The Department of Agrarian Reform shall promulgate the necessary rules and regulations to implement the provisions of this Chapter
• Statement of objectives for Pre-Employment

  • To promote and maintain a state of full employment through improved manpower training, allocation and utilization
  • To protect every citizen desiring to work locally or overseas by securing for him the best possible terms and conditions of employment
  • To facilitate a free choice of available employment by persons seeking work in conformity with the national interest
  • To facilitate and regulate the movement of workers in conformity with the national interest
  • To regulate the employment of aliens, including the establishment of a registration and/or work permit system
  • To strengthen the network of public employment offices and rationalize the participation of the private sector in the recruitment and placement of workers, locally and overseas, to serve national development objectives
  • To insure careful selection of Filipino workers for overseas employment in order to protect the good name of the Philippines abroad
• Recruitment and placement


  Any act of canvassing, enlisting, contracting, transporting, utilizing, hiring or procuring workers, and includes referrals, contract services, promising or advertising for employment, locally or abroad, whether for profit or not
• Private fee-charging employment agency

  Any person or entity engaged in recruitment and placement of workers for a fee which is charged, directly or indirectly, from the workers or employers or both
• License


  A document issued by the Department of Labor authorizing a person or entity to operate a private employment agency
• Private recruitment entity


  Any person or association engaged in the recruitment and placement of workers, locally or overseas, without charging, directly or indirectly, any fee from the workers or employers
• Authority


  A document issued by the Department of Labor authorizing a person or association to engage in recruitment and placement activities as a private recruitment entity
• Seaman


  Any person employed in a vessel engaged in maritime navigation
• Overseas employment


  Employment of a worker outside the Philippines
• Emigrant


  Any person, worker or otherwise, who emigrates to a foreign country by virtue of an immigrant visa or resident permit or its equivalent in the country of destination
• Employment promotion powers of the Secretary of Labor

  1. Organize and establish new employment offices

  2. Organize and establish a nationwide job clearance and information system

  3. Develop and organize a program that will facilitate occupational, industrial and geographical mobility of labor and provide assistance in the relocation of workers from one area to another

  4. Require any person, establishment, organization or institution to submit such employment information as may be prescribed
• Bureau of Employment Services

  • Formulate and develop plans and programs to implement the employment promotion objectives
  • Establish and maintain a registration and/or licensing system to regulate private sector participation in the recruitment and placement of workers, locally and overseas
  • Formulate and develop employment programs designed to benefit disadvantaged groups and communities
  • Establish and maintain a registration and/or work permit system to regulate the employment of aliens
  • Develop a labor market information system in aid of proper manpower and development planning
  • Develop a responsive vocational guidance and testing system in aid of proper human resources allocation
  • Maintain a central registry of skills, except seamen
• No person or entity other than the public employment offices, shall engage in the recruitment and placement of workers, except as provided in Chapter II of this Title
• Overseas Employment Development Board


  • Promote the overseas employment of Filipino workers through a comprehensive market promotion and development program
  • Secure the best possible terms and conditions of employment of Filipino contract workers on a government-to-government basis and to ensure compliance therewith
  • Recruit and place workers for overseas employment on a government-to-government arrangement and in such other sectors as policy may dictate
  • Act as secretariat for the Board of Trustees of the Welfare and Training Fund for Overseas Workers
• No employer may hire a Filipino worker for overseas employment except through the Boards and entities authorized by the Secretary of Labor
• Office of Emigrant Affairs


  • Promote the well-being of emigrants and maintain their close link to the homeland
  • Serve as a liaison with migrant communities
  • Provision of welfare and cultural services
  • Promote and facilitate re-integration of migrants into the national mainstream
  • Promote economic; political and cultural ties with the communities
• National Seamen Board


  • Provide free placement services for seamen
  • Regulate and supervise the activities of agents or representatives of shipping companies in the hiring of seamen for overseas employment and secure the best possible terms of employment for contract seamen workers and secure compliance therewith
  • Maintain a complete registry of all Filipino seamen
• Foreign service role and participation

  1. Provide all Filipino workers within their jurisdiction assistance on all matters arising out of employment

  2. Insure that Filipino workers are not exploited or discriminated against

  3. Verify and certify as requisite to authentication that the terms and conditions of employment in contracts involving Filipino workers are in accordance with the Labor Code and rules and regulations

  4. Make continuing studies or researches and recommendations on the various aspects of the employment market within their jurisdiction

  5. Gather and analyze information on the employment situation and its probable trends, and to make such information available
• It shall be mandatory for all Filipino workers abroad to remit a portion of their foreign exchange earnings to their families, dependents, and/or beneficiaries in the country in accordance with rules and regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Labor
• Composition of the Boards


  • OEDB: Secretary of Labor and Employment as Chairman, the Undersecretary of Labor as Vice-Chairman, and a representative each of the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of National Defense, the Central Bank, the Department of Education, Culture and Sports, the National Manpower and Youth Council, the Bureau of Employment Services, a workers' organization and an employers' organization and the Executive Director of the OEDB as members
  • National Seamen Board: Secretary of Labor and Employment as Chairman, the Undersecretary of Labor as Vice-Chairman, the Commandant of the Philippine Coast Guard, and a representative each of the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of National Defense, the Department of Transportation and Communications, the Central Bank, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, a workers' organization and an employers' organization as members
• Filipino workers abroad


  Remit a portion of their foreign exchange earnings to their families, dependents, and/or beneficiaries in the country in accordance with rules and regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Labor
• Composition of the OEDB

  • Secretary of Labor and Employment as Chairman
  • Undersecretary of Labor as Vice-Chairman
  • Representative of Department of Foreign Affairs
  • Representative of Department of National Defense
  • Representative of Central Bank
  • Representative of Department of Education, Culture and Sports
  • Representative of National Manpower and Youth Council
  • Representative of Bureau of Employment Services
  • Representative of workers' organization
  • Representative of employers' organization
  • Executive Director of the OEDB
• Composition of the National Seamen Board

  • Secretary of Labor and Employment as Chairman
  • Undersecretary of Labor as Vice-Chairman
  • Commandant of the Philippine Coast Guard
  • Representative of Department of Foreign Affairs
  • Representative of Department of Education, Culture and Sports
  • Representative of Central Bank
  • Representative of Maritime Industry Authority
  • Representative of Bureau of Employment Services
  • Representative of national shipping association
  • Executive Director of the NSB
• The members of the Boards shall receive allowances to be determined by the Board which shall not be more than P2,000.00 per month
• The Boards shall be attached to the Department of Labor for policy and program coordination
• The Boards shall each be assisted by a Secretariat headed by an Executive Director who shall be a Filipino citizen with sufficient experience in manpower administration, including overseas employment activities
• The Executive Director shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines upon the recommendation of the Secretary of Labor and shall receive an annual salary as fixed by law
• The Secretary of Labor shall appoint the other members of the Secretariat