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[null,"Prepared By:","Contributors:"]
[null,"Romulo Mabanta Buenaventura Sayoc & De Los Angeles","Enriquito Mendoza"]
[]
[]
[]
["Global Employment Law Guide"]
[]
["Report Generated: 11/19/2025"]
[]
["View your report results on next tab"]

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["Question","Philippines"]
["Lex Mundi Global Employment Law Guide"]
["What are the different categories of employment status (for example, employee, worker, self-employed individuals, etc)?","Regular or indefinite, fixed-term, seasonal, project, self-employed, outsource (third party, contractor supplied), casual employment.\n"]
["Are there different types of employment contracts (for example, fixed-term, indefinite)?","Please see the answer to the question above. \n"]
["What requirements need to be met in order for an employment contract to be valid?","Employment contract, whether written or oral, defining the terms and conditions of employment.\n"]
["Are part-time employees afforded the same rights as full-time employees?","Yes, but pay and benefits differ\n"]
["Can employment contracts be assigned?","Yes, subject to the parties' (employer, employee and the transferee employer) consent\n"]
["What rights do employees have (to object, to severance), if any, when the company they work for is transferred as a going concern?","If the company the employees work for is transferred as a going concern to, as for example, due to merger or consolidation, their employment is not severed. Consequently, they must continue their employment therewith. On the other hand, the employees may sue for unfair or illegal dismissal if their employment is terminated by virtue thereof, transfer of a going concern not being a just or authorized ground for termination under the Labor Code of the Philippines.\n"]
["Do you have statutory rights for employees on change of control of an employer? If so, please give the statute.","Yes, Labor Code of the Philippines, the Corporation Code and relevant jurisprudence.\n"]
["In what circumstances can employers unilaterally change the terms of employment, and what remedies (if any) are afforded to an employee?","Philippines laws proscribe the unilateral change by employers of the terms of employment, particularly if the change would result in the elimination or diminution of employee pay and benefits.\n"]
["Is your jurisdiction an employment-at-will jurisdiction? What are the employer’s termination rights?","No. Under Philippine laws, for employment to be valid, it must be for any of the just or authorized causes provided by the Labor Code AND after due process which means compliance with the \"two-notice rule\" consisting of (1) the FIRST Written Notice to be served on the employee containing the specific causes or grounds for termination against him, and a directive that the employee is given the opportunity to submit his written explanation with a reasonable period of at least five [5] days. After serving the first notice, a hearing or conference should be scheduled and conducted wherein the employee will be given the opportunity with the assistance of counsel of his own choice to explain and clarify his defenses to the charge/s against him; present evidence in support of his defenses; and, rebut the evidence presented against him by the management; and (2) after determining that termination of employment is justified, a SECOND Written Notice must be served to the employee indicating that [a] all circumstances involving the charge/s against the employee have been considered; and [b] grounds have been established to justify the severance of his employment.\n"]
["Are there remedies for dismissal without cause or wrongful termination?","Yes, the employee may sue the employer before the labor court for illegal or unfair dismissal and ask for reinstatement with payment of back wages, damages if bad faith occasioned the termination of employment as well as attorney's fees.\n"]
["Are there protections for whistleblowers?","Yes\n"]
["Do employees have a right to privacy? If so, what are the remedies for a breach?","Yes, under the Data Privacy Act of 2012. Pursuant to the Act, the employee may sue the offender before the Data Privacy Commission for the violation of his right to privacy. The Act penalizes the offender with fine and/or imprisonment.\n"]
["Are employees afforded any anti-discrimination protection?","Yes, under the Constitution, the Labor Code and the Civil Code of the Philippines\n"]
["Are there statutory rights to vacation, medical leave and parental leave? Have there been any changes to leave benefits in the past 12 months? Is there any proposed legislation that employers should be aware of that will impact leave benefits?","Yes, vacation or service incentive leave and medical leave providing for maternity benefits are expressly provided by the Labor Code. Other medical leaves such as due to gynecological disorder for women is prescribed by Republic Act No . 9710 otherwise known as the \"Magna Carta of Women\". The Social Security System Law (SSS Law) which provides for maternity leave benefits has recently been amended by increasing the number of days of paid maternity leave from 60 days for normal delivery and 78 days for a caesarian section to 105 days regardless of the mode of child delivery. The 4 child limit was also deleted under the amendment.\n"]
["Are restrictive covenants recognized and, if so, what are reasonable restrictions as to geography, duration and scope of activity?","By jurisprudence, restrictive covenants, such as a non compete clause, is recognized as valid under Philippine law provided they are limited as to time, trade, and place. In one case, the Supreme Court held that a non compete clause prohibiting an employee from joining a competitor employer within one year from his separation from his employer is a valid restriction. In another, the Court ruled that the prohibition to the employee to join a company within 100 kilometers from the location of his employer which is engaged in a similar business is reasonable.\n"]
["Can employees be terminated for refusing to sign a restrictive covenant? What serves as consideration for a restrictive covenant?","No, refusal to sign a restrictive covenant does not fall under any of the just or authorized causes for termination under the Labor Code.\n"]
["Does your jurisdiction require contributions to a pension or retirement scheme?","There is no Philippine law at present which requires an employer to put up a private retirement plan or scheme. While the Labor Code expressly provides for retirement benefits to employees who have reached retirement age (60 years of age and five years of service for optional retirement; 65 years of age and five years of service as a compulsory retirement age) employees are not required to make contributions therefor.\n"]
["Are certain benefits mandated by your jurisdiction?","Yes, 13th month pay under Presidential Decree 851 otherwise known as the 13th Month pay Law; Separation pay for termination due to any of the authorized causes provided by the Labor Code; 5 days paid service incentive leave after one year of service under the Labor Code and Retirement Benefits under the Labor Code as explained in Q 17; Solo Parents leave with pay; Paternity Leave with pay, Special Leave for women due to gynecological disorders as mentioned in Q7.\n"]
["Is it permitted to have a mandatory retirement age in your jurisdiction?","Please see the answer to the above question\n \" Does your jurisdiction require contributions to a pension or retirement scheme?\""]
["Is it possible to cease pension or insured benefits (income continuance/disability insurance, healthcare, life assurance, etc.) when work continues beyond retirement age?","Yes. The terms and conditions of work after the employee has reached retirement age must be separately agreed upon.\n"]
["Can an employer make the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory for its employees? Are there exceptions that an employer must make? If an employee simply does not want to get the vaccine (without another reason like disability or religious reason), can an employer terminate the employee’s employment?","The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has issued on March 12, 2021, Labor Advisory No. 1, Series of 2021 (copy attached), providing, among others, that “any employee who refuses or fails to be vaccinated shall not be discriminated against in terms of tenure, promotion, training, pay, and other benefits, among others, or terminated from employment. No vaccine, no work policy shall not be allowed.”\n"]
["Can an employer require that employees return to work in the office (absent government order to shut down)? If an employee refuses to return to the office, can the employer terminate the employee’s employment?","Additionally, the DOLE’s Bureau of Working Conditions (BWC) on January 28, 2021, has opined that “In the case where the employer is already permitted to operate in partial or full capacity by the government through issuances issued by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases on the matter, and public transportation is already available, enabling people to travel to and from their destinations, albeit not the same under the old normal, employees may already be required to report for work. Employees who shall fail or refuse to comply may be subjected to reasonable company policy, rules and regulations on absences”.\n"]