Labor Legislation/Law

Consists of statutes, regulations and jurisprudence governing the relations between capital and labor, by providing
for certain employment standards and a legal framework for negotiating, adjusting and administering those standards and
other incidents of employment

Labor Law – field of law that defines the relationship between employer and their employees, as well as third parties in
connection with employment. It establishes the rights and obligations of each parties as well as the role of the
government.

Purpose of Labor Legislation

General Purpose
The purpose of labor legislation is social justice which is the humanization of laws and equalization of social and
economic forces so that justice in its rational and objectively secular conception may at least be approximated

Specific Purpose
1. The State affirms labor as a primary economic force. IT shall protect the rights of the workers and promote their
welfare.
2. The State shall afford full protection to labor, local and overseas, organized and unorganized.
3. Promote full employment and equality of employment opportunities for all.
4. It shall guarantee the rights of workers to self-organization, collective bargaining and negotiation and to peaceful
concerted activities including the right to strike.
5. It shall guarantee security of tenure, humane conditions of work and a living wage.

Division of Labor Legislation

1. Labor Standards
Minimum requirements prescribed by existing laws, rules and regulations relating to wages, hours of work,
cost of living allowances, and other monetary and welfare benefits including occupational, safety and
health standards for which the employer must comply with and to which employees are entitled as a
matter of legal right

2. Labor Relations
Defines the status, rights and duties and institutional mechanisms that govern the individual and collective
interactions, of employers, employees and their representatives

3. Protective Legislation
In implementation of the principle of social justice, the Constitution commands that the State shall afford
full protection to Labor. Thus, Labor Law may be pro-labor in the sense that labor is given certain benefits
not given to management,

4. Welfare and Social Legislation

Social Legislation
Those laws which provide particular kinds of protection or benefits to society or segments thereof in
pursuance of social justice
“Labor laws are social legislation but not all social legislation are labor laws.”

Aim of Labor Laws: SOCIAL JUSTICE

Social Justice – promotion of the welfare of the people. It is neither communism, despotism, atomism or
anarchy but the humanization of laws and equalization of social and economic forces by the State so that justice
in its rational and objectively secular conception may at least be approximated

5. Diplomatic Legislation
Area of international law concerning the practice of diplomacy, and the rights and obligations of state
representatives on the territory of other states
 6. Administrative Legislation

Labor – primary social economic force in its broad ordinary sense as work and work relationship, referring to any
economically productive application of physical, mental and material resources

Labor v. Skill
Labor is the physical toil although it does not necessarily exclude skill, there may be skilled and unskilled labor
while skill on the other hand is the familiar knowledge of any art or science coupled with dexterity and readiness in actual
performance or the application of such art or science for practical purposes

Work v. Labor
Work is broader as it covers all forms of physical and mental exertion, or both combined for the attainment of
some object other than recreation or amusement per se

Worker v. Employee
Worker is any member of the workforce who may be self-employed, working in the service and under the control
of another regardless of rank title and nature of work while employee is a salaried person working for another, who
supervises the means, methods and manner of doing the work

Basis or Foundation of Enactment of Labor Laws: Police power is the basis or foundation of labor laws by which the
Government is enshrined with the power to promote the order, safety, health, morals and general welfare of the society

Brief History of Philippine Labor Laws

Writing of the Labor Code started in 1968 under the leadership of the Minister of Labor, Mr. Blas F. Ople (Father
of the Labor Code).
Purpose: 1. Consolidate the existing laws of labor legislation
2. Re-orientation on economic development and social justice

SOURCES OF LABOR LAWS

1. Constitution
Constitutional Provisions on Labor

ARTICLE II. STATE POLICIES

SEC. 2
The Philippines renounces war as an instrument of national policy, adopts the generally accepted principles of
international law as part of the law of the land and adheres to the policy of peace, equality, justice, freedom, cooperation
and amity with all nations.
Sec. 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, full employment, a rising
standard of living and an improved quality of life for all.
Sec 10
The State shall promote social justice in all phases of national development.
Sec 11
The State values the dignity of every human persons and guarantees full respect of human rights.
Sec 18
The State affirms labor as a primary economic source. It shall protect the rights of the workers and promote their
welfare.
Sec. 20
The State recognizes the indispensable role of the private sector, encourages private enterprise, and provides
incentives to needed investments
ARTICLE III. BILL OF RIGHTS
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 3
(1) The privacy of communication and correspondence shall be inviolable except upon lawful order of the court,
or when public safety or order requires otherwise as prescribed by law.
(2) Any evidence obtained in violation of this or the preceding section shall be inadmissible for any purpose in any
proceeding.

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

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

Section 11
Free access to the courts and quasi-judicial bodies and adequate legal assistance shall not be denied to any person
by reason of poverty.

Section 16
All persons shall have the right to 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 IXB, CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION

Section 2.

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.

(2) Appointments in the civil service shall be made only according to merit and fitness to be determined, as far as
practicable, and, except to positions which are policy-determining, primarily confidential, or highly technical, by
competitive examination.

(3) No officer or employee of the civil service shall be removed or suspended except for cause provided by law.

(4) No officer or employee in the civil service shall engage, directly or indirectly, in any electioneering or partisan
political campaign.

(5) The right to self-organization shall not be denied to government employees.

(6) Temporary employees of the Government shall be given such protection as may be provided by law.

ARTICLE XII. NATIONAL ECONOMY AND PATRIMONY

Section 12
 The State shall promote the preferential use of Filipino labor, domestic materials and locally produced goods, and
adopt measures that help them become competitive.

ARTICLE XIII. LABOR

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 negations 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 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 of workers and employers recognizing the rights of labor to its just share in the
fruits of production and the right of the enterprise to reasonable return on investments, expansion and growth.

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.

ARTICLE XVI. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Section 8
The State shall, from time to time, review to increase the pensions and other benefits due to retirees of both the
government and private sectors.

2. Labor Code and its Implementing Rules and Regulations

3. Civil Code of the Philippines
4. Special Laws/Orders
a. Wage Order
b. Productivity Incentive Act
c. Retirement
d. Paternity
e. Sexual Harassment Law

Limitations on Enactment of Labor Legislations

1. Protection to labor cannot be used as a pretext to defeat the rights and prerogatives of an employer.
2. Protection to labor cannot be used as an excuse to distribute charities at the expense of the employer.
3. Protection to labor cannot be made available if both parties have violated the law for in such a case neither is
entitle to protection.

CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OF WORKERS

1. Right to Organize
2. Right to Collective Bargaining and Negotiation
3. Right to Engage in Peaceful Concerted Activities including the right to strike
4. Right to Enjoy Security of Tenure
5. Right to Work under a Humane Condition
6. Right to Receive a Living Wage
7. Right to participate in policy and decision making processes affecting their rights and benefits as may be provided
by law

SALIENT FEATURES OF THE LABOR CODE

 1. It re-orients labor laws towards development and employment goals.
2. It institutionalizes the NLRC for the speedy disposition of Labor disputes.
3. It establishes a new system of workmen’s compensation.
4. It institutionalizes voluntary arbitration as a mode of settling disputes.
5. It establishes a system for employment of overseas Filipino workers and optimizes national benefit therefrom in
the form of dollar remittances and improved skill and technology for our people.’

DECLARATION OF BASIC POLICY

a. Promotion of Full Employment
b. Protection to Labor
To raise the worker at equal footing with the employer and to shield him from abuses brought about by
necessity for survival

c. Extent and Limits of Protection

` Protective mantle is available not only against oppressive employers but also against unscrupulous union
leaders

d. Constitutional Rights of Workers

e. Discrimination as to Sex, Race and Creed

MANAGEMENT PREROGATIVES OR RIGHTS

CONSTRUCTION IN FAVOR OF LABOR

Art. 4. 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.

Interpretation and Construction

Working man’s welfare should be the primordial and paramount consideration

Reason for According Greater Protection to Employees

In the matter of employment bargaining, there is no doubt that the employer stands on higher footing than the
employer.
1. There is greater supply than demand for labor.
2. The need for employment by labor comes from vital, and even desperate, necessity.

Management Rights
While the Constitution is committed to the policy of social justice and the protection of the working class, it should
not be supposed that every labor dispute will be automatically decided in favor of labor. Management also has its own
rights and are entitled to respect and enforcement in the interest of simple fair play.

While the Constitution is committed to the policy of social justice and protection of the working class, it should
not be supposed that every labor d
The law, in protecting the rights of the laborer, authorizes neither oppression nor self-destruction of the employer.

Management prerogatives, however are subject to limitations provided by:

1. Law
2. Contract or collective bargaining agreements
3. General principles of fair play and justice

Management Rights:
1. Right to ROI
 Consistent with the policy of the State to bridge the gap between the underprivileged working man and the more
affluent employers, the balance in favor of the working man should be tilted without being blind to the
concomitant right of the employer to the protection of his property.

2. Right to Prescribe Rules

Employers have the right to make reasonable rules and regulations for the government of their employees, and
when employees, with knowledge of an established rule, enter the services, the rule becomes a part of the
contract of employment

3. Right to Select Employees

An employer has a right to select his employees and to decide when to engage them. He has a right under the
law to full freedom in employing any person free to accept employment from him, and thus, except as restricted
by valid statute or valid contract, at a wage and under conditions agreeable to them

4. Right to Transfer or Discharge Employees

An employer has the perfect right to transfer, reduce or lay off personnel in order to minimize expenses and to
insure the stability of the business, and even to close the business