NICE ONEThe Basic Policy of the Labor Code (social economic goals)1. Protection to labor;2. Promote full employment;3. Ensure equal work opportunities regardless of sex,race or creed, and4. Regulate the relations between workers andemployersBoth sectors (employees and employers) need each other.They are interdependent – one is inutile without the other.The basic policy is to balance or to coordinate the rightsand interests of both workers and employers.Rights of Workers Under Art. 3 of the Labor Code1. Self-organization;2. Collective bargaining;3. Security of tenure; and4. Just and humane conditions of workLabor - is understood as physical toil although it does not necessarily exclude the application of skill, thus there is skilled and unskilled labor.Distinction: Labor law and social legislationLabor laws- directly affect employmentSocial legislation- governs effects of Employment.

- are social legislation- not all SL are Labor Laws

Management Rights / Prerogative – except aslimited by special laws, an employer is free toregulate, according to his own discretion andjudgment, all aspects of employment, including hiring,work assignments, working methods, time, place andmanner of work, tools to be used, processes to befollowed, supervision of workers, working regulations,transfer of employees, work supervision, lay-off ofworkers and the discipline, dismissal and recall ofworkers

Art. 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.The Supreme Court adopts the liberal approach which favors the exercise of labor rights.The labor law is liberally construed in favor of the workers and strictly construed against the employers.Reason for according greater protection to employees

In the matter of employments bargaining, there is no doubt that the employer stands on higher footing than the employee.Those who have less in life should have more in law.Management RightsIt should not be supposed that every labor dispute will beautomatically decided in favor of labor. Management has also its own rights which are entitled to respect and enforcement in the interest of simple fair play.The law, in protecting the rights of the laborer, authorizes neither oppression nor self-destruction of the employer.Right to Return of Investments (ROI) – theemployer has the right to recover his investments andto make profit. The Constitution provides that theState shall regulate the relations between workers andemployers, recognizing the right of labor to its justshare... and the right of enterprises to reasonablereturns on investments, and to expansion and growth.The Right to Prescribe Rules – employers have theright to make reasonable rules and regulations for the

government of their employees, and whenemployees, with knowledge of an established rule,enter the service, the rule becomes part of thecontract of employment.The Right to Select Employees – an employer has aright to select his employees and to decide when toengage them. The State has no right to interfere in aprivate employment; it cannot interfere with theliberty of contract with respect to labor except in theexercise of the police power. If the employer cancompel the employee to work against the latter's will,this is servitude. If the employee can compel theemployer to give him work against the employer'swill, this is oppression.Right to Transfer or Discharge Employees – theemployer has the perfect right to transfer, reduce orlay off personnel in order to minimize expenses andto insure the stability of the business, and even toclose the business, provided the transfer or dismissal

is not abused but is done in good faith and is due tocauses beyond control. To hold otherwise would beoppressive and inhuman.APPRENTICESArt. 58. Definition of Terms.Apprenticeship – practical training on the job supplemented by related theoretical instruction.Apprentice – is a worker who is covered by a writtenapprenticeship agreement with an individual employer or any of the entities recognized under this Chapter.Apprenticeable occupation – any trade, form of employment or occupation which requires more than three (3) months of practical training on the job supplemented by relatedtheoretical instruction.Art. 59. Qualifications of apprentice.(a) Be at least fourteen (14) years of age;(b) Possess vocational aptitude and capacity forappropriate tests; and(c) Possess the ability to comprehend and follow oraland written instructions.Art. 60. Employment of apprentices.Only employers in the highly technical industries may employ apprentices and only in

apprenticeable occupations approved by the Secretary of Labor and Employment.Art. 61. Contents of apprenticeship agreements.Apprenticeship agreements, including the wage rates ofapprentices, shall conform to the rules issued by the Secretary of Labor and Employment. The period of apprenticeship shall not exceed six months. Apprenticeship agreements providingfor wage rates below the legal minimum wage, which in no case shall start below 75 percent of the applicable minimum wage, may be entered into only in accordance with apprenticeship programs duly approved by the Secretary of Labor and Employment. The Department shall develop standard model programs of apprenticeship.

Art. 67. Exhaustion of administrative remedies.No person shall institute any action for the enforcement of any apprenticeship agreement or damages for breach of any such agreement, unless he has exhausted all available administrative remedies.

Four-Fold Test in Determining Employer-EmployeeRelationship1. the selection and engagement of the employee2. the payment of wages

3. the power of dismissal4. the employer's power to control with respect to themeans and methods by which the work is to beaccomplished (Brotherhood vs. Zamora)

B. Economic Relations Test – a subordinate /alternative test. Existing economic conditionsbetween the parties are used to determine whetherEER exists.1. payment of PAG-IBIG Fund contributions2. payment / remittance of contributions to the StateInsurance Fund3. deduction of withholding tax4. deduction / remittance of SSS contributions