Aizell A. BernalBSBA 3

Dr. A. SandeMGNT 6

Employment and Security of Tenure

Topics to be discussed:

Apprenticeship Training Learnership Agreement

Employment of Non-Resident Aliens Regulation of Recruitment Termination of Employment Employment of Housekeepers Manpower Development

Employment and Security of Tenure

No child below fifteen (15) years of age shall be employed, except when he works directly under the sole responsibility of his parents or guardian and his employment does not in any way interfere with his schooling.

A person between fifteen (15) and eighteen (18) years of age may be employed for such number of hours and such periods of the day as determined by the Secretary of Labor and Employment in appropriate regulations.

Regular and Casual Employment

The provisions of written agreement to the contrary notwithstanding and regardless of the oral agreements of the parties, an employment shall be deemed to be regular where the employee has been engaged to perform activities which are usually necessary or desirable in the usual business or trade of the employer, except where the employment has been fixed for a specific project or undertaking, the completion or termination of which has been determined at the time of the engagement of the employee or where the work or services to be performed is seasonal in nature and the employment is for the duration of the season.

An employment shall be deemed to be casual in nature if it is not covered by the preceding paragraph. Any employee who has rendered at least one year of service, whether such service is continuous or broken, shall be considered a regular employee with respect to the activity in which he is employed and his employment shall continue until such actually exits. An employee who is allowed to work after a probationary period shall be considered a regular employee.

Probationary Employment

Probationary employment shall not exceed six (6) months from the date the employee started working, unless it is covered by an apprenticeship agreement stipulating a longer period. The services of an employee may be terminated for a just cause or when he fails to qualify as a regular employee.

Apprenticeship Training

The organization of apprenticeship programs shall be primarily a voluntary undertaking of employers except otherwise provided. Only trades and occupations declared apprenticeable by the Secretary of Labor and Employment may be included in apprenticeship programs.

Qualifications of an Apprentice

To qualify as an apprentice, a person shall:

a. Be at least fourteen (14) years of age;b. Possess vocational aptitude and capacity for apprenticeship as established

through appropriate tests; andc. Possess the ability to comprehend and follow oral and written instructions.

Actual training of apprentices may be undertaken:

1. In the premises of the sponsoring employer in the case of individual apprenticeship programs;

2. In the premises of one or several designated firms in the case of programs sponsored by a group or association of employers or by a civic organization; or

3. In a Department of Labor and Employment training center or other public training institution.

Apprenticeship Programs

The organization of apprenticeship programs shall be primarily a voluntary undertaking by employers. The President of the Philippines may require compulsory training of apprentices in certain trades, occupations, jobs or employment levels where shortage of trained manpower is deemed critical as determined by the Secretary of Labor and Employment.

Likewise, where services of foreign technicians are utilized by private companies in apprenticeable trades, said companies are required to set up appropriate apprenticeship programs.

Where training on the job is required by the school or training program curriculum or as a prerequisite for graduating or board examination, the Secretary of Labor and Employment may authorize the hiring of said apprentices without compensation.

Probationary Period of Apprentices

The apprenticeship agreement among others shall provide for the probationary period of the apprentice during which both party may summarily terminate the agreement as well as the number of hours worked.

The maximum allowable probationary period which the employer may stipulate with the prospective apprentice in their apprenticeship agreement shall be:

a. Four hundred (400) hours or two (2) months for trades or occupations which normally require a year or more for proficiency; and

b. Two hundred (200) hours or one month but less than one year for proficiency.

At least five working days before the actual date of termination, the party terminating shall serve a written notice on the other stating the reason for such decision, and a copy of said notice shall be furnished the Apprenticeship Division of the Department of Labor and Employment.

The hours of work of an apprentice shall not exceed the maximum number of hours of work prescribed by law. An apprentice not otherwise barred by law from working eight hours a day may be requested by his employer to work overtime and paid accordingly, provided there are no available regular workers to do the job, and the overtime work thus rendered is duly credited toward his training time.

Termination of Apprenticeship Agreement

Either party to an agreement may terminate the same after the probationary period only for a valid cause. The following are valid causes for termination:

I. By the Employer

a. Habitual absenteeism in on-the-job training and related theoretical instructions;

b. Willful disobedience of company rules or insubordination to lawful order of a superior;

c. Poor physical condition, permanent disability or prolonged illness which incapacitates the apprentice from working;

d. Theft or malicious destruction of company property and/or equipment;e. Poor efficiency of performance on the job or in the classroom for a

prolonged period despite warnings duly given to the apprentice; andf. Engaging in violence or other forms of gross misconduct inside the

employer’s premises.

II. By the Apprenticea. Substandard or deleterious working conditions within the employer’s

premises;b. Repeated violations by the employer of the terms of the apprenticeship

agreement;c. Cruel or inhuman treatment by the employer or his subordinates;d. Personal problems which in the opinion of the apprentice shall prevent

him a satisfactory performance of his job; ande. Bad health or continuing illness.

Learnership Agreement

Learners are persons hired as trainees in semi-skilled and other industrial occupations which are non-apprenticeable and which may be learned through practical training on the job in a relatively short period of time which shall not exceed three (3) months.

Learners may be employed when no experienced workers are available, the employment of whom is necessary to prevent curtailment of employment opportunities and moreover where the employment does not create unfair competition in terms of labor costs or impair or lower working standards.

Every learnership agreement shall include:

a. The names and addresses of the learners;b. The duration of the learnership period, which shall not exceed three (3)

months;c. The wages or salary rates of the learners which shall begin at not less than

seventy-five (75%) of the applicable minimum wages; andd. A commitment to employ learners, if they so desire, as a regular employees

upon completion of the learnership. All learners who have been allowed or suffered to work during the first two months shall be deemed regular employees if training is terminated by the employer before the end of the stipulated period through no fault of the learner.

Employment of Women

No employer shall discriminate against any woman with respect to terms and conditions of employment on account of her sex. Equal remuneration shall be paid to both men and women for work of equal value.

No employer shall require as a condition of employment or continuation of employment that a woman employee shall not get married, or to stipulate expressly or tacitly that upon getting a woman employee shall be deemed resigned or separated, or to actually dismiss, discharge discriminately or otherwise prejudice a woman employee merely by reason of her marriage.

Prohibited Acts

It shall be unlawful for any employer;

a. To deny any woman employee the benefits provided for under Labor Code or to discharge any woman employed by him for the purpose of preventing her from enjoying any of the said benefits.

b. To discharge such woman on account of her pregnancy, or while on leave or in confinement due to her pregnancy; or

c. To discharge or refuse the admission of such woman upon returning to her work for fear that she may again be pregnant.

Employment of Non-Resident Aliens

Any alien seeking admission to the Philippines for employment purpose and any domestic or foreign employer who desires to engage an alien for employment in the Philippines shall obtain an employment permit from the Department of Labor and Employment.

The employment permit may be issued to a non-resident alien or to an applicant employer after a determination of the non-availability of a person in the Philippines who is competent, able and willing at the time of application to perform the services for which the alien is desired.

After the issuance of employment permit, the alien shall not transfer to another job or change his employer without prior approval of the Department of Labor and Employment. Any non-resident alien who shall take up employment in violation of the Labor Code and its implementing regulations shall be punished accordingly.

Any employer employing non-resident foreign nationals on the effective date of the Labor Code shall submit a list of such nationals to the Secretary of Labor and Employment within thirty (30) days after such date indicating their names, citizenship, foreign and local addresses, and nature of employment and status of stay in the country.

Regulation of Recruitment

Any person applying with a private fee charging employment agency for employment assistance shall not be charged any fee until he has obtained employment through his efforts or has actually commenced employment. Such fee must be always covered with an approved receipt clearly showing the amount paid.

Prohibited Practices

It shall be unlawful for any individual entity, license or holder of authority:

a. To charge or accept directly or indirectly any amount greater than that specified in the schedule of allowable fees prescribed by the Secretary of Labor and Employment, or to make a worker pay any amount greater that that actually received by him as a loan or advance;

b. To furnish or publish any false notice or information or document in relation to recruitment or employment;

c. To give any false notice, testimony, information or document or commit any act of misrepresentation for the purpose of securing a license or authority under the Labor Code;

d. To induce or attempt to induce a worker already employed to quit his employment in order to offer him another unless the transfer is designed to liberate a worker from oppressive terms and conditions of employment;

e. To influence or attempt to influence any person or entity not to employ any worker who has not applied for employment through his agency;

f. To engage in the recruitment or placement of workers in jobs harmful to public health or morality or to the dignity of the Republic of the Philippines;

g. To obstruct or attempt to obstruct inspection by the Secretary of Labor and Employment or by his duly authorized representatives;

h. To fail to file reports on the status of employment, placement vacancies, remittance of foreign exchange earnings, separation from jobs, departures and such other matters as may be required by the Secretary of Labor and Employment;

i. To substitute or alter employment contracts approved and verified by the Secretary of Labor and Employment from the time of actual signing thereof by the parties up to and including the period of expiration of the same without approval of the Department of Labor and Employment;

j. To become officer or member of the Board of any corporation engaged in travel agency or to be engaged directly or in directly in the management of a travel agency; and

k. To withhold or deny travel documents from applicant workers before departure for monetary or financial considerations other than those authorized under the Labor Code and its implementing rules and regulations;

Termination of Employment

In case of regular employment, the employer shall not terminate the services of an employee except for a just cause or authorized by the Labor Code. An employee

who is unjustly dismissed from work shall be entitled to reinstatement without loss of seniority rights and to his back wages computed from the time of his reinstatement.

Termination by Employer

An employer may terminate an employee for any of the following causes:

a. Serious misconduct or willful disobedience by the employee of the lawful orders of his employer or the duly authorizes representative in connection with his work

b. Gross habitual neglect by the employee of his dutiesc. Fraud or willful breach by the employee of the trust reposed in him by his

employer or duly authorized representatived. Commission of a crime or offense by the employee against the person of his

employer or any immediate member of his family or his duly authorized representative

e. Other causes analogous to the foregoing.

Termination by Employee

An employee may terminate without just cause the employee-employer relationship by serving a written notice on the employer at least one month in advance.

An employee may put an end to the relationship without serving the employer for any of the following just causes:

a. Serious insult by the employer or his representative on the honor and person of the employee

b. Inhuman and unbearable treatment accorded the employee by the employer or his representative

c. Commission of a crime or offense by the employer or his representative against the person of the employee or any of the immediate members of his family

d. Other causes analogous to any of the foregoing.

Termination Pay

A regular employee shall be entitled to termination pay equivalent at least to his one month salary or to one month salary for every year of service, whichever is higher, a fraction of at least six months being considered as one whole year, in case of termination of his employment due to the installation of labor-saving devices or redundancy.

Where the termination of employment is due to retrenchment initiated by the employer to prevent losses or other similar causes, or where the employee suffers from a disease and his continued employment is prohibited by law or is prejudicial to his health or to the health of his co-employees, the employee shall be entitled to

termination pay equivalent at least to his one month salary, or to one-half month pay for every year of service, whichever is higher, a fraction of at least six (6) months being considered as one whole year.

Employment of Housekeepers

The Labor Code of the Philippines has taken cognizance of its existence in this country and moreover conferring upon housekeepers certain rights as well as vesting them with corresponding obligation under the concept of employer-employee relationship.

The original contract of domestic service shall not last for more than two years but it may be renewed for such periods as may be agreed upon by the parties. They shall be paid minimum wages, provided lodging, food and medical attendance.

No househelper shall be assigned to work in a commercial, industrial or agricultural enterprise at a wage or salary rate lower than that provided for agricultural or non-agricultural worker. If the housekeeper is under the age of eighteen, the employer shall give him or her opportunity for at least elementary education. If the househelper is unjustly dismissed, he or she shall be paid the compensation already earned plus that for fifteen days by way of indemnity. If he or she leaves with justifiable reason, he or she shall forfeit any unpaid salary due him or her not exceeding fifteen days.

Manpower Development

The National Manpower and Youth Council (NMYC) as the human resource development agency of the Philippine Government have been directing its efforts to the training and utilization of the country’s richest resource, its people.

Targets of the Council’s projects rare industrial and agricultural workers, school dropouts and idle segments of the population.

The Council shall formulate a long-term plan which shall be the controlling plan for the development of manpower resources of the entire country. The primary purpose of manpower planning as with any other aspect of planning is to prepare for the future by reducing its uncertainty. It has a basic goal the reduction of uncertainty as related to the acquisition, placement and development of employees for future needs.