Labor legislation statues, regulations & jurisprudence governing relations bet capital & labor, by providing for

certain standards of terms & conditions of EENT or providing a legal framework w/in w/c these terms &
conditions & the EENT relationship may be negotiated, adjusted & administered.
2 Divisions of Labor Legislation
1. Labor Standards sets out the minimum terms, conditions & benefits of EENT that EERS must provide or comply
w/ & to w/c EES are entitled as a matter of legal right.
- minimum requirements prescribed by existing laws, rules & regulations relating to wages, hrs of
work, cost-of-living allowance and other monetary & welfare benefits, including occupational safety & health
standards.
- material or substance to be processed
2. Labor Relations defines the status, rights & duties and the institutional mechanisms, that govern the indiv&
collective interactions of EERS, EES, or their representatives.
- mechanism that processes the substance
Labor physical toil although it does not necessarily exclude the application of skill (thus skilled&unskilled labor)
Skill the familiar knowledge of any art/science, united w/ readiness & dexterity in execution/performance or in the
application of the art/science to practical purposes.
Work (broader than labor) covers all forms of physical/mental exertion, or both combined, for the attainment of
some obj other than recreation/amusement per se.
Worker (broader than EE) may refer to self-employed people & those working in the service & under the control
of another, regardless of rank, title, or nature of work.
- any member of the labor force whether employed/unemployed
Employee a salaried person working for another who controls or supervises the means, manner or method of doing
the work.
Labor Law & Social Legislation
Social legislation includes laws that provide particular kinds of protection/benefits to society in furtherance of
social justice.

Labor laws are necessarily social legislation

Social Justice as the Aim

Social justice humanization of laws & the equalization of social & economic forces by the State so that social
justice in its rational & objectively secular conception may at leas be approximated
- promotion of the welfare of the ppl, the adoption by the Govt of measures calculated to insure
economic stability of all the component elements of society through the maintenance of proper economic &
social equilibrium in the interrelations of the members of the community, constitutionally, through the adoption
of measures legally justifiable, or extra-constitutionally, through the exercise of powers underlying the existence
of all govts.
1987 Consti: protects the rights of workers & promote their welfare
Basic rights of workers guaranteed by the Constitution
1.
2.
3.
4.

to
to
to
to

organize themselves
conduct collective bargaining/negotiation w/ mgt;
engage in peaceful concerted activities, including to strike in accordance w/ law; and
participate in policy & decision-making processes affecting rights & benefits

Other Consti provisions that protect the Rs/promote the welfare of workers

R to form unions, assocs or societies for purposes not contrary to law

R of self-org even for govt EES.. No officer/Ee of the Civil Service shall be removed/suspended for cause.
Temporary EES of the Govt shall be given such protection as may be provided by law
Regular farmworkers shall have the R to own directly/collectively the lands they till. Landless farmworkers
may be resettled by the govt in its own agri estates.
Continuing program of urban land reform & housing
Protection for working women taking into acct their maternal functions, etc
Labor sector is entitled to seats to party list
Goal: more equitable distribution of opportunities, income & wealth.
Agency to promote the viability & growth of cooperatives as instruments for social justice & economic
devt
Govt shall increase the salary scales of the other officials & EES
Career civil service EES shall be entitled to separation pay & retirement benefits, OR may be considered for
reemployment in the govt

Constiprol-labor, but recognizes the indispensable role of the private sector, encourages private enterprise and
provides incentives to needed investments
Police Power as the Basis
-

the power of the govt to enact laws, w/in Constitutional limits to promote the order, safety, health, morals
& general welfare of society
power inherent in govt to protect itself & all its constituents, & for this purpose to hold the govt immune so
far as necessary, from any limitatins imposed in the past.
An imposition of restraint upon liberty or property in order to foster the common good.

Birth of the LC
Blas Ople- father of the LC
LC designed to be a dynamic & growing body of laws w/c will reflect continually the lessons of practical application
& experience
7 Principles Underlying the code
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Labor relations must be made both responsive & responsible to national devt
Labor laws/labor relations during a period of national emergency must substitute rationality for
confrontation; strikes or lockouts give way to a rational process w/c is arbitration
Laggard justice in the labor field is injurious to the workers, the EERS & the public; labor justice can be
made expeditious w/o sacrificing due process.
Manpower devt& EENT must be regarded as a major dimension of labor policy, for there can be no real
equality of bargaining power under conditions of severe mass unemployment.
There is a global labor market available to qualified Filipinos, esp those who are unemployed or whose
EENT is tantamount to unemployment bcoz of their very little earnings.
Labor laws must command adequate resources & acquire a capable machinery for effective & sustained
implementation; when labor laws cannot be enforced, both EERS & the workers are penalized, & only a
corrupt few (those who are in charge of implementation) may get the reward they dont deserve.
Thereshld be popular participation in national policy-making through what is now called tripartism.

Some Labor Laws before the Passage of the Code

Act #1874: EERS Liability Act,

Act #2549: prohibited payment of wages in non-cash form
Act #2071: prohibiting slavery/involuntary servitude
R #1054: requiring emergency medical treatmt for EES
CA # 444: 8-hr labor law
CA #103 created the Court of Industrial Relations (CIR)
Pd #21 created the NLRC ( to investigate, decide & settle all disputes bet EERS & EES
RA # 875: The Industrial Peace Act (the Magna Carta of Labor)
RA #946: Blue Sunday Law forbids commercial, industrial or agri enterprises to open on any Sunday,
Xmas Day, New Years Day, Holy Thurs & Good Friday.
RA #1787: The Termination Pay Law enumerated the just causes for terminating an EENT w/o a definite
period and allowed EERS to separate an EE by serving a 15-day notice per yr of service or, by paying an
equivalent separation pay.

Significance of Other Laws

1.
2.

3.
4.

Foreign Decisions numerous LC provisions are substantially similar to the Industrial Peace Act
The Civil Code describes the nature of labor mgt relations:
The relations bet capital & labor are not merely contractual. They are so impressed w/ public interest that
labor contracts must yield to the common good. such contracts are subj. to the special laws on labor
unions, collective bargaining, strikes & lockouts, closed shop, wages, working conditions, hrs of labor &
similar subjs.Art 1700
Neither capital nor labor shall act oppressively against the other, or impair the interest or convenience of
the publicArt 1701.
RPC punishes the use of violence or threats by either EER or EE.
Special Laws (SSS law, GSIS law, Agrarian Reform law, the 13th-month pay law, the Magna Carta for Public
Health Workers)

Art 3. [Declaration of Basic Polici] The State shall afford protection to labor, promote full EENT, ensure
equal work opportunities regardless of sex, race or creed, and regulate the relations bet workers &
EERS. The State shall assure the rights of workers to self-org, collective bargaining, security of
tenure, and just & humane conditions of work.
Balanced Approach shared responsibility. Worker & EER sectors are interdependent.
Art4. [Construction in Favor of Labor] All doubts in the implementation & interpretation of the provisions of this
Code, including its IRRs, shall be resolved in favor of labor.
Interpretation & Construction policy is to extend the decrees applicability to a greater number of EES to enable
them to avail of the benefits under the law (Liberal approach is adopted)
Concern for the Lowly Worker SC reaffirms its concern for the lowly worker who, often at his EERs mercy, must
look up to the law for his protection. (Reason: the EER stands on higher footing than the EE: (1,) There is greater
supply than demand for labor; (2) the need for EENT by labor comes from vital & even desperate necessity.)
Mgt Rights entitled to respect & enforcement in the interest of simple fair play.
1.
2.
3.
4.

R to manage, control, and use his property &conduct business in a manner satisfactory to himself (just
discrimination in the rate of wages paid to the skillful & to the unskillful, to the efficient & inefficient.)
R to prescribe rules (they become part of the contract of EENT)
R to select EES & to decide when to engage them, except as restricted by statute or valid contract, at a
wage & under conditions agreeable to them.
R to transfer & discharge EES in order to minimize expenses & to insure stability of the business & even to
close the business, provided it is done in good faith & due to causes beyond control.

Art 5. [Rules & Regulations] the DOLE & other govt agencies charged w/ the administration & enforcement of this
Code or any of its parts shall promulgate the necessary IRRs. Such RRs shall become effective 15 days after
announcement of their adoption in the newspapers of gen. circulation.
Art 6. [Applicability] All Rs& 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.

also applies to a govtcorp incorporated under the Corporation Code.

Test WON a govt-owned/-controlled corp is subj to CS Law is the manner of its creation. Govt corps created
by special charter aresubj to its provisions, while those incorporated under the gen Corp Law are not w/in
the coverage of the CS law.
PNOC-EDC incorp under the Corp Law subj to LC
NHA incorp under Act 1459, the former corp law LC
Govt agencies Ees covered by CS Law