Go Lang, Crew! (Set 2) Flashcards
Labor Standards and Labor Relations (10 cards)
What is an apprenticeable occupation? May apprentices be hired without paying them any compensation? Explain briefly.
Apprenticeship means practical training on the job supplemented by related theoretical instructions involving apprenticeable occupations and trades as may be approved by the SOLE. Pertains to highly technical industry.
Wage of not less than 75% of the statutory minimum wage.
Note: The SOLE may authorize the hiring of apprentices without compensation whose training on the job is required by the school or training program curriculum as requisite for graduation or board examination (Art. 72, LC).
Illustrate briefly how a Wage Order may result in wage distortion in a particular establishment.
Wage distortion shall mean a situation where an increase in prescribed wage rates results in the elimination or severe contraction of intentional quantitative differences in wage or salary rates between and among employee groups in an establishment as to effectively obliterate the distinctions embodied in such wage structure based on skills, length of
service, or other logical bases of differentiation (Art. 124).
Otherwise stated, wage distortion means the disappearance or virtual disappearance of pay differentials between lower and higher positions in an enterprise because of compliance with a wage order (P.I. Manufacturing v. P.I. Manufacturing Supervisors and Foremen Association).
Give 3 distinctions between facilities and supplements.
Distinguish facilities from supplements:
*Facilities-
-It shall include all articles or services for the benefit of the employee or his family but shall not include tools of the trade or articles or services primarily for the benefit of the employer or necessary to the conduct of the employer’s business.
-Items of expense necessary for the laborer’s and his family’s existence and subsistence
-Part of the wage
-Deductible from wage
*Supplements-
-It shall constitute extra remuneration or special privileges or benefits given to or received by the laborers over and above their ordinary earnings or wages.
-Items which constitute extra remuneration or special privileges or benefits given to or received by the laborers over and above their ordinary earnings or wages
-Independent of the wage
-Not deductible from wage
What are supplements? May the employer unilaterally withdraw or eliminate the grant of supplements? Explain briefly.
Supplements constitute extra remuneration or special privileges given
to or received by the laborers over and above their ordinary earnings.
Yes, the employer may unilaterally withdraw or eliminate the grant of
supplements.
Note: on the contrary, facilities may not be withdrawn unilaterally without the following requisites:
Before the value of facilities can be deducted from the employee’s wages, three (3) requisites must concur:
1. Proof must be shown that such facilities are customarily furnished by the trade;
2. The provision of deductible facilities must be voluntarily accepted in writing by the employee; and
3. Facilities must be charged at reasonable value.
Give 3 distinctions between labor-only contracting and legitimate job contracting.
*LABOR ONLY CONTRACTING:
-It refers to arrangement where the contractor or subcontractor merely recruits, supplies or places workers to perform a job or work for a principal, and the elements enumerated in Sec. 5 hereunder are present (Sec. 3(h), DO 174-17).
- The contractor or subcontractor:
a. Does not have either substantial capital or
b. Does not have investments in the form of tools, equipment, machineries, supervision, work premises, among others;
c. AND the employees are recruited and placed are performing activities which are directly related to the main business operation of the principal; or - The contractor or subcontractor does not exercise the right to control over the performance of the work of the employee (Sec. 5, DO 174-17).
Note: For the first kind, it shall be a combination of either the first or the second element plus the third element. The third element is indispensable for the first kind. So, (a) + (c) OR (b) + (c).
*LEGITIMATE JOB CONTRACTING:
a. The contractor or subcontractor is engaged in a distinct and independent business and undertakes to perform the job or work on its own responsibility, according to its own manner and
method;
b. The contractor or subcontractor has substantial capital to carry out the job farmed out by the principal on his account, manner and method, investment in the form of tools, equipment, machinery and supervision; ‣ Substantial capital refers to paid-up capital stock/shares of at least P5M in the case of corporations, partnerships, and cooperatives; and in the case of single
proprietorship, a net worth of at least P5M (Sec. 3(l), DO 174-17).
c. In performing the work farmed out, the contractor or subcontractor is free from the control and/or direction of the principal in all matters connected with the performance of the work except as to the result thereto; and
d. The Service Agreement ensures compliance with all the rights and benefits for all the employees of the contractor or
subcontractor under the labor laws (Sec. 8, DO 174-17).
What is labor-only contracting? Why is it prohibited under the law?
Section 7. When the principal is deemed the direct employer of the contractor’s or subcontractor’s employees. In the event that there is a finding that the contractor or subcontractor is engaged in labor-only
contracting under section 5 and other illicit forms of employment arrangement under section 6 of these rules, the principal shall be deemed the direct employer of the contractor’s or subcontractor’s employees.
What is Rest Day? May an employer require his employees to render overtime work? Explain.
Weekly rest day. The employee is entitled to a 24-hour rest period for 6 consecutive days of work.
Right to overtime pay as well as other labor standards, since they directly affect the livelihood of the workers, cannot be legally waived under existing provisions of the Labor Code. As stated in the Labor Code, the employees may be asked to work in excess of eight hours but compliance must be voluntary in the absence of exceptional or emergency situations. They should be paid the required overtime compensation.
Discuss the “No work, No Pay” policy in our labor laws including any exceptions thereto.
The principle of no-work, no pay is the basic factor in determining employee wages. This is based on the age-old rule of “a fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work.” If the employee is ready, willing, and able to do work, but is prevented from working, he is paid.
May overtime be offset by undertime? Explain briefly.
No. Article 88 of the Labor Code provides that “Offsetting of overtime work whether on the same or any other day is PROHIBITED.”
The reason was stated in NWSA vs. NWSA Consolidated Unions where the court held that the undertime hours represent only the employee’s hourly rate of pay and the appropriate overtime premium such that, not being of equal value, offsetting the undertime hours against the overtime hours would result in undue deprivation of the employee’s overtime premium. Furthermore, allowing such would place the schedule for working hours dependent on the employee.
What is direct-hiring? State the general policy of the law on direct hiring as well as the exceptions thereto.
Direct Hires are workers directly hired by the employers for overseas employment.
GEN: Direct hiring of Filipino workers for overseas employment is not allowed.
XPN: Direct hiring by members of the: (DION)
1. Diplomatic corps;
2. International organizations;
3. Other employers as may be allowed by DOLE; and
4. Name hires — individual workers who are able to secure contracts for overseas employment on their own efforts and representations without the assistance or participation of any agency. Their hiring, nonetheless, shall pass through POEA for the processing process.
*Reason behind the Prohibition:
-To insure the OFWs the best possible employment terms and conditions.
-To protect them from exploitation and discrimination
-To insure that those deployed are possessed with the necessary skills, trade and technical know-how so that they could compete fairly in terms of the international labor market.
-To insure compliance with the mandatory foreign exchange remittance policy if the government
-The ban is a form of protection for the Filipino workers, so that they will not fall prey to unscrupulous and abusive foreign
employers who might victimize them in the absence of government regulation.
