I.
Historical Overview of Dispute Settlement Court by the Secretary of Labor, or by any or both of the parties to the controversy and
(Read any book or commentary on Philippine Labor Laws)
A. Era of Compulsory Arbitration
1. 1935 Constitution, Art. XIV, Sec. 6
Section 6. The State shall afford protection to labor, especially to working women, and
minors, and shall regulate the relations between the landowner and tenant, and between
labor and capital in industry and in agriculture. The State may provide for compulsory
arbitration.
2. CA No. 103. and CIR
COMMONWEALTH ACT NO. 103
AN ACT TO AFFORD PROTECTION OF LABOR BY CREATING A COURT OF INDUSTRIAL
RELATIONS EMPOWERED TO FIX MINIMUM WAGES FOR LABORERS AND MAXIMUM
RENTALS TO BE PAID BY TENANTS, AND TO ENFORCE COMPULSORY ARBITRATION
BETWEEN EMPLOYEES OR LANDLORDS, AND EMPLOYEES OR TENANTS, RESPECTIVELY;
AND BY PRESCRIBING PENALTIES FOR THE VIOLATION OF ITS ORDERS
CHAPTER I
Organization of the Court
SECTION 1. The Judge: his appointment, qualifications, compensation, tenure. There
is hereby created a Court of Industrial Relations, which shall have jurisdiction over the
entire Philippines, to consider, investigate, decide, and settle any question, matter,
controversy or dispute arising between, and/or affecting, employers and employees or
laborers, and andlords and tenants or farmlaborers, and regulate the relations between
them, subject to, and in accordance with, the provisions of this Act. The Court shall keep
a record of all its proceedings and shall be presided over by-a Judge to be appointed by
the President of the Philippines with the consent of the Commission on Appointments of
the National Assembly. The Judge of the Court shall hold office during good behavior until
he reaches the age of seventy years,-or becomes incapacitated to discharge the duties of
his office His qualifications shall be the same
as those provided in the Constitution for members of the Supreme Court and he shall
receive an annual compensation of ten thousand pesos and shall be entitled to traveling
expenses and per diems when performing official duties outside of the City of Manila. The
Department of Justice shall have executive supervision over the Court.
SECTION 2. The oath of the judge. Before entering upon the discharge of the duties of
his office, the Judge of the Court shall take and subscribe an oath of office before an
official authorized by law to administer oaths, wherein he shall declare, in addition to the
matters prescribed in Section 23 of the Administrative Code and in the Constitution of the
Philippines, that he shall faithfully and impartially perform the duties of his office, and
that, except in the discharge of his duties, he will not disclose to any person any
evidence or other matter brought before the Court.
SECTION 3. The Clerk of the Court; other personnel. The judge of the Court shall
appoint and fix the compensation of the Clerk of the Court, and of such other subject,
employees, and technical staff as may be necessary, subject to the Civil Service Laws,
and subject to the approval of the Secretary of Justice: Provided, however, That the
maximum yearly salary of the Clerk of the Court shall be five thousand pesos.
CHAPTER II
Powers and Duties of the Court
SECTION 4. Strikes and lockouts. The Court shall take cognizance for purposes of
prevention, arbitration, decision and settlement, of any industrial or agricultural dispute
causing or likely to cause a strike or lockout, arising from differences as regards wages,
shares or compensation, hours of labor or conditions of tenancy or employment, between
employers and employees or laborers and between landlords and tenants or farm-
laborers, provided that the number of employees, laborers or tenants or farm-laborers
involved exceeds thirty, and such industrial or agricultural dispute is submitted to the
certified by the Secretary of Labor as existing and proper to be dealt with by the Court
for the sake of public interest. In all such cases, the Secretary of Labor or the party or
parties submitting the disputes, shall clearly and specifically state in writing the questions
to be decided. Upon the submission of such a controversy or question by the Secretary of
Labor, his intervention therein as authorized by law, shall cease. The Court shall, before
hearing the dispute and in the course of such hearing, endeavor to reconcile the parties
and induce them to settle the dispute by amicable agreement. If any agreement as to the
whole or any part of the dispute is arrived at by the parties, a memorandum of its terms
shall be made in writing, signed and acknowledged by the parties thereto before the
Judge of the Court or any official acting in his behalf and authorized to administer oaths
or acknowledgments, or, before a notary public. The memorandum shall be filed in the
office of the Clerk of the Court, and, unless otherwise ordered by the Court, shall, as
between the parties to the agreement, have the same effect, and be deemed to be, a
decision or award.
SECTION 5. Minimum wage and maximum canon or rental.
Whenever conditions in a given industry or in a given locality so warrant, and in the
interest of public welfare and for the promotion of industrial peace and progress, the
President of the Philippines shall
direct the Court of Industrial Relations to investigate and study all pertinent facts related
to the industry concerned or to the industries in a designated locality, with a view to
determining the necessity and
fairness of fixing and adopting for such industry or locality a minimum wage or share of
laborers or tenants, or a maximum canon or rental to be paid by the inquilinos or
tenants or lessees
to landowners.
In order to determine the necessity and fairness of adopting such measures, and in order
to arrive at a proper, just, and reasonable minimum wage or share or maximum canon
or rental, the Court shall make a careful examination of the amount of capital invested in
the industry or industries concerned, insurance and transportation, market prices,
benefits or gains derived or losses suffered or expected, wages and shares as well as
other income of laborers and tenants, minimum cost of living and labor conditions in
general, and such other factors and circumstances as may, in its opinion, be necessary to
fairly and adequately accomplish the purpose of the investigation. After such an
examination, and after the Court is satisfied of the necessity and fairness of fixing and
adopting a minimum wage or share or maximum canon or rental for such locality or
industry, it shall tentatively fix such minimum wage or share or maximum canon or
rental as would give the workingmen a just compensation for their labor and an adequate
income to meet the essential necessities of civilized life, and at the same time allow the
capital a fair return on its investment.
When determining a minimum wage or share for laborers and tenants engaged in a given
industry, the Court may, in its discretion, taking into account the conditions prevailing in
the different localities where
such industry is carried on, fix different minimum wages or shares, according to localities
or fix different minimum wages or shares according to the industries existing in that
locality. A minimum wage or share shall be determined and fixed for laborers working by
the hours, day or month, or by piecework, and for tenants sharing in the crop or paid
measurement unit. Unless otherwise expressly provided in the order fixing a minimum
wage, a minimum wage in industrial or manufacturing enterprises shall be understood
to be fixed on the basis of eight hours daily labor, and employees and laborers working in
excess of such number of hours shall be entitled to a proportionate increase in their
wages.
The Court may, by so specifically providing in its order fixing a minimum wage, exclude
apprentices from the provisions thereof, but the number of such apprentices in an
industrial firm or labor establishment shall not exceed twenty per centum of the total
number of laborers employed therein.
Insofar as possible, and when deemed necessary to better carry out the provisions of this
Act, the Court may classify or group the laborers according to the kind and importance of
the work and the amount or degree of skill, training, experience and knowledge required
and shall fix for each class or group a minimum wage or compensation. In like manner, it
may classify or group the tenants or lessees according to the kind of work they perform,
the terms of the contract with the landowners and the productivity of the lands or the
maximum canon or rental to be paid to the landowners. After such minimum wage or
share or maximum canon or rental has been tentatively fixed by the Court, the Court
shall order the publication of such tentative decision in three successive issues of two
newspapers of general circulation in the locality or localities affected, one published in
English and another in Spanish. All parties not agreeing to such tentative decision may,
within forty-five days after the first publication, submit to the Court their written
objections.
With due consideration to such objections, and after the expiration of the period given to
question such tentative decision, the Court shall adopt a final minimum wage or share or
maximum canon or rental, which shall, with the approval of the President of the
Philippines, be binding upon everyone concerned and shall have the force and effect of
law thirty days after the approval by the President duly promulgated in an executive
Proclamation.
CHAPTER III
Incidental Powers of the Court and Manner of Conducting
Investigations
SECTION 6. The power to issue subpoena, etc. The Judge of the Court shall have the
power to administer oaths in matters connected with the business of the Court; summon
the parties to a controversy before the Court, issue subpoena, require the attendance and
testimony of witnesses and the production of such books, papers, contracts, records,
statements of accounts, agreements and statements as may be material to a just
determination of the matter under investigation, take testimony in any investigation or
hearing conducted in pursuance of the provisions of this Act, and delegate all
such powers to any board or person who shall act in behalf of the
Court. Any contempt of the orders of the Court in this regard shall be
punished as in other cases of contempt of Courts of First Instance.
SECTION 7. Where hearings may be held; and how. The Court shall have power to
conduct hearing in any place for the determination of a question, matter or controversy
within its jurisdiction, proceed to hear and determine the dispute in the absence
of any party thereto who has been summoned or served with notice to appear, conduct
its proceedings or any part thereof in public or in private; adjourn its hearings or any
part thereof in public or in private; adjourn its hearings to any time and place, refer any
technical matter or matters of account to an expert and to accept his report as evidence,
direct parties to be joined or stricken out from the proceedings, correct, amend or waive
any error, defect or irregularity, whether in substance or in form; extend any prescribed
time; give all such directions as it may deem necessary or expedient in the determination
of the dispute before it; and dismiss any master or part of any matter, or refrain from
hearing further or from determining the dispute or part thereof, where it is trivial or
where further proceedings by the Court are not necessary or desirable.
SECTION 8. Assessors. Employers and employees or laborers and landlords and
tenants or farm-laborers directly concerned with any matter under or to be submitted to
the consideration of the Court may petition for the appointment of assessors, and the
Court, when satisfied of the interest of the petitioners in the controversy, may appoint at
any stage of the proceedings assessors not exceeding three for the employer or
landlords, and an equal number of assessors for the employees, laborers or tenants, from
the lists of candidates to be submitted by the parties concerned. The assessors will serve
without compensation or allowance whatsoever.
SECTION 9. Boards of inquiry. Whenever necessary in his opinion, the President of the
Philippines may appoint boards of inquiry in different localities to assist the Court in the
performance of its duties under the provisions of Section five hereof. A local board of
inquiry shall be composed of the following members: not more than six from
among a list of nominees to be submitted by employers or landlords, an equal number
from a list submitted by the employees, laborers, tenants or farm-laborers, and not more
than three experts in sociology, welfare work, labor problems or industrial and
agricultural economics and administration: Provided, That if within fifteen days after
requesting them to do so, the parties concerned fail to submit the list of nominees above
mentioned, the President may appoint in their stead such persons as in his judgment may
represent the parties failing to submit such nominees. The chairman of the board shall be
designated by the President from among the experts. The majority of the board shall
constitute a quorum to do business, and the affirmative vote of the majority of all the
members present shall be necessary to the approval of any proposition. The members of
the board shall receive no compensation but they shall be paid their traveling expenses.
The boards of inquiry shall be charged with the duty of investigating and determining the
facts in any given case, and their report and decision shall be deemed as only advisory.
SECTION 10. Reference to public officials. For the sake of expediency and depending
on the nature and extent of the facts and questions involved, the Court may refer any
industrial or agricultural dispute, or any matter under consideration or advisement by the
Court under the provisions of section four hereof to a local board of inquiry, a provincial
fiscal, a justice of the peace or any public official in any part of the Philippines for
investigation, report, and recommendation, and may delegate to such board or public
official such powers and functions as the said Court of Industrial Relations may deem
necessary; but such delegation shall not affect the exercise by the Court itself of any of
its powers of functions. When delegation is made to a public official as above provided, he
may, in his discretion, appoint an equal number of assessors, not exceeding three, from
each of the lists submitted by the employers or landlords and by the employees, laborers,
tenants, or farm-laborers, respectively, interested in the matter referred to him for
investigation. The assessors thus appointed shall serve without compensation or
allowance whatsoever. The Court may take into account or set aside the
recommendation of any such board or public official in deciding the dispute and making
its decision, award or order.
SECTION 11. Court authorized to seek help from other officers.-The Court shall have the
power to require the services of any Government official or employee, to help it, without
additional compensation, in the performance of its duties.
SECTION 12. Power of inspection. The Judge or any person authorized by him in
writing may at any time during working hours, enter any labor establishment, building,
place or premises in the performance of the duties of the Court, and may inspect and
view any work, material, implement, machinery, appliances or any object therein.
CHAPTER IV
Award and Appeals SECTION 13. Character of the award. In making an award, order
or decision, under the provisions of section four of this Act, the Court shall not be
restricted to the specific relief claimed or demands made by the parties to the industrial
or agricultural dispute, but may include in the award, order or decision any matter or
determination which may be deemed necessary or expedient for the purpose of settling
the dispute or of preventing further industrial or agricultural disputes.
SECTION 14. Finality of award. At the expiration of ten days from the date of the
award, order or decision, in cases brought under the provisions of section four hereof,
judgment shall be entered in accordance therewith, unless during said ten days an
aggrieved party shall appeal therefrom to the Supreme Court of the Philippines by writ of
certiorari as hereinafter provided. The Supreme Court in its discretion, may, in any case
involving a question of law, upon petition of the party aggrieved by the decision of the
Court of Industrial Relations and under rules and conditions that it may prescribe, require
by certiorari that said case be certified to it for review and determination.
SECTION 15. Decision of Supreme Court. Upon the final determination and decision by
the Supreme Court of the questions or issues raised in the appeal, the Clerk of the
Supreme Court shall immediately transmit to the Clerk of the Court of Industrial Relations
a certified copy of the decision or judgment. Five days after receipt of said certified
decision or judgment by the Clerk of the Court of Industrial Relations it shall immediately
become conclusive, final and executory.
If exceptions to an award, order or decision of the Court are finally sustained, judgment
shall be entered setting aside the award, order or decision, in whole or in part, but in
such case the parties may agree upon a judgment to be entered disposing of the subject
matter of the controversy, which shall have the same force and effect as judgment
entered, an award, order or decision.
SECTION 16. Preference given to labor cases. The Supreme Court shall hear cases
arising out of, and brought under, the provisions of this Act in preference to all other
cases, and decide them as soon as practicable.
SECTION 17. Limit of effectiveness of award. An award, order or decision of the Court
shall be valid and effective during the time herein specified. In the absence of such
specification, any party or both parties to a controversy may terminate the effectiveness
of an award, order or decision after three years have elapsed from the date of said
award, order or decision by giving notice to that effect to the Court: Provided, however,
That at any time during the effectiveness of an award, order or decision, the Court may,
on application of an interested party, and after due hearing, alter, modify in whole or in
part, or set aside any such award, order or decision, or reopen any question involved
therein.
SECTION 18. Interpretation of award. Whenever a doubt shall arise as to the meaning
or interpretation of an award, order or decision of the Court of Industrial Relations, any
interested party may petition the Court to determine such meaning or interpretation and
the Court, upon receiving such petition, shall set a date for the hearing of the case and
shall dispose of the same as soon as practicable.
CHAPTER V
General Provisions
SECTION 19. Implied condition in every contract of employment. In every contract of
employment or tenancy, whether verbal or written, it is an implied condition that when
any dispute between the employer or landlord and the employee, tenant or laborer has
been submitted to the Court of Industrial Relations for settlement or arbitration, pursuant
to the provisions of this Act, and pending award or decision by it, the employee, tenant or
laborer shall not strike or walk out of his employment when so enjoined by the Court
after hearing and when public interest so requires, and if he has already done so, that he
shall forthwith return to it, upon order of the Court, which shall be issued only after
hearing when public interest so requires or when the dispute cannot, in its opinion, be
promptly decided or settled; and if the employees, tenants or laborers fail to return to
work, the Court may authorize the employer or landlord to accept other employees,
tenants or laborers. A condition shall further be implied that while such dispute is pending
in the Court, the employer or landlord shall refrain from accepting other employees,
tenants or laborers, unless with the express authority of the Court, and shall permit the
continuation in the service of his employees, tenants or laborers under the last terms
and conditions existing before the dispute arose: Provided, That within fifteen days after
the declaration of the strike, employers will not be allowed to engage the services of
strike breakers. A violation by the employer or landlord or by the employee, tenant or
laborer of such an order or the implied contractual condition set forth in this section shall
constitute contempt of the Court, and shall be punishable as in all other cases of
contempt of a Court of First Instance.
SECTION 20. Rules of court. The Court of Industrial Relations shall adopt its rules of
procedure and shall have such other powers as generally pertain to a court of justice:
Provided, however, That in the hearing, investigation and determination of any question
or controversy and in exercising any duties and powers under this Act, the Court shall act
according to justice and equity and substantial merits of the case, without regard to
technicalities or legal forms and shall not be bound by any technical rules of legal
evidence but may inform its mind in such manner as it may deem just and equitable.
SECTION 21. Unlawful for employer to discharge employee under
certain conditions. It shall be unlawful for any employer to discharge or to threaten to
discharge, or in any other manner discriminate against, any laborer or employee
because such person has testified or is about to testify, or because such employer
believes
that he may testify in any investigation, proceeding or public hearing conducted by the
Court or any board of inquiry.
SECTION 22. Unlawful agreements. Any agreement intended to avoid the provisions of
this Act shall be void.
CHAPTER VI
Damages and Penalties
SECTION 23. Civil liability. Non-compliance with any of the terms of the agreement of
the parties as provided for in this Act, or, of the award, order or decision, after it has
become final, conclusive and executory, may subject the offending party to liability for
damages to be recovered in an ordinary civil action.
SECTION 24. Criminal liability. Any violation of the provisions of this Act, or, of any
order, award or decision of the Court of Industrial Relations, shall be punished with a fine
not exceeding one thousand pesos or imprisonment not exceeding one month, or both in
the discretion of the Court. Any person who shall induce or cause somebody to violate
any provision of this Act or of any order, award or decision of the Court shall be punished
with a fine not exceeding two thousand pesos or imprisonment not exceeding one year or
both in the discretion of the Court.
CHAPTER VII
Special Provisions
SECTION 25. Appropriation. The sum of forty-five thousand pesos or so much thereof
as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated out of the unappropriated funds in the
Philippine Treasury, for salaries, per diems, traveling expenses purchase of materials and
equipments and other necessary sundry expenses that may be incurred in the carrying
out of the provisions of this Act up to the last day of December of nineteen hundred and
thirty-seven. The expenses for the succeeding years shall be provided for in the current
appropriations for such years.
SECTION 26. Partial invalidity. If for any reason, any section or provision of this Act
shall be questioned in any Court, and shall be held to be unconstitutional or invalid, no
other section or provision of this Act shall be affected thereby.
SECTION 27. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
APPROVED: October 29, 1936.
3. COMMONWEALTH ACT NO. 213
AN ACT TO DEFINE AND REGULATE LEGITIMATE LABOR ORGANIZATIONS
SECTION 1. For the purposes of this Act, a legitimate labor organization is an
organization, association, or union of laborers duly registered and permitted to operate
by the Department of Labor, and governed by a constitution and by-laws not repugnant
to or inconsistent with the laws of the Philippines.
SECTION 2. All associations which are duly organized and registered with, and permitted
to operate by, the Department of Labor, shall have the right to collective bargaining with
employers for the purpose of seeking better working and living conditions, fair wages,
and shorter working hours for laborers, and, in general, to promote the material, social
and moral well-being of their members, and no labor organization shall be denied such
registration and permission to operate, except such whose object is to undermine and
destroy the constituted government or to violate any law or laws of the Philippines, in
which case it shall be refused registration and permission to operate as a legitimate labor
organization. The registration of, and the issuance of a permit to any legitimate labor
organization shall entitle it to all the rights and privileges granted by law.
SECTION 3. An application to register and operate a legitimate labor organization,
accompanied by a copy of the Constitution and by-laws thereof, shall be filed with the
Secretary of Labor, who shall conduct an investigation of the activities of the applying
labor organization and if, on such investigation, it shall appear that the applicant is
entitled to registration, he shall issue a permit therefor upon payment of the registration
fee of five pesos: Provided, however, That any permit issued by the Secretary of labor to
any legitimate labor organization shall last for a period of two years only from the date of
issue, but it may be renewed for like periods upon payment of a renewal fee of three
pesos for each renewal permit.
SECTION 4. Every legitimate labor organization duly registered and permitted to operate
in accordance with the provisions of this Act, shall keep a book and records containing a
list of its members in alphabetical order and the minutes of its meetings, and shall submit
to the Secretary of Labor a report at least once a year, within thirty days after the
anniversary of the date when its permission to operate was granted, on its fiscal and
other activities during the preceding year. Failure to comply with these requirements shall
be sufficient cause for the revocation of the permit issued to any defaulting legitimate
labor organization. The Secretary of Labor, or his duly authorized agent, shall have power
to inquire from time to time, into the activities of any registered legitimate labor
organization, and to examine its books and other records to determine compliance or
noncompliance with the laws.
SECTION 5. Any person or persons, landlord or landlords, corporation or corporations or
their agents, partnership or
partnerships or their agents, who intimidate or coerce any employee or laborer or tenant
under his or their employ, with the intent of preventing such employee or laborer or
tenant from joining any registered legitimate labor organization of his own choosing or,
who dismiss or threaten to dismiss such employee or laborer or tenant from his
employment for having joined, or for being a member of, any registered legitimate labor
organization, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment of not
exceeding one year or a fine not exceeding one thousand pesos, or both, at the discretion
of the court.
SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
B. Birth of Collective Bargaining
1. RA 875, the IPA
N ACT TO PROMOTE INDUSTRIAL PEACE AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES (REPEALED BY
PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 442)
SECTION 1. Declaration of Policy. - It is the policy this Act:
(a) To eliminate the causes of industrial unrest by encouraging and protecting the
exercise by employees of their right to self-organization for the purpose of collective
bargaining and for the promotion of their moral, social, and economic well-being.
(b) To promote sound stable industrial peace and the advancement of the general
welfare, health and safety and the best interests of employers and employees by the
settlement of issues respecting terms and conditions of employment through the process
of collective bargaining between employers and representatives of their employees.
(c) To advance the settlement of issues between employers and employees through
collective bargaining by making available full and adequate governmental facilities for
conciliation and mediation to aid and encourage employers and representatives of their
employees in reaching and maintaining agreements concerning terms and conditions of
employment and in making all reasonable efforts to settle their differences by mutual
agreement; and
(d) To avoid or minimize differences which arise between the parties to collective
bargaining by prescribing certain rules to be followed in the negotiation and
administration of collective bargaining agreements and by requiring the inclusion in any
such agreement of provisions for adequate notice of any proposed changes in the terms
of such agreements, for the final adjustment of grievances or questions regarding the
application or interpretation of such agreements and other provisions designated to
prevent the subsequent arising of such controversies.
Section 2. Definitions. - As used in this Act -
(a) "Court" means the Court of Industrial Relations established by Commonwealth
Act Numbered One hundred and three, as amended, unless another Court shall be
specified.
(b) "Service" means the Conciliation Service of the Department of Labor.
(c) The term "employer" includes any person acting in the interest of an employer,
directly or indirectly but shall not include any labor organization (otherwise than when
acting as an employer) or anyone acting in the capacity of officer or agent of such labor
organization.
(d) The term "employee" shall include any employee and shall not be limited to the
employee of a particular employer unless the Act explicitly states otherwise and shall
include any individual whose work has ceased as a consequence of, or in connection with,
any current labor dispute or because of any unfair labor practice and who has not
obtained any other substantially equivalent and regular employment.
(e) "Labor organization" means any union or association of employees which exists,
in whole or in part, for the purpose of collective bargaining or of dealing with employers
concerning terms and conditions of employment.
(f) "Legitimate labor organization" means any labor organization registered by the
Department of Labor, and includes any branch or local thereof.
(g) The term "company union" means a labor organization the formation or
administration of which has been assisted by any Act defined in Section four as an unfair
labor practice.
(h) "Representative" includes a legitimate labor organization or any officer or agent
of such organization, whether or not employed by the employer or employees whom he
represents.
(i) The term "unfair labor practice" means any unfair labor practice listed in section
four.
(j) The term "labor dispute" includes any controversy concerning terms, tenure or
conditions of employment, or concerning the association or representation of persons in
negotiating, fixing, maintaining, changing, or seeking to arrange terms or conditions of
employment, regardless of whether the disputants stand in the proximate relation of
employer and employee.
(k) "Supervisor" means any person having authority in the interest of an employer,
to hire, transfer, suspend, lay-off, recall, discharge, assign, recommend, or discipline
other employees, or responsibly to direct them, and to adjust their grievances, or
effectively to recommend such acts if, in connection with the foregoing, the exercise of
such authority is not of a merely routinary or clerical nature but requires the use of
independent judgment.
(l) "Strike" means any temporary stoppage of work by the concerted action of
employees as a result of an industrial dispute.
(m) "Lockout" means the temporary refusal of any employer to furnish work as a
result of an industrial dispute.
Section 3. Employees' Right to Self-Organization. - Employees shall have the right
to self-organization and to form, join or assist labor organizations of their own choosing
for the purpose collective bargaining through representatives of their own choosing and
to engage in concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining and other mutual
aid or protection. Individuals employed as supervisors shall not be eligible for
membership in a labor organization of employees under their supervision but may form
separate organizations of their own.
Section 4. Unfair Labor Practices. -
(a) It shall be unfair labor practice for an employer:
(1) To interfere with, restrain or coerce employees in the exercise of their rights
guaranteed in section three;
(2) To require as a condition of employment that a person or an employee shall not
join a labor organization or shall withdraw from one to which he belongs;
(3) To initiate, dominate, assist in or interfere with the formation or administration
of any labor organization or to contribute financial or other support to it;
(4) To discriminate in regard to hire or tenure of employment of any term or
condition of employment to encourage or discourage membership in any labor
organization: Provided, That nothing in this Act or in any other Act or statute of the
Republic of the Philippines shall preclude an employer from making an agreement with a
labor organization to require as a condition of employment membership therein, if such
labor organization is the representative of the employees as provided in section twelve;
(5) To dismiss, discharge, or otherwise prejudice or discriminate against an
employee for having filed charges or for having given or being about to give testimony
under this Act;
(6) To refuse to bargain collectively with the representatives of his employees
subject to the provisions of section thirteen and fourteen.
(b) It shall be unfair labor practice for organization or its agents:
(1) To restrain or coerce employees in the exercise of their rights under section
three, provided that this paragraph shall not impair the right of a labor organization to
prescribe its own rules with respect to the acquisition or retention of membership therein;
(2) To cause or attempt to cause an employer to discriminate against an employee
in violation of subsection (a) (4) or to discriminate against an employee with respect to
whom membership in such organization has been denied or terminated on some ground
other than the usual terms and conditions under which membership or continuation of
membership is made available to other members.
(3) To refuse to bargain collectively with the employer, provided it is the
representative of the employees subject to the provisions of sections thirteen and
fourteen.
(4) To cause or attempt to cause an employer to pay or deliver or agree to pay or
deliver any money or other thing of value, in the nature of an exaction, for services which
are not performed or not to be performed.
Section 5. Unfair Labor Practice Cases. -
(a) The Court shall have jurisdiction over the prevention of unfair labor practices
and is empowered to prevent any person from engaging in any unfair labor practice. This
power shall be exclusive and shall not be affected by any other means of adjustment or
prevention that has been or may be established by an agreement, code, law or
otherwise.
(b) That Court shall observe the following procedure without resort to mediation and
conciliation as provided in section four of Commonwealth Act Numbered One hundred and
three, as amended, to any pre-trial procedure. Whenever it is charged by an offended
party or his representative that any person has engaged or is engaging in any such unfair
labor practice, the Court or any agency or agent designated by the Court must
investigate such charge and shall have the power to issue and cause to be served upon
such person a complaint stating the charges in that respect and containing a notice of
hearing before the Court or a member thereof, or before a designated Hearing Examiner
at the time and place fixed therein not less than five nor more than ten days after serving
the said complaint. The person complained of shall have the right to file an answer to the
complaint and to appear in person or otherwise (but if the Court shall so request, the
appearance shall be personal) and give testimony at the place and time fixed in the
complaint. In the discretion of the Court, a member thereof or a Hearing Examiner, any
other person may be allowed to be intervene in the said proceeding and to present
testimony. In such proceeding, the rules of evidence prevailing in courts of law or equity
shall not be controlling and it is the spirit and intention of this Act that the Court and its
members and Hearing Examiners shall use every and all reasonable means to ascertain
the facts in each case speedily and objectively and without regard to technicalities of law
or procedure. In rendering its decisions, the Court shall not be bound solely by the
evidence presented during the hearing but may avail itself of all other means such as
(but not limited to) ocular inspections and questioning of well-informed persons which
results must be made a part of the record. In the proceeding before the Court or a
Hearing Examiner thereof, the parties shall not be required to be represented by legal
counsel and it shall be the duty and obligation of the Court or Hearing Examiner to
examine and cross-examine witnesses on behalf of the parties and to assist in the orderly
presentation of the evidence.
(c) The testimony taken by the Court or such member of the Court or the Hearing
Examiner shall be reduced to writing and filed with the Court. If, after investigation, the
Court shall be of the opinion that any person named in the complaint has engaged in or
engaging in any unfair labor practice, then the Court shall state its findings of fact and
shall issue and cause to be served on such person an order requiring such person to
cease and desist from such unfair labor practice and take such affirmative action as will
effectuate the policies of this Act, including (but not limited to) reinstatement of
employees with or without back-pay and including rights of the employees prior to
dismissal including seniority. Such order may further require such person to post the
Court's order and findings in a place available to all the employees and to make reports
from time to time showing the extent to which the Court's order has been complied with.
If after investigation the Court shall be of the opinion that no person named in the
complaint has engaged in or is engaging in any such unfair labor practice, then the Court
shall state its findings of fact and shall issue an order dismissing the said complaint. If
the complaining party withdraws its complaint, the Court shall dismiss the case.
(d) The Court shall decide all incidental motions raised in any unfair labor practice
cases within fifteen days from submission of the same. All other matters relative to such
disputes including the main case shall be decided within thirty days after the submission
of the case. This provision shall be considered as mandatory in character.
(e) The Court or any judge thereof shall have all the inherent power of a Court of
Justice provided in Rule One hundred and twenty-four of the rules of court as well as the
power to punish direct and indirect contempts as provided in Rule sixty-four of the Rules
of Court, under the same procedure and penalties provided therein. Any violation of any
order or decision of the Court shall constitute contempt of court.
Section 6. Unfair Labor Practice Cases - Appeals. - Any person aggrieved by any
order of the Court may appeal to the Supreme Court of the Philippines within ten days
after the issuing of the Court's order but this appeal shall not stay the order of the Court
and the person or persons named in the Court order shall meanwhile obey said order.
The findings of the Court with respect to questions of fact if supported by substantial
evidence on the record shall be conclusive. The appeal to the Supreme Court shall be
limited to questions of law only.
Section 7. Fixing Working Conditions by Court Order. - In order to prevent undue
restriction of free enterprise for capital and labor and to encourage the truly democratic
method of regulating the relations between the employer and employee by means of an
agreement freely entered into in collective bargaining, no court of the Philippines shall
have the power to set wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, or conditions of
employment except as in this Act is otherwise provided and except as is provided in
Republic Act Numbered Six Hundred two and Commonwealth Act Numbered Four hundred
forty-four as to hours of works.
Section 8. Private Contracts Contravening Employee Rights. - Every undertaking
or promise hereafter made, whether written or oral, express or implied, constituting or
contained in any contract or agreement of hiring or employment between any individual
firm, company, association or corporation and any employee or prospective employee of
the same shall be null and void if thereby -
(a) Either party to such contract or agreement undertakes or promises not to join,
become or remain a member of any labor organization or of any employer organization;
or
(b) Either party to such contract or agreement undertakes or promises that he will
withdraw from an employment relation in the event that he joins, becomes or remains a
member of any labor organization or of any employer organization.
(c) Either party undertakes or promises to permit the commission of any of the
unfair labor practices defined in section four hereof.
Section 9. Injunctions in Labor Disputes. -
(a) No Court, Commission or Board of the Philippines shall have jurisdiction, except
as provided in section ten of this Act, to issue any restraining order, temporary or
permanent injunction in any case involving or growing out of labor dispute to prohibit any
person or persons participating or interested in such dispute from doing, whether singly
or in concert, any of the following acts:
(1) Ceasing or refusing to perform any work or to remain in any relation of
employment;
(2) Becoming or remaining a member of any labor organization or of any employee
organization regardless of any undertaking or promise as is described in section eight of
this Act;
(3) Paying or giving to, or withholding from, any person participating or interested in
such labor dispute, any strike or unemployment benefits or insurance, or moneys or
things of value;
(4) By all lawful means aiding any person participating or interested in any labor
dispute who is being proceeded against in, or is prosecuting any action or suit in any
court of the Philippines;
(5) Giving publicity to the existence of, or the facts involved in any labor dispute,
whether by advertising, speaking, patrolling, or by any method not involving fraud or
violence;
(6) Assembling peaceably to act or to organize to act in promotion of their interests
in a labor dispute;
(7) Advising or notifying any person of an intention to do any of the acts heretofore
specified;
(8) Agreeing with other persons to do or not to do any of the acts heretofore
specified; and
(9) Advising, urging, or otherwise causing or inducing without fraud or violence, the
acts heretofore specified, regardless of any such undertaking or promise as is described
in section eight of this Act.
(b) No court of the Philippines shall have jurisdiction to issue a restraining order or
temporary or permanent injunction upon the ground that any of the persons participating
or interested in a labor dispute constitute or are engaged in an unlawful combination or
conspiracy because of the doing in concert of the acts enumerated in paragraph (a)
above.
(c) No officer or member of any association or organization, and no association or
organization participating or interested in a labor dispute shall be held responsible or
liable for the unlawful acts of individual officers, members, or agents, except upon proof
of actual participation in, or actual authorization of such acts or of ratifying of such acts
after actual knowledge thereof.
(d) No court of the Philippines shall have jurisdiction to issue a temporary or
permanent injunction in any case involving or growing out of a labor dispute, as herein
defined except after hearing the testimony of witnesses in open court (with opportunity
for cross-examination) in support of the allegations of a complaint made under oath, and
testimony in opposition thereto, if offered, and except after finding of fact by the Court,
to the effect:
(1) That unlawful acts have been threatened and will be committed unless
restrained, or have been committed and will be continued unless restrained, but no
injunction or temporary restraining order shall be issued on account of any threat or
unlawful act excepting against the person or persons, association, or organization making
the threat or committing the unlawful act or actually authorizing or ratifying the same
after actual knowledge thereof;
(2) That substantial and irreparable injury to complainant's property will follow;

(3) That as to each item of relief granted greater injury will be inflicted upon
complainant by the denial of relief that will be inflicted upon defendants by the granting
of relief;
(4) That complaint has no adequate remedy at law; and
(5) That the public officers charged with the duty to protect complainant's property
are unable or unwilling to furnish adequate protection.
Such hearing shall be held after due and personal notice thereof has been given, in such
manner as the Court shall direct, to all known persons against whom relief is sought, and
also to the chief of those public officials of the province or city within which the unlawful
acts have been threatened or committed charged with the duty to protect complainant's
property: Provided, however, That if a complainant shall also allege that, unless a
temporary restraining order shall be issued without notice, a substantial and irreparable
injury to complainant's property will be unavoidable, such a temporary restraining order
may be issued upon testimony under oath, sufficient, if sustained, to justify the court in
issuing a temporary injunction upon hearing after notice. Such a temporary restraining
order shall be effective for no longer than fifty days and shall become void at the
expiration of said five days. No temporary restraining order or temporary injunction shall
be issued except on condition that complainant shall first file an undertaking with
adequate security in an amount to be fixed by the Court sufficient to recompense those
enjoined for any loss, expense, or damage caused by the improvident or erroneous
issuance of such order or injunction, including all reasonable costs, (together with a
reasonable attorney's fee) and expense of defense against the order or against the
granting of any injunctive relief sought in the same proceeding and subsequently denied
by the Court.
The undertaking herein mentioned shall be understood to signify an agreement entered
into by the complainant and the surety upon which a decree may be rendered in the
same suit or proceeding against said complainant and surety, upon a hearing to assess
damages of which hearing complainant and surety shall have reasonable notice, the said
complainant and surety submitting themselves to the jurisdiction of the court for that
purpose. But nothing herein contained shall deprive any party having a claim or cause of
action under or upon such undertaking from electing to pursue his ordinary remedy by
suit at law or in equity.
(e) No restraining order or injunctive relief shall be granted to any complainant who
has failed to comply with any obligation imposed by law which is involved in the labor
dispute in question, or who has failed to make every reasonable effort to settle such
dispute by negotiation or with the aid of any available governmental machinery of
mediation or by voluntary arbitration.
(f) No restraining order or temporary or permanent injunction shall be granted in a
case involving or growing out of a labor dispute, except on the basis of findings of fact
made and filed by the court in the record of the case prior to the issuance of such
restraining order or injunction; and every restraining order or injunction granted in a case
involving or growing out of a labor dispute shall include only a prohibition of such specific
act or acts as may be expressly complained of in the bill of complaint or petition filed in
such case and as shall be expressly included in said findings of fact made and filed by the
court as provided herein:
(1) A case shall be held to involve or to grow out of a labor dispute when the case
involves persons who are engaged in the same industry, trade, craft, or occupation; or
have direct or indirect interests therein; or who are employees of the same employer; or
who are members of the same or an affiliated organization of employers or employees;
whether such dispute is (i) between one or more employees or association of employers
and one or more employees or association of employees; (ii) between one or more
employers or association of employers and one or more employees or association of
employers; or (iii) between one or more employees or association of employees and one
or more employees or association of employees; or when the case involves any
conflicting or competing interests in "labor dispute" (as hereinbefore defined) of "persons
participating or interested" therein (as hereinafter defined).
(2) A person or association shall be held to be a person participating or interested in
a labor dispute if relief is sought against him or it, and if he or it is engaged in the same
industry, trade, craft, or occupation in which such dispute occurs, or has a direct or
indirect interest therein, or is a member, officer, or agent of any association composed in
whole or in part of employers engaged in such industry, trade, craft, or occupation.
Section 10. Labor Disputes in Industries Indispensable to the National Interest. -
When in the opinion of the President of the Philippines there exists a labor dispute in an
industry indispensable to the national interest and when such labor dispute is certified by
the President to the Court of Industrial Relations, said Court may cause to be issued a
restraining order forbidding the employees to strike or the employer to lockout the
employees, pending an investigation by the Court, and if no other solution to the dispute
is found, the Court may issue an order fixing the terms and conditions of employment.
Section 11. Prohibition Against Strikes in the Government. - The terms and
conditions of employment in the Government, including any political subdivision or
instrumentality thereof, are governed by law and it is declared to be the policy of this Act
that employees therein shall not strike for the purpose of securing changes or
modification in their terms and conditions of employment. Such employees may belong to
any labor organization which does not impose the obligation to strike or to join in strike:
Provided, however, That this section shall apply only to employees employed in
governmental functions and not to those employed in proprietary functions of the
Government including but not limited to government corporations.
Section 12. Exclusive Collective Bargaining Representation of Labor Organizations. -
(a) The labor organization designated or selected for the purpose of collective
bargaining by the majority of the employees in an appropriate collective bargaining unit
shall be the exclusive representative of all the employees in such unit for the purpose of
collective bargaining in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, or other
conditions of employment: Provided, That any individual employee or group of employees
shall have the right at any time to present grievances to their employer.
(b) Whenever a question arises concerning the representation of employees, the
Court may investigate such controversy and certify to the parties in writing the name of
the labor organization that has been designated or selected for the appropriate
bargaining unit. In any such investigation, the Court shall provide for a speedy and
appropriate hearing upon due notice and if there is any reasonable doubt as to whom the
employees have chosen as their representative for purposes of collective bargaining, the
Court shall order a secret ballot election to be conducted by the Department of Labor, to
ascertain who is the freely chosen representative of the employees, under such rules and
regulations as the Court may prescribe, at which balloting representatives of the
contending parties shall have the right to attend as inspectors. Such a balloting shall be
known as a "certification election" and the Court shall not order certifications in the same
unit more often than once in twelve months. The organization receiving the majority of
votes cast in such election shall be certified as the exclusive bargaining representative of
such employees.
(c) In an instance where a petition is filed by at least ten per cent of the employees
in the appropriate unit requesting an election, it shall be mandatory on the Court to order
an election for the purpose of determining the representative of the employees for the
appropriate bargaining unit.
(d) When requested to bargain collectively, an employer may petition the Court for
an election if there has been no certification election held during the twelve months prior
to the date of the request of the employees, and if the employer has reasonable doubt as
to the bargaining representative of the employees in the appropriate unit.
(e) The Department of Labor shall conduct a certification election within 30 days of
the date the Court makes the request and in accordance with the rules and regulations
prescribed by the Court. The Department of Labor shall transmit the results of the
election to the Court for its determination within seven days of the certification election.
(f) A labor organization which has been a contending party in the election may
appeal the results of the certification election to the Court if it alleges any of the rules and
regulations established by the Court for the conduct of the election have been violated.
Section 13. Duty to Bargain Collectively. - In the absence of an agreement or other
voluntary arrangement providing for a more expeditious manner of collective bargaining,
it shall be the duty of an employer and the representative of his employees to bargain
collectively in accordance with the provisions of this Act. Such duty to bargain collectively
means the performance of the mutual obligation to meet and confer promptly and
expeditiously and in good faith, for the purpose of negotiating an agreement with respect
to wages, hours, and/or other terms and conditions of employment, and of executing a
written contract incorporating such agreement if requested by either party, or for the
purpose of adjusting any grievances or question arising under such agreement, but such
duty does not compel any party to agree to a proposal or to make concession.
Where there is in effect a collective bargaining agreement, the duty to bargain collectively
shall also mean that neither party shall terminate or modify such agreement, unless it
has served a written notice upon the other party of the proposed termination or
modification at least thirty days prior to the expiration date of the agreement, or in the
absence of an express provision concerning the period of validity of such agreement prior
to the time it is intended to have such termination or modification take effect. It shall be
the duty of both parties, without resorting to a strike or lockout, to continue in full force
and effect all the terms and conditions of the existing agreement during the said period of
thirty days.
Section 14. Procedure of Collective Bargaining. -
(a) Whenever a party desires to negotiate an agreement, it shall serve a written
notice upon the other party, with a statement of its proposals. The other party shall make
a reply thereto not later than ten days from receipt of such proposals.
(b) In case differences shall arise on the basis of such proposals and reply, either
party may request a conference which shall begin not later than ten days from the
making of such request. Both parties shall endeavor in such conference to settle the
dispute amicably and expeditiously.
(c) If the dispute is not settled by conference and the Conciliation Service of the
Department of Labor intervenes in the dispute, it shall be the duty of each party to
participate fully and promptly in such meetings and conferences as the Service may
undertake.
(d) Before an employer may lockout his employees or the employees may strike,
either party as the case may be, must file with the Conciliation Service thirty days prior
thereto a notice of their intention to strike or lockout the employees. Such notice shall be
in a form to be prescribed by the Chief of the Conciliation Service.
Section 15. Violation of Duty to Bargain Collectively. - It shall be unlawful for any
employer to refuse to bargain collectively with the representative of his employees, or to
declare a lockout without having first bargained collectively with the representative of his
employees, in accordance with the provisions of this Act. Any employee whose work has
stopped as a consequence of such lockout shall be entitled to back-pay.
The refusal of a labor organization to bargain collectively with an employer or the
declaration of a strike by such organization without having first bargained collectively
with an employer pursuant to this Act, shall be sufficient cause for the Court of Industrial
Relations to deny to said union all rights and privileges under this Act. Any employee who
participates in such strike shall lose his status as an employee for the purposes of this
Act.
The declaration of a strike by a labor organization or a lockout by an employer where no
previous notice of a desire to negotiate an agreement has been served upon the other
party as provided in Section 14, shall be deemed prima facie evidence of a violation of
the duty to bargain collectively.
Section 16. Administration of Agreement and Handling of Grievances. - The parties
to collective bargaining shall endeavor to include in their agreement provisions to insure
mutual observance of the terms and stipulations of the agreement and to establish
machinery for the adjustment of grievances, including any question that may arise from
the application or interpretation of the agreement or from day-to-day relationships in the
establishment.
Section 17. Rights and Conditions of Membership in Labor Organizations. - It is
hereby declared to be the public policy of the Philippines to encourage the following
internal labor organization procedures. A minimum of ten percent of the members of a
labor organization may report an alleged violation of these procedures in their labor
organization to the Court. If the Court finds, upon investigation, evidence to substantiate
the alleged violation and that efforts to correct the alleged violation through the
procedures provided by the labor organization's constitution or by-laws have been
exhausted, the Court shall dispose of the complaint as in "unfair labor practice" cases.
(a) Arbitrary or excessive initiation fees shall not be required of the members of a
legitimate labor organization nor shall arbitrary, excessive or oppressive fines and
forfeitures be imposed.
(b) The members shall be entitled to full and detailed reports from their officers and
representatives of all financial transactions as provided in the constitution and by-laws of
the organization.
(c) They shall also have the right to elect officers by secret ballot at intervals of not
more than two years and to determine and vote upon the question of striking or not
striking or upon any other question of major policy affecting the entire membership of the
organization.
(d) No labor organization shall knowingly admit as member or continue in
membership therein any individual who belongs to any subversive organization or who is
engaged directly or indirectly in any subversive activity or movement.
(e) No person who has been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude shall be
eligible for election to any office in a legitimate labor organization or for appointment to
any position involving the collection, custody, management, control, or disbursement of
its funds, and any such person shall be disqualified from continuing to hold any office or
such position in the organization.
Within sixty days of the election of the officers of a legitimate labor organization, the
secretary or other responsible officer thereof shall furnish the Secretary of Labor with a
list of the newly-elected officers and the appointive officers or agents of the organization
who are entrusted within the collection, custody, management, control or disbursement
of its funds. Any change in such list shall be reported within this period.
(f) No officer, agent or member of a legitimate labor organization shall collect any
fees, dues, or other contributions in behalf of the organization or make any disbursement
of its money or funds unless he is provided with the necessary authority pursuant to its
constitution or by-laws.
(g) Every payment of fees, dues, or other contributions by a member shall be
evidenced by a receipt signed by the officer or agent making the collection and entered
upon the record of the organization to be kept and maintained for that purpose.
(h) The funds of the organization shall not be applied for any purpose or object
other than those expressly stated in its constitution or by-laws or those expressly
authorized by a resolution of the majority of the members.
(i) Every expenditure of the funds of the organization shall be evidenced by a
receipt from the person to whom the payment was made, which shall state the date,
place and purpose of such payment. Such receipts shall form part of the financial records
of the organization.
(j) The officers of a legitimate labor organization shall not be paid any other
compensation, in addition to the salaries and expenses for their positions which shall be
specifically provided for in its constitution or by-laws, except in pursuance of a resolution
approved in a meeting by a majority vote.
(k) The treasurer of a legitimate labor organization and every officer thereof who is
responsible for the accounts of such organization or for the collection, disbursement,
custody or control of the funds, moneys and other properties of the organization, shall
render to the organization and to its members at the times specified hereunder, a true
and correct account of all moneys received and paid by him since he assumed office or
since the last date on which he rendered such account and of the balance remaining in
his hands at the time of rendering such account, and of all bonds, securities, and other
properties of the organization entrusted to his custody or under his control. The rendering
of such account shall be made -
(1) at least once a year within thirty days of the close of its fiscal year;
(2) at such other times as may be required by a resolution of the majority of the
members of the organization; and
(3) upon vacating his office.
The account shall be verified by affidavit and copy thereof shall be furnished the
Secretary of Labor. The organization shall cause such account to be audited by a qualified
person.
(l) The books of accounts and other records of the financial activities of a legitimate
labor organization shall be open to inspection by any officer or member thereof.
Section 18. Conciliation Service. - There shall be appointed, in addition to the
existing personnel of the Conciliation Service of the Department of Labor, such number of
conciliators, examiners, and other assistants as may be necessary to carry out the
purposes of this section and as may hereafter be provided in this Act or may hereafter be
provided by law.
It shall be the duty of the Service, in order to prevent or minimize labor disputes, to
assist parties to labor disputes in settling such disputes through conciliation and
mediation.
The Service may proffer its services in any labor dispute in any industry either upon its
own motion or upon the request of one or more of the parties to the dispute.
If the Service is not able to bring the parties to agreement by conciliation within a
reasonable time, it shall seek to induce the parties voluntarily to seek other means of
settling the dispute without resort to strike, lockout, or other coercion, including
submission to the employees in the bargaining unit of the employer's last offer of
settlement for approval or rejection in a secret ballot.
Section 19. Compilation of Collective Bargaining Agreements. - For the information
and guidance of all interested representatives of employers and legitimate labor
organizations, the Conciliation Service in the Department of Labor shall maintain a file of
all available collective bargaining agreements and other available agreements settling or
adjusting industrial disputes, and of copies of the orders, awards, and decisions of the
Court of Industrial Relations and the Supreme Court in cases of industrial disputes. Such
file shall be open to inspection under appropriate conditions prescribed by the Secretary
of Labor, except that no specific information submitted in confidence shall be disclosed.
Section 20. Labor-Management Conferences. - The President of the Philippines
may, from time to time, upon his own motion or upon recommendation of the Secretary
of Labor, call a national conference of representatives of employers and of labor
organizations for the consideration and adoption of voluntary codes of principle in regard
to labor-management relations designed to prevent or minimize industrial disputes
particularly those affecting the general welfare.
The Secretary of Labor is also authorized to call from time to time a conference of
representatives of employers and labor organizations in any industry or region for the
same purpose.
In recommending a national labor-management conference or in calling an industrial or
regional labor-management conference, the Secretary of Labor is directed to act in
consultation with representatives of employers and labor organizations concerned.
The purpose of this section is to establish a positive philosophy in the governmental
approach to the problem of industrial relations that will lend the whole force of its
influence in encouraging the development of sound economic and social practices, and, at
the same time, to recognize that real industrial peace can not be achieved by compulsion
of law. Sound and stable industrial relations must rest, in keeping with the spirit of our
democratic institutions, on an essentially voluntary basis.
Section 21. Advisory Labor-Management Council. - There is hereby established in
the Department of Labor an advisory Labor-Management Council which shall be
composed of a member representing the public, who shall act as chairman, and an equal
number of representatives selected from among persons outstanding in the field of
management and of representatives selected from among persons outstanding in the
filed of labor.
It shall be the duty of the Council, at the request of the Secretary of Labor, to advise in
the avoidance of industrial disputes and the manner in which medication and voluntary
adjustment of such disputes shall be administered.
Section 22. Study of Industrial Relations. - The Secretary of Labor shall have power
and it shall be his duty to inquire into -
(a) The existing relations between employer and employees in the Philippines;
(b) the growth of associations of employees and the effect of such associations upon
employer-employee relationships;
(c) the extent and results of the methods of collective bargaining in the
determination of terms and conditions of employment;
(d) the methods which have been tried by employers and associations of employees
for maintaining mutually satisfactory relations;
(e) desirable industrial practices which have been developed through collective
bargaining and other voluntary arrangements;
(f) the possible ways of increasing the usefulness and efficiency of collective
bargaining for settling differences;
(g) the possibilities for the adoption of practical and effective methods of labor-
management cooperation; and
(h) any other aspect of employer-employee relationship which relates to the
promotion of harmony and understanding between the parties.
The Secretary of Labor shall also inquire into the causes of industrial unrest and take all
necessary means within his power as may be prescribed by law to alleviate the same,
and shall from time to time recommend the enactment of such remedial legislation as in
his judgment may be desirable for the maintenance and promotion of industrial peace.
Section 23. Registration of Labor Organizations. -
(a) There shall be in the Department of Labor a Registrar of Labor Organizations
(hereinafter referred to as the Registrar).
It shall be the duty of the Register to act as the representative of the Secretary of Labor
in any proceeding under this Act upon any question of the association or representation
of employees, to keep and maintain a registry of legitimate labor organizations and of
their branches of locals, and to perform such other functions as the Secretary of Labor
may prescribe.
(b) Any labor organization, association or union of workers duly organized for the
material, intellectual and moral well-being of its members shall acquire legal personality
and be entitled to all the rights and privileges granted by law to legitimate labor
organizations within thirty days of filing with the office of the Secretary of Labor notice of
its due organization and existence and the following documents, together with the
amount of five pesos as registration fee, except as provided in paragraph "d" of this
section:
(1) A copy of the constitution and by-laws of the organization together with a list of
all officers of the association, their addresses and the address of the principal office of the
organization;
(2) A sworn statement of all officers of the said organization, association or union to
the effect that they are not members of the Communist Party and that they are not
members of any organizations which teaches the overthrow of the Government by force
or by any illegal or unconstitutional method; and
(3) If the applicant organization has been in existence for one or more years, a copy
of its last annual financial report.
(c) If in the opinion of the Department of Labor the applicant organization does not
appear to meet the requirements of this Act for registration, the Department shall, after
ten days' notice to the applicant organization, association or union, and within thirty days
of receipt of the above-mentioned documents, hold a public hearing in the province in
which the principal office of the applicant is located at which the applicant organization
shall have the right to be represented by attorney and to cross-examine witnesses; and
such hearing shall be concluded and a decision announced by the Department within
thirty days after the announcement of said hearing; and if after due hearing the
Department rules against registration of the applicant, it shall be required that the
Department of Labor state specifically what data the applicant has failed to submit as a
prerequisite of registration. If the applicant is still denied, it thereafter shall have the
right within sixty days of formal denial of registration to appeal to the Court of Appeals,
which shall render a decision within thirty days, or to the Supreme Court.
(d) The registration and permit of a legitimate labor organization shall be cancelled
by the Department of Labor, if the Department has reason to believe that the labor
organization no longer meets one or more of the requirements of paragraph (b) above; or
fails to file with the Department of Labor either its financial report within sixty days of the
end of its fiscal year or the names of its new officers along with their non-subversive
affidavits as outlined in paragraph (b) above within sixty days of their election; however,
the Department of Labor shall not order the cancellation of the registration and permit
without due notice and hearing, as provided under paragraph (c) above, and the affected
labor organization shall have the same right of appeal to the courts as previously
provided.
The Department of Labor shall automatically cancel or refuse registration and permit to
the labor organization or the unit of a labor organization finally declared under sections
five and six of this Act to be a company union as defined by this Act. The restoration or
granting of registration and permit shall take place only after the labor organization
petitions the Court and the Court declares (1) that full remedial action has been taken
and (2) sufficient time has elapsed to counteract the unfair labor practice which resulted
in the company union status.
(e) Provisions of Commonwealth Act Numbered Two hundred and thirteen providing
for registration, licensing, and cancellation of registration of organizations, associations or
unions of labor, as qualified and expanded by the preceding paragraphs of this Act, are
hereby amended.
Section 24. Rights of Labor Organizations. - A legitimate labor organization shall
have the right -
(a) To act as the representative of its members for the purpose of collective
bargaining, pursuant to section three of this Act;
(b) To be certified as the exclusive representative of the employees in a collective
bargaining unit, as provided in section twelve (a);
(c) To own property, real or personal, for the use and benefit of such labor
organization and of its members; and
(d) To bring and defend actions in its registered name relating to such property.
No suit, action or other proceeding shall be maintainable in any court against a labor
organization or any officer or member thereof for any act done by or on behalf of such
organization in furtherance of an industrial dispute to which it is a party, on the ground
only that such act induces some other person to break a contract of employment or that
it is in restraint of trade or interferes with the trade, business or employment of some
other person or with the right of some other person to dispose of his capital or labor.
Section 25. Penalties. - Any person who violates the provisions of section three of
this Act shall be punished by a fine of not less that one hundred pesos nor more than one
thousand pesos, or by imprisonment of not less than one month nor more than one year,
or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the Court.
Any other violation of this Act which is declared unlawful shall be punished by a fine of
not less than fifty pesos nor more than five hundred pesos for each offense.
Section 26. Appropriations. - The sum of two hundred thousand pesos is hereby
appropriated for the fiscal year nineteen hundred and fifty-four to carry out the purposes
of this Act and the same amount is hereby authorized for appropriation in succeeding
years.
Section 27. Transitory Provision. - All cases pending before the Court of Industrial
Relations at the time of passage of this Act shall be processed by the Court according to
Commonwealth Act Numbered One hundred three, as amended by the Commonwealth
Acts Numbered Two hundred fifty-four, Three hundred fifty-five and Five hundred fifty-
nine but the judges of the Court shall call both parties to the dispute and make every
attempt to help them reach a just and speedy solution by mutual agreement.
Section 28. Declaration of Invalidity. - If any provision of this Act, or the application
thereof to any person or circumstance, shall be held invalid, the remainder of this Act, or
the application of such provision to persons or circumstances other than those as to
which it is held invalid, shall not be affected thereby.
Section 29. Prior Inconsistent Laws. - All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with the
provisions of this Act are hereby repealed.
Section 30. Date of Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect on its approval.
C. Martial Law Period
1. PD 442, The Labor Code (LCI)
D. Post-Martial Law Era
1. 1987 Constitution
2. EO 126 - NCMB created
EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 126 January 31, 1987
REORGANIZING THE MINISTRY OF LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES
RECALLING that the reorganization of the government is mandated expressly in Article II,
Section I (a), and Article III of the Freedom Constitution;
HAVING IN MIND that pursuant to Executive Order No. 5 (1986), it is directed that
necessary and proper changes in the organizational and functional structures of the
government, its agencies and instrumentalities, be effected in order to promote efficiency
and effectiveness in the delivery of public services;
CONSIDERING that it has become necessary to introduce critical structural and functional
changes in the Ministry of Labor and Employment to make it more responsive to the
urgent demands of national economic recovery;
BELIEVING that the same Ministry has to streamline its operations by rationalizing its
functions, structure and organization to make it more efficient and effective in
undertaking its principal mission of translating the declared policy of the state on labor
into meaningful program on employment promotion, manpower development and
utilization, advancement of workers' welfare, provision for a decent living wage and other
just and humane conditions of work and promotion of sound and stable industrial
harmony as essential components of national economic recovery and developments;
RECOGNIZING that women and rural workers have a vital role in nation-building, the
same Ministry has to create, promote and develop the conditions for their full utilization,
including their protection and welfare.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, CORAZON C. AQUINO, by the powers vested in me by the
sovereign will of the Filipino People and the Freedom Constitution, do hereby order:
Sec. 1. Title. This Executive Order shall otherwise be known as the Reorganization Act of
the Ministry of Labor and Employment.
Sec. 2. Reorganization. The Ministry of Labor and Employment, hereinafter referred to as
Ministry, is hereby reorganized, structurally and functionally in accordance with the
provisions of this Executive Order.
Sec. 3. Declaration of Policy. It is the declared policy of the State to afford protection to
labor, promote full employment, ensure equal work opportunities regardless of sex, race,
or creed, and regulate the relations between workers and employers. The State shall
assure the rights of the workers to self-organization, collective bargaining, security of
tenure, and just and human conditions of work.
Sec. 4. Mandate and Objectives. The Ministry shall be the primary policy, programming,
coordinating and administrative entity of the Executive Branch of the government in the
field of labor and employment. It shall assume primary responsibility for:
(a) The promotion of gainful employment opportunities and the optimization of the
development and utilization of the country's manpower resources;
(b) The advancement of workers' welfare by providing for just and humane working (c) Issue orders, directives, rules and regulations and other issuances to carry out labor
conditions and terms of employment; and employment policies, plans, programs and projects;

(c) The maintenance of industrial peace by promoting harmonious, equitable, and stable
employment relations that assure equal protection for the rights of all concerned parties.
Sec. 5. Powers and Functions. In pursuit of its mandate, the Ministry shall have the
following powers and functions:
(a) Formulate and recommend policies, plans and programs for manpower development,
training, allocation, and utilization;
(d) Provide overall direction, supervision, and control over all offices under the Ministry to
ensure effective and efficient implementation of its policies, plans, programs and
projects;
(e) Coordinate with other government offices, labor, organizations, employers
associations, and any other group to carry out the mandate of the Ministry;
(f) Evaluate the policy, plans, programs and project accomplishment of the Ministry;

(b) Protect and promote the interest of every citizen desiring to work locally or overseas (g) Prepare reports for the President and for the public;
by securing for him the most equitable terms and conditions of employment, and by
providing social and welfare services;
(h) Delegate authority for the performance of any function to officers and employees of
the Ministry;
(c) Regulate the employment of aliens, including the establishment of a registration
and/or work permit system for such aliens;
(i) Exercise such other powers and functions as may be provided by law or assigned by
the President.
(d) Formulate general guidelines concerning wage and income policy;
Sec. 7. Office of the Minister. The Office of the Minister shall consist of the Minister and
(e) Recommend necessary adjustments in wage structures with a view to developing a his immediate staff.
wage system that is consistent with national economic and social development plans;
Sec. 8. Deputy Minister. The Minister shall be assisted by not more than four (4) Deputy
(f) Provide for safe, decent, humane and improved working conditions and environment Ministers who shall be appointed by the President upon the recommendation of the
for all workers, particularly women and young workers; Minister. The Minister is hereby authorized to delineate and assign the respective
functional areas of responsibility of the Deputy Ministers, provided, that such
responsibility shall be with respect to the mandate and objectives of the Ministry; and
(g) Maintain harmonious, equitable and stable labor relations system that is supportive of
provided, further, that no Deputy Minister shall be assigned primarily administrative
the national economic policies and programs;
responsibilities. Within his functional area of responsibility, a Deputy Minister shall have
the following functions:
(h) Uphold the right of workers and employers to organize and to promote free collective
bargaining as the foundation of the labor relations system;
(a) Advise and assist the Minister in the formulation and implementation of the Ministry's
policies, plans, programs and projects;
(i) Provide and ensure the fair and expeditious settlement and disposition of labor and
industrial disputes through collective bargaining, grievance machinery, conciliation,
(b) Oversee the operational activities of the Ministry;
mediation, voluntary arbitration, compulsory arbitration as may be provided by law, and
other modes that may be voluntarily agreed upon by the parties concerned.
(c) Coordinate the programs and projects of the Ministry for efficient and effective
administration;
Sec. 6. Minister of Labor and Employment. The authority and responsibility for the
exercise of the mandate of the Ministry and for the discharge of its powers and functions
shall be vested in the Minister of Labor and Employment, hereinafter referred by the (d) Serve as deputy for the Minister;
President, and who shall have supervision and control over the Ministry. For such
purposes, the Minister shall have the following powers and functions:
(e) Perform, when so designated, the power and functions of the Minister, during the
latter's absence or incapacity;
(a) Advise the President on the promulgation of executive/administrative orders, other
regulative issuances and legislative proposals on matters pertaining to labor and
(f) Perform such other functions as may be provided by law or assigned by the Minister to
employment;
promote the efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of public services.

(b) Formulate policies, guidelines, rules and regulations and other issuances necessary to
carry out Ministry policies, plans, programs and projects;
Sec. 9. Assistant Ministers. The Minister shall likewise be assisted by not more than four technical cooperation, programs and activities with other countries and international
(4) Assistant Ministers who shall be appointed by the President upon the recommendation institutions.
of the Minister. The Minister is hereby authorized to delineate and assign the respective
areas of functional responsibility of the Assistant Ministers. Within his functional area of
Sec. 17. Information and Publications Service. The Information and Publication Service
responsibility, an Assistant Minister shall assist the Minister and Deputy Ministers in the
shall be responsible for promoting rapport and understanding between the Ministry and
formulation, determination and implementation of laws, policies, plans, programs and
the public through the development of public relations programs and the dissemination of
projects on labor and shall oversee the day-to-day administration and supervision of the
accurate and updated information on labor and employment, by means of publications
constituent units of the Ministry.
and media coverages of special events and related matters on the Ministry's policies,
plans, programs, and projects; shall likewise be responsible for providing answers to
Sec. 10. Structural Organization. The Ministry shall consist of the Ministry proper queries from the public regarding the Ministry's policies, rules, regulations, programs,
comprising the Office of the Minister, the Office of the Deputy and Assistant Ministers, the activities and services.
Services and the Staff Bureaus, and its Regional Offices.
Sec. 18. Bureaus. The following staff bureaus of the Ministry are hereby retained and
Sec. 11. Planning Service. The Planning Service shall provide the Ministry with efficient, shall continue to have the same functions, except as otherwise provided herein:
effective and economical services relating to planning, programming, project
development and evaluation, and the development and implementation of a management
(a) Bureau of Local Employment;
information system.

(b) Bureau of Women and Young Workers;

Sec. 12. Administrative Service. The Administrative Service shall provide the Ministry with
efficient, effective and economical services relating to records, management, supplies,
equipment, collections, disbursements, building administration and maintenance, security (c) Bureau of Rural Workers;
and custodial work.
(d) Bureau of Labor Relations, which shall continue to performs its present functions
Sec. 13. Human Resource Development Service. The Human Resource Development except those to be absorbed by the National Mediation and Conciliation Board as provided
Service shall provide the Ministry with a program and corresponding projects that shall under Section 29 (c) hereof; and
make available training, education and development opportunities needed to upgrade the
levels of competence and productivity of Ministry managers and personnel. It shall absorb (e) Bureau of Working Conditions.
the powers and functions of the Administrative Service in relation to the development and
administration of personnel programs including selection and placement, development,
performance evaluation, employee relations and welfare. Sec. 19. Attached Agencies. The following agencies shall continue to be attached to the
Ministry for policy and program coordination and administrative supervision:

Sec. 14. Financial Management Service. The Financial and Management Service shall be
responsible for providing the Ministry with efficient, effective and economical services (a) National Wages Council;
relating to budgetary, financial, management improvement and internal control matters.
(b) Philippine Overseas Employment Administration;
Sec. 15. Legal Service. The Legal Service shall provide legal advice and service to
Ministry officers and employees; prepare informative or clarificatory opinions on labor (c) Employees' Compensation Commission which is hereby reorganized to include the
laws, rules and regulations for uniform interpretation thereof; answer legal queries from Executive Director of the ECC as an ex-oficio member of the Commission;
the public; assist the Office of the Solicitor General in suits involving the Ministry or its
officers or employees or act as their principal counsel in all actions taken in their official
capacity or other causes before judicial or administrative bodies. (d) The National Manpower and Youth Council;

Sec. 16. International Labor Affairs Service. The International Labor Affairs Service shall (e) The National Labor Relations Commission;
be responsible for monitoring the observance and implementation of all obligations,
courtesies, and facilities required by international labor affairs, particularly the (f) The Welfare Fund for Overseas Workers' Administration which is hereby renamed as
International Labor Organization, the Conference of Asian Pacific Labor Ministries, the the Overseas Workers' Welfare Administration;
ASEAN Labor Ministers Meeting of which the Philippines is a member, and related
international labor standards and agreements reached in various international labor
(g) Maritime Training Council; and
forums, treaties, and other multilateral, bilateral or multi-bilateral agreements in the area
of labor and employment; provide staff support and policy guidelines to the Minister in
the supervision, monitoring and reporting of the activities of the Philippine overseas labor (h) National Maritime Polytechnic.
officers assigned in different countries; serve as the instrumentality of the Ministry for
Sec. 20. Center for Labor Studies. There is hereby created a Center for Labor Studies, international research organizations in the conduct of surveys and studies in the area of
hereinafter referred to as the Center, which shall be under the administrative supervision labor and employment.
of the Minister. The Center shall absorb the research and publication functions of the
Institute of Labor and Manpower Studies which is hereby abolished in accordance with
(e) Disseminate statistical information and provide statistical services/advice to the users
Section 29 (b). The Center, to be headed by an Executive Director, assisted by a Deputy
by establishing a data bank and issuing the Bureau's statistical materials and research
Executive Director, shall have the following functions:
findings.

(a) Undertake research and studies in all areas of labor and manpower policy and
(f) Develop and undertake programs and projects geared towards the enhancement of
administration;
the technical competence of the Ministry on theories, techniques and methdologies for
the improvement of the labor statistical system.
(b) Review the rationale of existing legislation and regulations and analyze the costs
involved in the implementation of such legislation against the benefits expected to be
(g) Monitor and exercise technical supervision over the statistical units in the Ministry and
derived;
its agencies.

(c) Study and develop innovative and indigenous approaches towards the promotion of
(h) Perform such other functions as may be provided by law or assigned by the Minister.
harmonious and productive labor-management relations, and the improvement of
workers' welfare services;
Sec. 22. National Conciliation and Mediation Board. A National Conciliation and Mediation
Board, herein referred to as the "Board", is hereby created and which shall absorb the
(d) Develop and undertake research programs and projects in collaboration with other
conciliation, mediation and voluntary arbitration functions of the Bureau of Labor
national agencies to enhance the Ministry's capability to participate in national decision
Relations in accordance with Section 29 (c) hereof. The Board shall be composed of an
and policy making;
Administrator and two (2) Deputy Administrators. It shall be an attached agency under
the administrative supervision of the Minister of Labor and Employment.
(e) Enter into agreements with international or bilateral agencies for the carrying out of
the foregoing functions;
The Administrator and the Deputy Administrators shall be appointed by the President
upon recommendation of the Minister of Labor and Employment. There shall be as many
(f) Expand the scope of its research interests into other countries and regions; Conciliators-Mediators as the needs of the public service require, who shall have at least
three (3) years of experience in handling labor relations and who shall be appointed by
the President upon recommendation of the Minister.
(g) Publish its research studies for dissemination to government as well as to all
concerned parties; and
The Board shall have its main office in Metropolitan Manila and its Administrator shall
exercise supervision over Conciliators-Mediators and all its personnel. It shall establish as
(h) Perform such other functions as may be provided by law or assigned by the minister.
many branches as there are administrative regions in the country, with as many
Conciliators-Mediators as shall be necessary for its effective operation. Each branch of the
Sec. 21. Bureaus of Labor and Employment Statistics. A Bureau of Labor and Board shall be headed by an Executive Conciliator-Mediator.
Employment Statistics is hereby created and shall absorb the functions of the Labor
Statistics Service which is hereby abolished in accordance with Section 29 (b). The
The Board shall have the following functions:
Bureau shall have the following functions:

(a) Formulate policies, programs, standards, procedures, manuals of operation and

(a) Formulate, develop and implement plans and programs on the labor statistical system
guidelines pertaining to effective mediation and conciliation of labor disputes;
in order to provide the government with timely, accurate and reliable data on labor and
employment.
(b) Perform preventive mediation and conciliation functions;
(b) Conduct nationwide surveys and which will generate trends and structures on labor
and employment. (c) Coordinate and maintain linkages with other sectors or institutions, and other
government authorities concerned with matters relative to the prevention and settlement
of labor disputes;
(c) Develop and prescribe uniform statistical standards, nomenclatures and
methodologies for the collection, processing, presentation and analysis of labor and
employment data. (d) Formulate policies, plans, programs, standards, procedures, manuals of operation and
guidelines pertaining to the promotion of cooperative and non-adversarial schemes,
grievance handling, voluntary arbitration and other voluntary modes of dispute
(d) Establish appropriate mechanisms for the coordination of all statistical activities in the
settlement;
Ministry and for collaboration with other government and private agencies including
(e) Administer the voluntary arbitration program; maintain/update a list of voluntary
arbitrations; compile arbitration awards and decisions;
(f) Provide counselling and preventive mediation assistance particularly in the
administration of collective agreements;
(g) Monitor and exercise technical supervision over the Board programs being
implemented in the regional offices; and
(h) Perform such other functions as may be provided by law or assigned by the Minister.
Sec. 23. Transfer. The National Productivity Commission is hereby transferred from the
National Economic Development Authority and attached to the Ministry in accordance
with Section 29 (c) hereof. The Commission shall primarily deal with productivity
promotion and enhancement, education and training, coordination/monitoring, funding
and the conduct of special and policy studies directly related to its activities. It shall have
the Minister of Trade and Industry as Chairman and the Minister of Labor and
Employment as Vice-Chairman.
Sec. 24. Regional Offices. The Ministry is hereby authorized to establish, operate and
maintain such ministry-wide Regional Offices in each of the administrative regions of the
country, insofar as necessary, which shall be headed by a Regional Director who shall
have supervision and control thereof. The Regional Director, whenever necessary, shall
be assisted by an Assistant Regional Director. A Regional Office shall have, within its
regional area, the following functions:
(a) Implement laws, policies, plans, programs projects, rules and regulations of the
Ministry;
(b) Provide economical, efficient and effective service to the people;
(c) Coordinate with regional offices of other ministries and agencies;
(d) Coordinate with local government units; and
(e) Perform such other functions as may be provided by law or assigned by the Minister.
Sec. 25. New Structure and Pattern. Upon approval of this Executive Order, the officers
and employees of the Ministry shall in a hold over capacity, continue to perform their
respective duties and responsibilities and receive the corresponding salaries and benefits
unless in the meantime they are separated from government service pursuant to
Executive Order No. 17 (1986) or Article III of the Freedom Constitution.
The new position structure and staffing pattern of the Ministry shall be approved and
prescribed by the Minister for the Ministry within one hundred twenty (120) days from the
approval of this Executive Order and the authorized positions created thereunder shall be
filled with regular appointments by him or by the President as the case may be. Those
incumbents whose positions are not included therein or who are not reappointed shall be
deemed separated from the service. Those separated from the service shall receive the
retirement benefits to which they may be entitled under existing laws, rules and
regulations. Otherwise, they shall be paid the equivalent of one-month basic salary for
every year of service, or the equivalent nearest fraction thereof favorable to them on the
basis of the highest salary received, but in no case shall such payment exceed the
equivalent of 12 months salary.
No court or administrative body shall issue any writ or preliminary injunctions or
restraining order to enjoin the separation/replacement of any officer of employee affected
under this Executive Order.
Sec. 26. Prohibition Against Reorganizational Change. No change in the reorganization
herein prescribed shall be valid except upon prior approval of the President for the
purpose of promoting efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of public services.
Sec. 27. Funding. Funds needed to carry out the provisions of this Executive Order shall
be taken from funds available in the Ministry.
Sec. 28. Implementing Authority of Minister. The Minister shall issue such rules,
regulations and other issuances as may be necessary to ensure the effective
implementation of the provisions of this Executive Order.
Sec. 29. Transitory Provisions. In the abolition/transfer of entity/functions as prescribed
in the Executive Order, the following rules shall be provided:
(a) Any transfer of entities shall include the functions, appropriations, funds, records,
equipment, facilities, other properties, assets, and liabilities and of the transferred entity
as well as the personnel thereof as may be necessary, who shall, in a hold over capacity,
continue to perform their respective duties and responsibilities and receive the
corresponding salaries and benefits unless in the meantime they are separated from
government service pursuant to Executive Order No. 17 (1986) or Article III of the
Freedom Constitution. Those personnel from the transferred entity whose positions are
not included in the new position structure and staffing pattern approved by the Minister
or who are not reappointed shall be entitled to the benefits provided in the second
paragraph of Section 25 hereof.
(b) Any transfer of functions which results in the abolition of the entity that has exercised
such transferred functions shall include as may be necessary, to the proper discharge of
the transferred functions, the appropriations, funds, records, equipment, facilities, other
assets, and personnel of the entity from which such functions have been transferred. The
remaining appropriations and funds shall revert to the General Fund and the remaining
records, equipment, facilities and other assets shall be allocated to such appropriate units
as the Minister shall determine or otherwise shall be disposed of, in accordance with the
Auditing Code and other pertinent laws, rules and regulations. The liabilities, if any, of the
abolished entity shall be treated likewise in accordance with the Auditing Code and other
pertinent laws, rules and regulations. Incumbents of the abolished entity shall, in a hold
over capacity continue to perform their respective duties and responsibilities and receive
the corresponding salaries and benefits unless in the meantime they are separated from
government service pursuant to Executive Order No. 17 (1986) or Article III of the
Freedom Constitution. Any such personnel whose position is not included in the new
position structure and staffing pattern approved by the Minister or who is not reappointed
shall be entitled to the benefits provided in the second paragraph of Section 25 hereof.
(c) Any transfer of functions which does not result in the abolition of the entity that has
exercised such transferred functions shall include the appropriations, funds, records,
equipment, facilities, other assets as well as the personnel of the entity from which such
functions have been transferred that are necessary to the proper discharge of such
transferred functions. The liabilities, if any, which have been incurred in connection with
the discharge of the transferred functions shall be allocated in accordance with the
Auditing Code and the pertinent laws, rules and regulations. Such personnel shall, in a
hold over capacity, continue to perform their respective duties and responsibilities and
receive the corresponding salaries and benefits unless in the meantime they are
separated from government service pursuant to Executive Order No. 17 (1986) or Article
III of the Freedom Constitution. Any such personnel whose position is not included in the
new position structure and staffing pattern approved by the Minister or who is not
reappointed shall be entitled to the benefits provided in the second paragraph of Section
25 hereof.
(d) In case of the abolition of an entity which does not result in the transfer of its
functions to another entity, the appropriations and funds of the abolished entity shall
revert to the General Fund, while the records, equipment, facilities and other assets
thereof shall be allocated to such appropriate units as the Minister shall determine or
otherwise shall be disposed of in accordance with the Auditing Code and other pertinent
laws, rules and regulations. The liabilities, if any, of the abolished entity shall be treated
in accordance with the Auditing Code and other pertinent laws, while the personnel
thereof shall be entitled to the benefits provided in the second paragraph of Section 25
hereof.
Sec. 30. Change of Nomenclatures. In the event of the adoption of a new Constitution
which provides for a presidential form of government, the Ministry shall be called
Department of Labor and Employment and the titles of Minister, Deputy Minister, and
Assistant Minister shall be changed to Secretary, Under Secretary, and Assistant
Secretary, respectively.
Sec. 31. Notice or Consent Requirement. If any reorganizational change herein authorized
is of such substance or materiality as to prejudice third persons with rights recognized by
law or contract such that notice to or consent of creditors is required to be made or
obtained pursuant to any agreement entered into with any of such creditors, such notice
or consent requirement shall be complied with prior to the implementation of such
reorganizational change.
Sec. 32. Separability Clause. Any portion or provision of this Executive Order that may
declared unconstitutional shall not have the effect of nullifying other portions or
provisions hereof as long as such remaining portions can still subsist and be given effect
in their entirety.
Sec. 33. Repealing Clause. All laws, ordinances, rules, regulations, other issuances or
parts thereof, which are inconsistent with this Executive Order, are hereby repealed or
modified accordingly.
Sec. 34. Effectivity. This Executive Order shall take effect immediately upon its approval.
APPROVED in the City of Manila, Philippines, this 31th day of January, in the year of Our
Lord, nineteen hundred and eighty-seven.
3. EO 251 - TIVAAC
EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 251 July 25, 1987
AMENDING CERTAIN SECTIONS OF EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 126 DATED JANUARY
30, 1987
WHEREAS, in order to make the on-going reorganization of the Department of Labor
urgent demands of national economic and Employment more responsive to the recovery
and to promote efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of public services, it is vital
that necessary and appropriate changes be further introduced in its reorganization;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, CORAZON C. AQUINO, President of the Philippines, do hereby
order:
Sec. 1. Section 7 of Executive Order No. 126 is hereby amended to read as follows:
"Sec. 7. Office of the Secretary. The Office of the Secretary shall consist of the
Secretary and his immediate staff. In addition, there is hereby created in the
Office of the Secretary a Joint RP-US Lab or Committee Staff Unit which shall
provide technical and other necessary services to the Philippine panel in the
Joint Labor Committee created under the RP-US Base Labor Agreement and for
other special projects. The Unit who shall be headed by a Head Executive
Assistant who shall be assisted by five (5) Staff Assistants."
Sec. 2. Section 18 of Executive Order No. 126 is hereby amended to read as follows:
"Sec. 18. Bureaus. The following staff bureaus of the Department are hereby
retained and shall continue to have the same functions, except as otherwise
provided herein:
(a) Bureau of Local Employment;
(b) Bureau of Women and Minors, which hereby renamed as the Bureau
of Women and Young Workers;
(c) Bureau of Rural Workers;
(d) Bureau of Labor Relations, which shall continue to perform its
present functions except those to be absorbed by the National
Mediation and Conciliation Board as provided under Section 29 (c)
hereof; and
(e) Bureau of Working Conditions."
Sec. 3. Section 20 of Executive Order No. 126 is hereby amended to read as follows:
"Sec. 20. Institute For Labor Studies. There is hereby created an Institute for
Labor Studies, hereinafter referred to as the Institute, which shall attached to
the Department of Labor and Employment for policy and program coordination
and administrative supervision. The Institute shall absorb the research and
publication functions of the Institute of Labor and Manpower Studies which is
 hereby abolished in accordance with Section 29(b) of this Executive Order. The operation. Each branch of the Board shall be headed by an Executive Conciliator-
Institute, to be headed by an Executive Director, assisted by a Deputy Executive Mediator.
Director, shall have the following functions:
The Board shall have the following functions:
(a) Undertake research and studies in all areas of labor and manpower
policy and administration.
(a) Formulate policies, programs, standards, procedures, manuals of
operation and guidelines pertaining to effective mediation and
(b) Review the rationale of existing legislation and regulations and conciliation of labor disputes;
analyze the cost involved in the implementation of such legislation
against the benefits expected to be derived;
(b) Perform preventive mediation and conciliation functions;

(c) Study and develop innovative and indigenous approaches towards

(c) Coordinate and maintain linkages with other sectors of institutions,
the promotion harmonious and productive labor-management relations,
and other government authorities concerned with matters relative to
and the improvement of workers' welfare services;
the prevention and settlement of labor disputes;

(d) Develop and undertake research programs and projects in

(d) formulate policies, plans, programs, standards, procedures,
collaboration with other national agencies to enhance the Department's
manuals of operation and guidelines pertaining to the promotion of
capability to participate in national decision and policy making;
cooperative and non-adversarial schemes, grievance handling,
voluntary arbitration and other voluntary modes of dispute settlements;
(e) Enter into agreements with international or bilateral agencies for the
carrying out of the foregoing functions;
(e) Administer the voluntary arbitration program; maintain/update a list
of voluntary arbitrations; compile arbitration awards and decisions;
(f) Expand the scope of its research interests into other countries and
regions;
(f) Provide counselling and preventive mediation assistance particularly
in the administration of collective agreement; awards and decisions;
(g) Publish its research studies for dissemination to government as well
as to all concerned parties; and
(g) Monitor and exercise technical supervision over the Board programs
being implemented in the regional offices; and
(h) Perform such other functions as may be provided by law or assigned
by the Secretary."
(h) Perform such other functions as may be provided by law or assigned
by the Secretary.
Sec. 4. Section 22 of Executive Order No. 126 is hereby amended to read as follows:
A Tripartite Voluntary Arbitration Advisory Council is hereby created and
"Sec. 22. National Conciliation and Mediation Board. A National Conciliation and attached to the National Conciliation and Mediation Board. The Tripartite
Mediation Board, herein referred to as the "Board", is hereby created and which Voluntary Arbitration Advisory Council shall advise the National Conciliation
shall absorb the conciliation mediation and voluntary arbitration functions of the Board on matters pertaining to the promotion of voluntary arbitration as the
Bureau of Labor of Relations in accordance with Section 29 (c) hereof. The Board preferred mode of dispute settlement.
shall be composed of an Administrator and two (2) Deputy Administrators. It
shall be an attached agency under the administrative supervision of the
The Tripartite Voluntary Arbitration Advisory Council shall consist of the
Secretary of Labor and Employment.
Administrator of the National Conciliation and Mediation Board as Chairman, one
other member from the government, two members representing labor, and two
The Administrators and the Deputy Administrators shall be appointed by the other members representing management. The members shall be appointed by
President upon recommendation of the Secretary of Labor and Employment. the President to serve for a term of three (3) years. The Chairman and Members
There shall be as many Conciliators-Mediators as the needs of the public service thereof shall serve without compensation."
require, who shall have at least three (3) years of experience in handling labor
relations and who shall be appointed by the Secretary.
Sec. 5. Section 24 of Executive Order No. 126 is hereby amended to read as follows:

The Board shall have its main office in Metropolitan Manila and its Administrators
"Sec. 24. Regional Offices, District Offices and Provincial Extention Units. The
shall exercise supervision over Conciliators-Mediators and all its personnel. It
Department is hereby authorized to establish, operate and maintain such
shall establish as many branches as there are administrative regions in the
Department-wide Regional Offices, District Offices and Provincial Extension Units
country, with a many Conciliator-mediators as shall be necessary for its effective
 in each of the administrative regions of the country, insofar as necessary to
promote economy and efficiency in the delivery of its services. Each Regional
Office shall be headed by a Regional Director who shall have supervision and
control thereof. The Regional Director, whenever necessary, shall be assisted by
an Assistant Regional Director. A Regional Office shall have, within its regional
areas, the following functions:
(a) Implement laws, policies, plans, programs, projects, rules and
regulations of the Department;
(b) Provide economical, efficient and effective service to the people;
(c) Coordinate with regional offices of other departments and agencies;
(d) Coordinate with local government units;
(e) Perform such other functions as may be provided by law or assigned
by the Secretary."
Sec. 6. All laws, orders, issuances, rules and regulations or parts thereof inconsistent with
this Executive Order are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.
Sec. 7. This Executive Order shall take effect immediately.
DONE in the City of Manila, this 25th day of July, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen
hundred and eighty-seven.
4. RA 6715
AN ACT TO EXTEND PROTECTION TO LABOR, STRENGTHEN THE CONSTITUTIONAL
RIGHTS OF WORKERS TO SELF-ORGANIZATION, COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AND
PEACEFUL CONCERTED ACTIVITIES, FOSTER INDUSTRIAL PEACE AND HARMONY,
PROMOTE THE PREFERENTIAL USE OF VOLUNTARY MODES OF SETTLING LABOR
DISPUTES, AND REORGANIZE THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS COMMISSION,
AMENDING FOR THESE PURPOSES CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO.
442, AS AMENDED, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE LABOR CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES,
APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFORE AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled::
Section 1. Article 110 of Presidential Decree No. 442, amended, otherwise known as the
Labor Code of the Philippines, is hereby further amended to read as follows:
"Article 110. Worker preference in case of bankruptcy. - In the event of bankruptcy or
liquidation of an employer's business, his workers shall enjoy first preference as regards
their unpaid wages and other monetary claims, any provision of law to the contrary
notwithstanding. Such unpaid wages and monetary claims shall be paid in full before the
claims of the Government and other creditors may be paid."
Section 2. Article 129 of the Labor Code of the Philippines, as amended, is hereby further
amended to read as follows:
"Article 129. Recovery of wages, simple money claims and other benefits. - Upon
complaint of any interested party, the Regional Director of the Department of Labor and
Employment or any of the duly authorized hearing officers of the Department is
empowered, through summary proceeding and after due notice, to hear and decide any
matter involving the recovery of wages and other monetary claims and benefits, including
legal interest, owing to an employee or person employed in domestic or household
service or househelper under this Code, arising from employer-employee relations:
Provided, That such complaint does not include a claim for reinstatement: Provided,
further, That the aggregate money claims of each employee or househelper do not
exceed five thousand pesos (P5,000.00). The Regional Director or hearing officer shall
decide or resolve the complaint within thirty (30) calendar days from the date of the filing
of the same. Any sum thus recovered on behalf of any employee or househelper pursuant
to this Article shall be held in a special deposit account, and shall be paid, on order of the
Secretary of Labor and Employment or the Regional Director directly to the employee or
househelper concerned. Any such sum not paid to the employee or househelper, because
he cannot be located after diligent and reasonable effort to locate him within a period of
three (3) years, shall be held as a special fund of the Department of Labor and
Employment to be used exclusively for the amelioration and benefit of workers.
"Any decision or resolution of the Regional Director or hearing officer pursuant to this
provision may be appealed on the same grounds provided in Article 223 of this Code,
within five (5) calendar days from receipt of a copy of said decision or resolution, to the
National Labor Relations Commission which shall resolve the appeal within ten (10)
calendar days from the submission of the last pleading required or allowed under its
rules.
"The Secretary of Labor and Employment or his duly authorized representative may
supervise the payment of unpaid wages and other monetary claims and benefits,
including legal interest, found owing to any employee or house helper under this Code."
Section 3. Article 211 of the same Code, as amended by Executive Order No. 111, is
hereby further amended to read as follows:
"Article 211. Declaration of policy. - A. It is the policy of the State:
"(a) To promote and emphasize the primacy of free collective bargaining and
negotiations, including voluntary arbitration, mediation and conciliation, as modes of
settling labor or industrial disputes;
"(b) To promote free trade unionism as an instrument for the enhancement of democracy
and the promotion of social justice and development;
"(c) To foster the free and voluntary organization of a strong and united labor movement;
"(d) To promote the enlightenment of workers concerning their rights and obligations as
union members and as employees;
"(e) To provide an adequate administrative machinery for the expeditious settlement of
labor or industrial disputes;
"(f) To ensure a stable but dynamic and just industrial peace; and
"(g) To ensure the participation of workers in decision and policy-making processes
affecting their rights, duties and welfare.
"B. To encourage a truly democratic method of regulating the relations between the
employers and employees by means of agreements freely entered into through collective
bargaining, no court or administrative agency or official shall have the power to set or fix
wages, rates of pay, hours of work or other terms and conditions of employment, except
as otherwise provided under this Code."
Section 4. Article 212 of the Labor Code of the Philippines, as amended, is further
amended to read as follows:
"Article 212. Definitions. - (a) "Commission" means the National Labor Relations
Commission or any of its divisions, as the case may be, as provided under this Code.
"(b) "Bureau" means the Bureau of Labor Relations and/or the Labor Relations Divisions
in the regional offices established under Presidential Decree No. 1, in the Department
Labor.
"(c) "Board" means the National Conciliation and Mediation Board established under
Executive Order No. 126.
"(d) "Council" means the Tripartite Voluntary Arbitration Advisory Council established
under Executive Order No. 126, as amended.
"(e) "Employer" includes any person acting in the interest of an employer, directly or
indirectly. The term shall not include any labor organization or any of its officers or
agents except when acting as employer.
"(f) "Employee" includes any person in the employ of an employer. The term shall not be
limited to the employees of a particular employer, unless this Code so explicitly states. It
shall include any individual whose work has ceased as a result of or in connection with
any current labor dispute or because of any unfair labor practice if he has not obtained
any other substantially equivalent and regular employment.
"(g) "Labor organization" means any union or association of employees which exists in
whole or in part for the purpose of collective bargaining or of dealing with employers
concerning terms and conditions of employment.
"(h) "Legitimate labor organization" means any labor organization duly registered with
the Department of Labor and Employment, and includes any branch or local thereof.
"(i) "Company union" means any labor organization whose information, function or
administration has been assisted by any act defined as unfair labor practice by this Code.
"(j) "Bargaining representative" means a legitimate labor organization or any officer or
agent of such organization whether or not employed by the employer.
"(k) "Unfair labor practice" means any unfair labor practice as expressly defined by this
Code.
"(l) "Labor dispute" includes any controversy or matter concerning terms or conditions of
employment or the association or representation of persons in negotiating, fixing,
maintaining, changing or arranging the terms and conditions of employment, regardless
of whether, the disputants stand in the proximate relation of employer and employee.
"(m) "Managerial employee" is one who is vested with powers or prerogatives to lay down
and execute management policies and/or to hire, transfer, suspend, lay-off, recall,
discharge, assign or discipline employees. Supervisory employees are those who, in the
interest of the employer, effectively recommend such managerial actions if the exercise
of such authority is not merely routinary or clerical in nature but requires the use of
independent judgment. All employees not falling within any of the above definitions are
considered rank-and-file employees for purposes of this Book.
"(n) "Voluntary Arbitrator" means any person accredited by the Board as such, or any
person named or designated in the collective bargaining agreement by the parties to act
as their voluntary arbitrator, or one chosen, with or without the assistance of the National
Conciliation and Mediation Board, pursuant to a selection procedure agreed upon in the
collective bargaining agreement, or any official that may be authorized by the Secretary
of Labor and Employment to act as voluntary arbitrator upon the written request and
agreement of the parties to a labor dispute.
"(o) "Strike" means any temporary stoppage of work by the concerted action of
employees as a result of an industrial or labor dispute.
"(p) "Lockout" means the temporary refusal of an employer to furnish work as a result of
an industrial or labor dispute.
"(q) "Internal union dispute" includes all disputes or grievances arising from any violation
of or disagreement over any provision of the constitution and by-laws of a union,
including, any violation of the rights and conditions of union membership provided for in
this Code.
"(r) "Strike-breaker" means any person who obstructs, impedes, or interferes with by
force, violence, coercion, threats or intimidation any peaceful picketing by employees
during any labor controversy affecting wages, hours or conditions of work or in the
exercise of the right of self-organization or collective bargaining.
"(s) "Strike area" means the establishment, warehouses, depots, plants or offices,
including the sites or premises used as runaway shops, of the employer struck against, as
well as the immediate vicinity actually used by picketing strikers in moving to and fro
before all points of entrance to and exit from said establishment."
Section 5. Article 213 of the Labor Code of the Philippines, as amended, is further
amended to read as follows:
"Article 213. National Labor Relations Commission. - There shall be a National Labor
Relations Commission which shall be attached to the Department of Labor and
Employment for program and policy coordination only, composed of a Chairman and
fourteen (14) members.
"Five (5) members each shall be chosen from among the nominees of the workers and
employers organizations, respectively. The Chairman and the four (4) remaining
members shall come from the public sector, with the latter to be chosen from among the
recommendees of the Secretary of Labor and Employment.
"Upon assumption into office, the members nominated by the workers and employers
organizations shall divest themselves of any affiliation with or interest in the federation or
association to which they belong.
"The Commission may sit en banc or in five (5) divisions, each composed of three (3)
members. The Commission shall sit en banc only for purposes of promulgating rules and
regulations governing the hearing and disposition of cases before any of its divisions and
regional branches and formulating policies affecting its administration and operations.
The Commission shall exercise its adjudicatory and all other powers, functions, and duties
through its divisions. Of the five (5) divisions, the first and second divisions shall handle
cases coming from the National Capital Region and the third, fourth and fifth divisions,
cases from other parts of Luzon, from the Visayas and Mindanao, respectively. The
divisions of the Commission shall have exclusive appellate jurisdiction over cases within
their respective territorial jurisdiction.
"The concurrence of two (2) Commissioners of a division shall be necessary for the
pronouncement of a judgment or resolution. Whenever the required membership in a
division is not complete and the concurrence of two (2) Commissioners to arrive at a
judgment or resolution cannot be obtained, the Chairman shall designate such number of
additional Commissioners from the other divisions as may be necessary.
"The conclusions of a division on any case submitted to it for decision shall be reached in
consultation before the case is assigned to a member for the writing of the opinion. It
shall be mandatory for the division to meet for the purposes of the consultation ordained
herein. A certification to this effect signed by the Presiding Commissioner of the division
shall be issued, and a copy thereof attached to the record of the case and served upon
the parties.
"The Chairman shall be the Presiding Commissioner of the first division, and the four (4)
other members from the public sector shall be the Presiding Commissioners of the
second, third, fourth and fifth divisions, respectively. In case of the effective absence or
incapacity of the Chairman, the Presiding Commissioner of the second division shall be
the Acting Chairman.
"The Chairman, aided by the Executive Clerk of the Commission, shall have the
administrative supervision over the Commission and its regional branches and all its
personnel, including the Executive Labor Arbiters and Labor Arbiters.
"The Commission, when sitting en banc, shall be assisted by the same Executive Clerk,
and, when acting thru its divisions, by said Executive Clerk for its first division and four
(4) other Deputy Executive Clerks for the second, third, fourth and fifth divisions,
respectively, in the performance of such similar or equivalent functions and duties as are
discharged by the Clerk of Court and Deputy Clerks of Court of the Court of Appeals."
Section 6. Article 214 of the same Code, as amended, is further amended to read as
follows:
"Article 214. Headquarters, branches and provincial extension units. - The Commission
and its first, second and third divisions shall have their main offices in Metropolitan
Manila, and the fourth and fifth divisions in the cities of Cebu and Cagayan de Oro,
respectively. The Commission shall establish as many regional branches as there are
regional offices of the Department of Labor and Employment, sub-regional branches or
provincial extension units. There shall be as many labor arbiters as may be necessary for
the effective and efficient operation of the Commission. Each regional branch shall be
headed by an Executive Labor Arbiter."
Section 7. Article 215 of the same Code is amended to read as follows:
"Article 215. Appointment and qualification. - The Chairman and other Commissioners
shall be members of the Philippine Bar and must have been engaged in the practice of
law in the Philippines for at least fifteen (15) years, with at least five (5) years experience
or exposure in the field of labor-management relations and shall preferably be residents
of the region where they are to hold office. The Executive Labor Arbiters and Labor
Arbiters shall likewise be members of the Philippine Bar and must have been engaged in
the practice of law in the Philippines for at least seven (7) years, with at least three (3)
years experience or exposure in the field of labor-management relations: Provided,
however, That incumbent Executive Labor Arbiters and Labor Arbiters who have been
engaged in the practice of law for at least five (5) years may be considered as already
qualified for purposes of reappointment as such under this Act.
"The Chairman and the other Commissioners, the Executive Labor Arbiters and Labor
Arbiters shall hold office during good behavior until they reach the age of sixty-five (65)
years, unless sooner removed for cause as provided by law or become incapacitated to
discharge the duties of their office.
"The Chairman, the Division Presiding Commissioners and other Commissioners shall all
be appointed by the President, subject to confirmation by the Commission on
Appointments. Appointment to any vacancy shall come from the nominees of the sector
which nominated the predecessor. The Executive Labor Arbiters and Labor Arbiters shall
also be appointed by the President, upon recommendation of the Secretary of Labor and
Employment, and shall be subject to the Civil Service law, rules and regulations.
"The Secretary of Labor and Employment shall, in consultation with the Chairman of the
Commission, appoint the staff and employees of the Commission and its regional
branches as the needs of the service may require, subject to the Civil Service law, rules
and regulations, and upgrade their current salaries, benefits and other emoluments in
accordance with law."
Section 8. Art. 216 of the same Code is amended to read as follows:
"Article 216. Salaries, benefits and other emoluments. - The Chairman and members of
the Commission shall receive an annual salary at least equivalent to, and be entitled to
the same allowances and benefits as, those of the Presiding Justice and Associate Justices
of the Court of Appeals, respectively. The Executive Labor Arbiters shall receive an annual
salary at least equivalent to that of an Assistant Regional Director of the Department of
Labor and Employment and shall be entitled to the same allowances and benefits as that
of a Regional Director of said department. The Labor Arbiters shall receive an annual
salary at least equivalent to, and be entitled to the same allowances and benefits as, that
of an Assistant Regional Director of the Department of Labor and Employment. In no
case, however, shall the provision of this Article result in the diminution of existing
salaries, allowances and benefits of the aforementioned officials."
Section 9. Article 217 of the same code, as amended, is hereby further amended to read
as follows:
"Article 217. Jurisdiction of Labor Arbiters and the Commission. - (a) Except as otherwise
provided under this Code, the Labor Arbiters shall have the original and exclusive
jurisdiction to hear and decide, within thirty (30) calendar days after the submission of
the case by the parties for decision without extension, even in the absence of
stenographic notes, the following cases involving all workers, whether agricultural or non-
agricultural:
"(1) Unfair labor practice cases;
"(2) Termination disputes;
"(3) If accompanied with a claim for reinstatement, those cases that workers may file
involving wages, rates of pay, hours of work and other terms and conditions of
employment;
"(4) Claims for actual, moral, exemplary and other forms of damages arising from the
employer-employee relations;
"(5) Cases arising from any violation of Article 264 of this Code, including questions
involving the legality of strikes and lockouts; and
"(6) Except claims for employees compensation, social security, medicare and maternity
benefits, all other claims arising from employer-employee relations, including those of
persons in domestic or household service involving an amount exceeding five thousand
pesos (P5,000), whether or not accompanied with a claim for reinstatement.
"(b) The Commission shall have exclusive appellate jurisdiction over all cases decided by
Labor Arbiters.
"(c) Cases arising from the interpretation or implementation of collective bargaining
agreements and those arising from the interpretation or enforcement of company
personnel policies shall be disposed by the Labor Arbiter by referring the same to the
grievance machinery and voluntary arbitration as may be provided in said agreements."
Section 10. Article 218, paragraphs (a), (d) and (e) thereof are hereby amended to read
as follows:
"(a) To promulgate rules and regulations governing the hearing and disposition of cases
before it and its regional branches, as well as those pertaining to its internal functions
and such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this
Code;
"(d) To hold any person in contempt directly or indirectly and impose appropriate
penalties therefor in accordance with law.
A person guilty of misbehavior in the presence of or so near the Chairman or any
member of the Commission or any Labor Arbiter as to obstruct or interrupt the
proceedings before the same, including disrespect toward said officials, offensive
personalities toward others, or refusal to be sworn or to answer as a witness, or to
subscribe an affidavit or deposition when lawfully required to do so, may be summarily
adjudged in direct contempt by said officials and punished by fine not exceeding five
hundred pesos (P500) or imprisonment not exceeding five (5) days, or both if it be the
Commission or a member thereof, or by a fine not exceeding one hundred pesos (P100)
or imprisonment not exceeding one (1) day, or both if it be a Labor Arbiter.
The person adjudged in direct contempt by a Labor Arbiter may appeal to the
Commission and the execution of the judgment shall be suspended pending the resolution
of the appeal upon the filing of such person of a bond on a condition that he will abide by
and perform the judgment of the Commission should the appeal be decided against him.
Judgment of the Commission on direct contempt is immediately executory and
unappealable. Indirect contempt shall be dealth with by the Commission or Labor Arbiter
in the manner prescribed under Rule 71 of the Revised Rules of Court; and
(e) To enjoin or restrain any actual or threatened commission of any or all prohibited or
unlawful acts or to require the performance of a particular act in any labor dispute which,
if not restrained or performed forthwith, may cause grave or irreparable damage to any
party or render ineffectual any decision in favor of such party: Provided, That no
temporary or permanent injunction in any case involving or growing out of a labor
dispute as defined in this Code shall be issued except after hearing the testimony of
witnesses, with opportunity for cross-examination, in support of the allegations of a
complaint made under oath, and testimony in opposition thereto, if ordered, and only
after a finding of fact by the Commission, to the effect:
(1) That prohibited or unlawful acts have been threatened and will be committed unless
restrained, or have been committed and will be continued unless restrained, but no
injunction or temporary restraining order shall be issued on account of any threat,
prohibited or unlawful act, except against the person or persons, association or
organization making the threat or committing the prohibited or unlawful act or actually
authorizing or ratifying the same after actual knowledge thereof;
(2) That substantial and irreparable injury to complainant's property will follow;
(3) That, as to each item of relief to be granted, greater injury will be inflicted upon
defendants by the granting of relief;
(4) That complainant has no adequate remedy at law; and
(5) That the public officers charged with the duty to protect complainant's property are
unable or unwilling to furnish adequate protection.
Such hearing shall be held after due and personal notice thereof has been served, in such
manner as the Commission shall direct, to all known persons against whom relief is
sought, and also to the Chief Executive and other public officials of the province or city
within which the unlawful acts have been threatened or committed charged with the duty
to protect complainant's property: Provided, however, That if a complainant shall also
allege that, unless a temporary restraining order shall be issued without notices, a
substantial and irreparable injury to complainant's property will be unavoidable, such a
temporary restraining order may be issued upon testimony under oath, sufficient, if
sustained, to justify the Commission in issuing a temporary injunction upon hearing after
notice. Such a temporary restraining order shall be effective for no longer than twenty
(20) days and shall become void at the expiration of said twenty (20) days. No such
temporary restraining order or temporary injunction shall be issued except on condition
that complainant shall first file an undertaking with adequate security in an amount to be
fixed by the Commission sufficient to recompense those enjoined for any loss, expense or
damage caused by the improvident or erroneous issuance of such order or injunction,
including all reasonable costs, together with a reasonable attorney's fee, and expense of
defense against the order or against the granting of any injunctive relief sought in the
same proceeding and subsequently denied by the Commission.
The undertaking herein mentioned shall be understood to constitute an agreement
entered into by the complainant and the surety upon which an order may be rendered in
the same suit or proceeding against said complainant and surety, upon a hearing to
assess damages, of which hearing complainant and surety shall have reasonable notice,
the said complainant and surety submitting themselves to the jurisdiction of the
Commission for that purpose. But nothing herein contained shall deprive any party having
a claim or cause of action under or upon such undertaking from electing to pursue his
ordinary remedy by suit at law or in equity: Provided, further, That the reception of
evidence for the application of a writ of injunction may be delegated by the Commission
to any of its Labor Arbiters who shall conduct such hearing in such places as he may
determine to be accessible to the parties and their witnesses and shall submit thereafter
his recommendation to the Commission."
Section 11. Article 221 of the same Code is hereby amended to read as follows:
Article 221. Technical rules not binding and prior resort to amicable settlement. - In any
proceeding before the Commission or any of the Labor Arbiters, the rules of evidence
prevailing in courts of law and equity shall not be controlling, and it is the spirit and
intention of this Code that the Commission and its members and the Labor Arbiters shall
use every and all reasonable means to ascertain the facts in each case speedily and
objectively, without regard to technicalities of law or procedure, all in the interest of due
process. In any proceeding before the Commission or any Labor Arbiter, the parties may
be represented by legal counsel but it shall be the duty of the Chairman, any Presiding
Commissioner or Commissioner or any Labor Arbiter to exercise complete control of the
proceedings at all stages.
Any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, the Labor Arbiter shall exert all
efforts towards the amicable settlement of a labor dispute within his jurisdiction on or
before the first hearing. The same rule shall apply to the Commission in the exercise of
its original jurisdiction.
Section 12. Article 223 of the same Code is amended to read as follows:
"Article 223. Appeal. - Decisions, awards, or orders of the Labor Arbiter are final and
executory unless appealed to the Commission by any or both parties within ten (10)
calendar days from receipt of such decisions, awards, or orders. Such appeal may be
entertained only on any of the following grounds:
"(a) If there is prima facie evidence of abuse of discretion on the part of the Labor
Arbiter;
"(b) If the decision, order or award was secured through fraud or coercion, including graft
and corruption;
"(c) If made purely on questions of law; and
"(d) If serious errors in the findings of facts are raised which would cause grave or
irreparable damage or injury to the appellant.
In case of a judgment involving a monetary award, an appeal by the employer may be
perfected only upon the posting of a cash or surety bond issued by a reputable bonding
company duly accredited by the Commission in the amount equivalent to the monetary
award in the judgment appealed from.
In any event, the decision of the Labor Arbiter reinstating a dismissed or separated
employee, insofar as the reinstatement aspect is concerned, shall immediately be
executory, even pending appeal. The employee shall either be admitted back to work
under the same terms and conditions prevailing prior to his dismissal or separation or, at
the option of the employer, merely reinstated in the payroll. The posting of a bond by the
employer shall not stay the execution for reinstatement provided herein.
To discourage frivolous or dilatory appeals, the Commission or the Labor Arbiter shall
impose reasonable penalty, including fines or censures, upon the erring parties.
In all cases, the appellant shall furnish a copy of the memorandum of appeal to the other
party who shall file an answer not later than ten (10) calendar days from receipt thereof.
The Commission shall decide all cases within twenty (20) calendar days from receipt of
the answer of the appellee.
"The decision of the Commission shall be final and executory after ten (10) calendar days
from receipt thereof by the parties.
Any law enforcement agency may be deputized by the Secretary of Labor and
Employment or the Commission in the enforcement of decisions, awards, or orders."
Section 13. Article 224 of the same Code is amended to read as follows:
Article 224. Execution of decisions, orders, or awards. - (a) The Secretary of Labor and
Employment or any Regional Director, the Commission or any Labor Arbiter or Med-
Arbiter, or the voluntary arbitrator or panel of voluntary arbitrators may, motu propio or
on motion of any interested party, issue a writ of execution on a judgment within five (5)
years from the date it becomes final and executory, requiring a sheriff or a duly
deputized officer to execute or enforce final decisions, orders or awards of the Secretary
of Labor and Employment or Regional Director, the Commission, or the Labor Arbiter or
Med-Arbiter, or voluntary arbitrator or panel of voluntary arbitrators. In any case, it shall
be the duty of the responsible officer to separately furnish immediately the counsels of
record and the parties with copies of said decisions, orders and awards. Failure to comply
with the duty prescribed herein shall subject such responsible officer to appropriate
administrative sanctions.
(b) The Secretary of Labor and Employment, and the Chairman of the Commission may
designate special sheriffs and take any measure under existing laws to ensure compliance
with their decisions, orders or awards and those of Labor Arbiters and voluntary
arbitrators or panel of voluntary arbitrators, including the imposition of administrative
fines which shall not be less than five hundred pesos (P500.00) nor more than ten
thousand pesos (P10,000.00)."
Section 14. The second paragraph of Article 226 of the same Code is likewise hereby
amended to read as follows:
"The Bureau shall have fifteen (15) calendar days to act on labor cases before it, subject
to extension by agreement of the parties."
Section 15. Articles 230, 231 and 232 of the same Code are amended to read as follows:
Article 230. Appointment of bureau personnel. - The Secretary of Labor and Employment
may appoint, in addition to the present personnel of the Bureau and the Industrial
Relations Divisions, such number of examiners and other assistants as may be necessary
to carry out the purpose of this Code."
"Article 231. Registry of unions and file of collective agreements. - The Bureau shall keep
a registry of legitimate labor organizations.
"The Bureau shall also maintain a file of all collective bargaining agreements and other
related agreements and records of settlement of labor disputes, and copies of orders and
decisions of voluntary arbitrators or panel of voluntary arbitrators. The file shall be open
and accessible to interested parties under conditions prescribed by the Secretary of Labor
and Employment, provided that no specific information submitted in confidence shall be
disclosed unless authorized by the Secretary, or when it is at issue in any judicial
litigation or when public interest or national security so requires.
Within thirty (30) days from the execution of a collective bargaining agreement, the
parties shall submit copies of the same directly to the Bureau or the Regional Offices of
the Department of Labor and Employment for registration accompanied with verified
proofs of its posting in two conspicuous places in the place of work and ratification by the
majority of all the workers in the bargaining unit. The Bureau or Regional Offices shall act
upon the application for registration of such collective bargaining agreement within five
(5) calendar days from receipt thereof. The Regional Offices shall furnish the Bureau with
a copy of the collective bargaining agreement within five (5) days from its submission.
The Bureau or Regional Office shall assess the employer for every collective bargaining
agreement a registration fee of not less than one thousand pesos (P1,000.00) or in any
other amount as may be deemed appropriate and necessary by the Secretary of Labor
and Employment for the effective and efficient administration of the voluntary arbitration
program. Any amount collected under this provision shall accrue to the Special Voluntary
Arbitration Fund.
The Bureau shall also maintain a file, and shall undertake or assist in the publication, of
all final decisions, orders and awards of the Secretary of Labor and Employment, Regional
Directors and the Commission."
Article 232. Prohibition on certification. - The Bureau shall not entertain any petition for
certification election or any other action which may disturb the administration of duly
registered existing collective bargaining agreements affecting the parties except under
Articles 253, 253-A and 256 of this Code.
Section 16. Paragraphs (c) and (j) of Article 241 of the same Code are amended to read
as follows:
(c) The members shall directly elect their officers in the local union, as well as their
national officers in the national union or federation to which they or their local union is
affiliated, by secret ballot at intervals of five (5) years. No qualification requirement for
candidacy to any position shall be imposed other than membership in good standing in
subject labor organization. The secretary or any other responsible union officer shall
furnish the Secretary of Labor and Employment with a list of the newly-elected officers,
together with the appointive officers or agents who are entrusted with the handling of
funds within thirty (30) calendar days after the election of officers or from the occurrence
of any change in the list of officers of the labor organization;
"(j) Every income or revenue of the organization shall be evidenced by a record showing
its source, and every expenditure of its funds shall be evidenced by a receipt from the
person to whom the payment is made, which shall state the date, place and purpose of
such payment. Such record or receipt shall form part of the financial records of the
organization.
"Any action involving the funds of the organization shall prescribe after three (3) years
from the date of submission of the annual financial report to the Department of Labor and
Employment or from the date the same should have been submitted as required by law,
whichever comes earlier: Provided, That this provision shall apply only to a legitimate
labor organization which has submitted the financial report requirements under this
Code: Provided, further, That failure of any labor organization to comply with the periodic
financial reports required by law and such rules and regulations promulgated thereunder
six (6) months after the effectivity of this Act shall automatically result in the cancellation
of union registration of such labor organization.'
Section 17. Article 242 of the same Code is amended to read as follows:
"Article 242. Rights of legitimate labor organizations. - A legitimate labor organization
shall have the right:
"(a) To act as the representative of its members for the purpose of collective bargaining;
"(b) To be certified as the exclusive representative of all the employees in an appropriate
collective bargaining unit for purposes of collective bargaining;
"(c) To be furnished by the employer, upon written request, with his annual audited
financial statements, including the balance sheet and the profit and loss statement, within
thirty (30) calendar days from the date of receipt of the request, after the union has been
duly recognized by the employer or certified as the sole and exclusive bargaining
representative of the employees in the bargaining unit, or within sixty (60) calendar days
before, or during the collective bargaining negotiation.
"(d) To own property, real or personal, for the use and benefit of the labor organization
and its members;
"(e) To sue and be sued in its registered name; and
"(f) To undertake all other activities designed to benefit the organization and its
members, including cooperative, housing welfare and other projects not contrary to law.
"Notwithstanding any provision of a general or special law to the contrary, the income,
and the properties of legitimate labor organizations, including grants, endowments, gifts,
donations and contributions they may receive from fraternal and similar organizations,
local or foreign, which are actually, directly and exclusively used for their lawful purposes,
shall be free from taxes, duties and other assessments. The exemptions provided herein
may be withdrawn only by a special law expressly repealing this provision."
Section 18. Article 245 of the same Code, as amended, is hereby further amended to
read as follows:
"Article 245. Ineligibility of managerial employees to join any labor organization; right of
supervisory employees. - Managerial employees are not eligible to join, assist or form any
labor organization. Supervisory employees shall not be eligible for membership in a labor
organization of the rank-and-file employees but may join, assist or form separate labor
organizations of their own."
Section 19. The third paragraph of Article 247 of the same Code, as amended, is further
amended to read as follows:
"Subject to the exercise by the President or by the Secretary of Labor and Employment of
the powers vested in them by Articles 263 and 264 of this Code, the civil aspects of all
cases involving unfair labor practices, which may include claims for actual, moral,
exemplary and other forms of damages, attorney's fees and other affirmative relief, shall
be under the jurisdiction of the Labor Arbiters. The Labor Arbiters shall give utmost
priority to the hearing and resolution of all cases involving unfair labor practices. They
shall resolve such cases within thirty (30) calendar days from the time they are
submitted for decision."
Section 20. Article 250 of the same Code is amended to read as follows:
"Article 250. Procedure in collective bargaining. - The following procedures shall be
observed in collective bargaining:
"(a) When a party desires to negotiate an agreement it shall serve a written notice upon
the other party with a statement of its proposals. The other party shall make a reply
thereto not later than ten (10) calendar days from receipt of such notice;
"(b) Should differences arise on the basis of such notice and reply, either party may
request for a conference which shall begin not later than ten (10) calendar days from the
date of request;
"(c) If the dispute is not settled, the Board shall intervene upon request of either or both
parties or at its own initiative and immediately call the parties to conciliation meetings.
The Board shall have the power to issue subpoenas requiring the attendance of the
parties to such meetings. It shall be the duty of the parties to participate fully and
promptly in the conciliation meetings the Board may call;
"(d) During the conciliation proceedings in the Board, the parties are prohibited from
doing any act which may disrupt or impede the early settlement of the disputes; and
"(e) The Board shall exert all efforts to settle disputes amicably and encourage the
parties to submit their case to a voluntary arbitrator."
Section 21. There shall be incorporated after Article 253 of the same Code a new article
which shall read as follows:
"Article 253-A. Terms of a collective bargaining agreement. - Any collective bargaining
agreement that the parties may enter into shall, insofar as the representation aspect is
concerned, be for a term of five (5) years. No petition questioning the majority status of
the incumbent bargaining agent shall be entertained and no certification election shall be
conducted by the Department of Labor and Employment outside of the sixty-day period
immediately before the date of expiry of such five year term of the collective bargaining
agreement. All other provisions of the collective bargaining agreement shall be
renegotiated not later than three (3) years after its execution. Any agreement on such
other provisions of the collective bargaining agreement entered into within six (6) months
from the date of expiry of the term of such other provisions as fixed in the collective
bargaining agreement, shall retroact to the day immediately following such date. If any
such agreement is entered into beyond six months, the parties shall agree on the
duration of retroactivity thereof. In case of a deadlock in the renegotiation of the
collective bargaining agreement, the parties may exercise their rights under this Code."
Section 22. Article 255 of the Labor Code, as amended, is hereby amended to read as
follows:
"Article 255. Exclusive bargaining representation and workers' participation in policy and
decision-making. - The labor organization designated or selected by the majority of the
employees in an appropriate collective bargaining unit shall be the exclusive
representative of the employees in such unit for the purpose of collective bargaining.
However, an individual employee or group of employees shall have the right at any time
to present grievances to their employer.
"Any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, workers shall have the right,
subject to such rules and regulations as the Secretary of Labor and Employment may
promulgate, to participate in policy and decision-making processes of the establishment
where they are employed insofar as said processes will directly affect their rights,
benefits and welfare. For this purpose, workers and employers may form labor-
management councils: Provided, That the representatives of the workers in such labor-
management councils shall be elected by at least the majority of all employees in said
establishment."
Section 23. Article 256 of the same Code, as amended, is further amended to read as
follows:
"Article 256. Representation issue in organized establishments. - In organized
establishments, when a verified petition questioning the majority status of the incumbent
bargaining agent is filed before the Department of Labor and Employment within the
sixty-day period before the expiration of a collective bargaining agreement, the Med-
Arbiter shall automatically order an election by secret ballot when the verified petition is
supported by the written consent of at least twenty-five percent (25%) of all the
employees in the bargaining unit to ascertain the will of the employees in the appropriate
bargaining unit. To have a valid election, at least a majority of all eligible voters in the
unit must have cast their votes. The labor union receiving the majority of the valid votes
cast shall be certified as the exclusive bargaining agent of all the workers in the unit.
When an election which provides for three or more choices results in no choice receiving
a majority of the valid votes cast, a run-off election shall be conducted between the labor
unions receiving the two highest number of votes: Provided, That the total number of
votes for all contending unions is at least fifty per cent (50%) of the number of votes
cast.
At the expiration of the freedom period, the employer shall continue to recognize the
majority status of the incumbent bargaining agent where no petition for certification
election is filed."
Section 24. Article 257 of the same Code is amended to read as follows:
Article 257. Petitions in unorganized establishment. - In any establishment where there is
no certified bargaining agent, a certification election shall automatically be conducted by
the Med-Arbiter upon the filing of a petition by a legitimate labor organization."
Section 25. Article 259 of the same Code is also hereby amended to read as follows:
Article 259. Appeal from certification election orders. - Any party to an election may
appeal the order or results of the election as determined by the Med-Arbiter directly to
the Secretary of Labor and Employment on the ground that the rules and regulations or
parts thereof established by the Secretary of Labor and Employment for the conduct of
the election have been violated. Such appeal shall be decided within fifteen (15) calendar
days.
Section 26. There shall be incorporated after Article 259 of the same Code a new chapter
to read as follows:
TITLE VIII-A
Grievance Machinery and Voluntary Arbitration
"Article 260. Grievance machinery and voluntary arbitration. - The parties to a collective
bargaining agreement shall include therein provisions that will ensure the mutual
observance of its terms and conditions. They shall establish a machinery for the
adjustment and resolution of grievances arising from the interpretation or implementation
of their collective bargaining agreement and those arising from the interpretation or
enforcement of company personnel policies.
"All grievances submitted to the grievance machinery which are not settled within seven
(7) calendar days from the date of its submission shall automatically be referred to
voluntary arbitration prescribed in the collective bargaining agreement.
"For this purpose, parties to a collective bargaining agreement shall name and designate
in advance a voluntary arbitrator or panel of voluntary arbitrators, or include in the
agreement a procedure for the selection of such voluntary arbitrator or panel of voluntary
arbitrators, preferably from the listing of qualified voluntary arbitrators duly accredited by
the Board. In case the parties fail to select a voluntary arbitrator or panel of voluntary
arbitrators, the Board shall designate the voluntary arbitrator or panel of voluntary
arbitrators, as may be necessary, pursuant to the selection procedure agreed upon in the
collective bargaining agreement, which shall act with the same force and effect as if the
voluntary arbitrator or panel of voluntary arbitrators have been selected by the parties as
described above."
"Article 261. Jurisdiction of voluntary arbitrator and panel of voluntary arbitrators. - The
voluntary arbitrator or panel of arbitrators shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction to
hear and decide all unresolved grievances arising from the interpretation or
implementation of the collective bargaining agreement and those arising from the
interpretation or enforcement of company personnel policies referred to in the
immediately preceding Article. Accordingly, violations of a collective bargaining
agreement, except those which are gross in character, shall no longer be treated as
unfair labor practice and shall be resolved as grievances under the collective bargaining
agreement. For purposes of this Article, gross violations of a collective bargaining
agreement shall mean flagrant and/or malicious refusal to comply with the economic
provisions of such agreement.
"The Commission, its Regional Offices and the Regional Directors of the Department of
Labor and Employment shall not entertain disputes, grievances or matters under the
exclusive and original jurisdiction of the voluntary arbitrator or panel of voluntary
arbitrators and shall immediately dispose and refer the same to the grievance machinery
or voluntary arbitration provided in the collective bargaining agreement."
"Article 262. Jurisdiction over other labor disputes. - The voluntary arbitrator or panel of
voluntary arbitrators, upon agreement of the parties, shall also hear and decide all other
labor disputes including unfair labor practices and bargaining deadlocks.
"Article 262-A. Procedures. - The voluntary arbitrator or panel of voluntary arbitrators
shall have the power to hold hearings, receive evidences and take whatever action is
necessary to resolve the issue or issues subject of the dispute, including efforts to effect
a voluntary settlement between parties.
"All parties to the dispute shall be entitled to attend the arbitration proceedings. The
attendance of any third party or the exclusion of any witness from the proceedings shall
be determined by the voluntary arbitrator or panel of voluntary arbitrators. Hearings may
be adjourned for cause or upon agreement by the parties.
"Unless the parties agree otherwise, it shall be mandatory for the voluntary arbitrator or
panel of voluntary arbitrators to render an award or decision within twenty (20) calendar
days from the date of submission of the dispute to voluntary arbitration. "The award or
decision of the voluntary arbitrator or panel of voluntary arbitrators shall contain the facts
and the law on which it is based. It shall be final and executory after ten (10) calendar
days from receipt of the copy of the award or decision by the parties.
"Upon motion of any interested party, the voluntary arbitrator or panel of voluntary
arbitrators or the Labor Arbiter in the region where the movant resides, in case of the
absence or incapacity of the voluntary arbitrator or panel of voluntary arbitrators for any
reason, may issue a writ of execution requiring either the sheriff of the Commission or
regular courts or any public official whom the parties may designate in the submission
agreement to execute the final decision, order or award.
"Article 262-B. Cost of voluntary arbitration and voluntary arbitrator's fee. - The parties
to a collective bargaining agreement shall provide therein a proportionate sharing scheme
on the cost of voluntary arbitration including the voluntary arbitrator's fee. The fixing of
fee of voluntary arbitrators, or panel of voluntary arbitrators, whether shouldered wholly
by the parties or subsidized by the Special Voluntary Arbitration Fund, shall take into
account the following factors:
"(a) Nature of the case;
"(b) Time consumed in hearing the case;
"(c) Professional standing of the voluntary arbitrator;
"(d) Capacity to pay of the parties; and
"(e) Fees provided for in the Revised Rules of Court."
Section 27. Paragraphs (g) and (i) of Article 263 of the same code, as amended, are
hereby further amended to read as follows:
"(g) When, in his opinion, there exists a labor dispute causing or likely to cause a strike
or lockout in an industry, indispensable to the national interest, the Secretary of Labor
and Employment may assume jurisdiction over the dispute and decide it or certify the
same to the Commission for compulsory arbitration. Such assumption or certification shall
have the effect of automatically enjoining the intended or impending strike or lockout as
specified in the assumption or certification order. If one has already taken place at the
time of assumption or certification, all striking or locked out employees shall immediately
return to work and the employer shall immediately resume operations and readmit all
workers under the same terms and conditions prevailing before the strike or lockout. The
Secretary of Labor and Employment or the Commission may seek the assistance of law
enforcement agencies to ensure compliance with this provision as well as with such
orders as he may issue to enforce the same.
"In line with the national concern for and the highest aspect accorded to the right of
patients to life and health, strikes and lockouts in hospitals, clinics and similar medical
institutions shall, to every extent possible, be avoided, and all serious efforts, not only by
labor and management but government as well, be exhausted to substantially minimize,
if not prevent their adverse effects on such life and health, through the exercise, however
legitimate, by labor of its right to strike and by management to lockout. In labor disputes
adversely affecting the continued operation of such hospitals, clinics, or medical
institutions, it shall be the duty of the striking union or locking-out employer to provide
and maintain an effective skeletal work force of medical and other health personnel,
whose movement and services shall be unhampered and unrestricted, as are necessary
to ensure the proper and adequate protection of the life and health of its patients, most
especially emergency cases, for the duration of the strike or lockout. In such cases,
therefore, the Secretary of Labor and Employment may immediately assume, within
twenty four (24) hours from knowledge of the occurrence of such a strike or lockout,
jurisdiction over the same or certify it to the Commission for compulsory arbitration. For
this purpose, the contending parties are strictly enjoined to comply with such orders,
prohibitions and/or injunctions as are issued by the Secretary of Labor and Employment
or the Commission, under pain of immediate disciplinary action, including dismissal or
loss of employment status or payment by the locking-out employer of backwages,
damages and other affirmative relief, even criminal prosecution against either or both of
them.
"The foregoing notwithstanding, the President of the Philippines shall not be precluded
from determining the industries that, in his opinion, are indispensable to the national
interest, and from intervening at any time and assuming jurisdiction over any labor
dispute in such industries in order to settle or terminate the same.

"(i) The Secretary of Labor and Employment, the Commission or the voluntary arbitrator
or panel of voluntary arbitrators shall decide or resolve the dispute within thirty (30)
calendar days from the date of the assumption of jurisdiction or the certification or
submission of the dispute, as the case may be. The decision of the President, the
Secretary of Labor and Employment, the Commission or the voluntary arbitrator or panel
of voluntary arbitrators shall be final and executory ten (10) calendar days after receipt
thereof by the parties."
Section 28. There is hereby incorporated in lieu of Article 265 of the same Code, which
was repealed by Batas Pambansa Blg. 130, a new provision to read as follows:
"Article 265. Improved offer balloting. - In an effort to settle a strike, the Department of
Labor and Management shall conduct a referendum by secret balloting on the improved
offer of the employer on or before the 30th day of the strike. When at least a majority of
the union members vote to accept the improved offer, the striking workers shall
immediately return to work and the employer shall thereupon readmit them upon the
signing of the agreement.
"In case of a lockout, the Department of Labor and Employment shall also conduct a
referendum by secret balloting on the reduced offer of the union on or before the 30th
day of the lockout. When at least a majority of the board of directors or trustees or the
partners holding the controlling interest in the case of a partnership vote to accept the
reduced offer, the workers shall immediately return to work and the employer shall
thereupon readmit them upon the signing of the agreement."
Section 29. Article 269 of the same Code is amended to read as follows:
"Article 269. Prohibition against aliens; Exceptions. - All aliens, natural or juridical, as
well as all foreign organizations are strictly prohibited from engaging directly or indirectly
in all forms of trade union activities without prejudice to normal contacts between
Philippine labor unions and recognized international labor centers: Provided, however,
That aliens working in the country with valid permits issued by the Department of Labor
and Employment, may exercise the right to self-organization and join or assist labor
organizations of their own choosing for purposes of collective bargaining: Provided,
further, That said aliens are nationals of a country which grants the same or similar rights
to Filipino workers."
Section 30. Paragraph (a) of Article 272 of the same Code is hereby amended to read as
follows:
"Article 272. Penalties. - (a) Any person violating any of the provisions of Article 264 of
this Code shall be punished by a fine of not less than one thousand pesos (P1,000.00)
nor more than ten thousand pesos (P10,000.00) and/or imprisonment for not less than
three (3) months nor more than three (3) years, or both such fine and imprisonment, at
the discretion of the court. Prosecution under this provision shall preclude prosecution for
the same act under the Revised Penal Code, and vice-versa."
Section 31. Article 274 of the same Code is amended to read as follows:
"Article 274. Visitorial power. - The Secretary of Labor and Employment or his duly
authorized representative is hereby empowered to inquire into financial activities of
legitimate labor organizations upon the filing of a complaint under oath and duly
supported by the written consent of at least twenty percent (20%) of the total
membership of the labor organization concerned and to examine their books of accounts
and other records to determine compliance or non-compliance with the law and to
prosecute any violations of the law and the union constitution and by-laws: Provided,
That such inquiry or examination shall not be conducted during the sixty (60) days
freedom period nor within thirty (30) days immediately preceding the date of election of
union officials."
Section 32. Article 275 of the same Code is hereby amended to read as follows:
"Article 275. Tripartism and tripartite conferences. - (a) Tripartism in labor relations is
hereby declared a State policy. Towards this end, workers and employers shall, as far as
practicable, be represented in decision and policy-making bodies of the government.
"(b) The Secretary of Labor and Employment or his duly authorized representatives may
from time to time call a national, regional, or industrial tripartite conference of
representatives of government, workers and employers for the consideration and
adoption of voluntary codes of principles designed to promote industrial peace based on
social justice or to align labor movement relations with established priorities in economic
and social development. In calling such conference, the Secretary of Labor and
Employment may consult with accredited representatives of workers and employers."
Section 33. Paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (f), (h), and (i) of Article 277 of the same Code, as
amended, is further amended to read as follows:
"(a) All unions are authorized to collect reasonable membership fees, union dues,
assessments and fines and other contributions for labor education and research, mutual
death and hospitalization benefits, welfare fund, strike fund and credit and cooperative
undertakings.
"(b) Subject to the constitutional right of workers to security of tenure and their right to
be protected against dismissal except for a just or authorized cause and without prejudice
to the requirement of notice under Article 283 of this Code, the employer shall furnish the
worker whose employment is sought to be terminated a written notice containing a
statement of the causes for termination and shall afford the latter ample opportunity to
be heard and to defend himself with the assistance of his representative if he so desires
in accordance with company rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to guidelines set
by the Department of Labor and Employment. Any decision taken by the employer shall
be without prejudice to the right of the worker to contest the validity or legality of his
dismissal by filing a complaint with the regional branch of the National Labor Relations
Commission. The burden of proving that the termination was for a valid or authorized
cause shall rest on the employer. The Secretary of Labor and Employment may suspend
the effects of the termination pending resolution of the dispute in the event of a prima
facie finding by the appropriate official of the Department of Labor and Employment
before whom such dispute is pending that the termination may cause a serious labor
dispute or is in implementation of a mass lay-off.
"(c) Any employee, whether employed for a definite period or not, shall, beginning on his
first day of service, be considered an employee for purposes of membership in any labor
union.
"(f) A Special Voluntary Arbitration Fund is hereby established in the Board to subsidize
the cost of voluntary arbitration in cases involving the interpretation and implementation
of the collective bargaining agreement, including the arbitrator's fees, and for such other
related purposes to promote and develop voluntary arbitration. The Board shall
administer the Special Voluntary Arbitration Fund in accordance with the guidelines it
may adopt upon the recommendation of the Council, which guidelines shall be subject to
the approval of the Secretary of Labor and Employment. Continuing funds needed for this
purpose in the initial yearly amount of fifteen million pesos (P15,000,000.00) shall be
provided in the 1989 and subsequent annual General Appropriations Acts.
"The amount of subsidy in appropriate cases shall be determined by the Board in
accordance with established guidelines issued by it upon the recommendation of the
Council.
"The fund shall also be utilized for the operation of the Council, the training and
education of voluntary arbitrators, and the promotion and the development of a
comprehensive voluntary arbitration program.
"(h) In establishments where no legitimate labor organization exists, labor-management
committees may be formed voluntarily by workers and employers for the purpose of
promoting industrial peace. The Department of Labor and Management shall endeavor to
enlighten and educate the workers and employers on their rights and responsibilities
through labor education with emphasis on the policy thrusts of this Code.
Section 36. Rule-Making Authority. - The Secretary of Labor and Employment is hereby
authorized to promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary to implement
the provisions of this Act.
Section 37. Funding. - Funds needed to carry out the provisions of this Act shall be taken
from the available funds in the Department of Labor and Employment and shall thereafter
be included in subsequent annual General Appropriations Acts.
Section 38. Repealing Cause. - All laws, decrees, executive orders, letters of
implementations, rules and regulations or part or parts thereof inconsistent with any
provision of this Act are hereby repealed, modified, superseded or amended accordingly.
Section 39. Separability Clause. - If any provision of this Act or the application of such
provision to any person or circumstance is held invalid for any reason, the remainder of
this Act or the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances shall not
be affected thereby.

"(i) To ensure speedy labor justice, the periods provided in this Code within which Section 40. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in
decisions or resolutions of labor relations cases or matters should be rendered shall be the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) national newspapers of general circulation,
mandatory. For this purpose, a case or matter shall be deemed submitted for decision or whichever comes earlier.
resolution upon the filing of the last pleading or memorandum required by the rules of
the Commission or by the Commission itself, or the Labor Arbiter or the Director of the 5. Merger between Philippine Academy of Professional Arbitrators (PAPA) & Arbitration
Bureau of Labor Relations or Med-Arbiter, or the Regional Director. Association of the Phil. (j",AP) gives rise to Philippine Association on Voluntary Arbitration
(PAVA)
"Upon expiration of the corresponding period, a certification stating why a decision or
resolution has not been rendered within the said period shall be issued forthwith by the
Chairman of the Commission, the Executive Labor Arbiter, or the Director of the Bureau
of Labor Relations or Med-Arbiter, or the Regional Director, as the case may be, and a
copy thereof served upon the parties.

"Despite the expiration of the applicable mandatory period, the aforesaid officials shall,
without prejudice to any liability which may have been incurred as a consequence
thereof, see to it that the case or matter shall be decided or resolved without any further
delay."

Section 34. Article 279 of the Labor Code is hereby amended to read as follows:

"ARTICLE 279. Security of Tenure. - In cases of regular employment, the employer shall
not terminate the services of an employee except for a just cause or when authorized by
this Title. An Employee who is unjustly dismissed from work shall be entitled to
reinstatement without loss of seniority rights and other privileges and to his full
backwages, inclusive of allowances, and to his other benefits or their monetary equivalent
computed from the time his compensation was withheld from him up to the time of his
actual reinstatement."

Section 35. Equity of the Incumbent. - Incumbent career officials and rank-and-file
employees of the National Labor Relations Commission not otherwise affected by this Act
shall continue to hold office without need of reappointment. However, consistent with the
need to professionalize the higher level of its officialdom invested with adjudicatory
powers and salaries or emoluments, all positions of the Commissioners, Executive Labor
Arbiters and Labor Arbiters of the present National Labor Relations Commissions are
hereby declared vacant. However, subject officials shall continue to temporarily discharge
their duties and functions until their successors shall have been duly appointed and
qualified.