Transcript for:
Overview of Labor Standards and Relations

So I will start the recording now. So everything that you will do there will be captured. So share screen na tayo. So let's start with the definition of labor standards. Now when you say labor standards, this refers to the minimum terms and conditions.

of employment to which employees are legally entitled and with which employers must comply. So, since you have not yet taken up labor standards, I will explain to you briefly what is labor standards. When you say minimum terms and conditions of employment, this refers to your salary, your time in and time out, the number of hours that you are going to report to work.

yung mga benefits mo like benefit, yung right mo to overtime pay, to separation pay, to retirement pay, to leave, to avail leave of absence with pay, ano pa, yung number of days in a week, okay? So weekly rest period, daily rest period, so these things are considered as your terms and conditions of employment. So under the labor standards, it says here what are the minimum terms and conditions of employment.

Let us say, for example, your salary. The law says that it is forbidden to employ an employee and pay him below minimum wage. So how much is the minimum wage?

Let us say for example, 490 pesos per day. So sabi ng labor law, bawal ka daw mag-hire ng person, tapos yung kanyang sweldo is below 490 pesos. Bawal daw yun.

Kasi yung minimum na sabi ng batas, dapat at least minimum wage yung kanyang salary. So therefore, kung nagtrabaho ka, and then yung sweldo mo is below ng minimum wage, then you are not receiving the minimum. terms and conditions of employment. Ano ang legal implication nun? There is a violation of the labor standards law.

Okay? Another is, sabi ng batas ng labor standards, yung seldo mo daw sa isang araw is good for 8 hours lang yan. Meaning to say, if you will work beyond 8 hours a day, you are entitled to receive an overtime.

Sabi ng labor standards. So kapag for example yung employer pinatrabaho ka beyond 8 hours and then yung sinweldo niya sayo is yung sweldo mo lang for a day, then there is a violation of the labor standards law because sabi ng batas yung sweldo mo daw sa isang araw good for 8 hours lang dapat yan. So kapag sumobra ka ng 8 hours, you need to pay the employer for the extra time you gave him. So if he doesn't comply with that, he violated the labor standards.

So in short, what are the labor standards? The labor standards are based on the terms and conditions of employment, the minimum. Just the minimum.

Because the employer and employee can agree above minimum. Example. Yung minimum wage natin is let us say 490 pesos per day. Pwede namang mag-agree kayo ng employer at saka employee na 500 a day. Pwede yun, diba?

Kasi ang sabi lang naman ng batas na dapat ito yung minimum. Bawal ka bumaba ng minimum pero pwede kang above minimum. So pwede yun siya.

So ang pinagbabawal lang ang labor standards na hindi mo ma-violate yung minimum terms and conditions of employment. Okay? So, yan yung nakalagay sa labor standards law.

So, ang pag-usapan nyo dyan is magkano yung seldo dapat for a day, ilang oras yung trabaho for a day, may rest period in a day, for example, one hour rest period. Kaya kung mapansin ninyo, 8 to 12, then 1 to 5, diba? Yan yung nagko-comprise ng 8 hours. Kasi in the middle, yung 12 to 1, that is your rest period. One hour.

So you're entitled to one hour rest period. What else? Weekly.

The law says you have 24 hours. weekly rest period, meaning to say, the employer cannot force you to report to work in the entire week, meaning seven days a week. Kailangan may isang araw dyan na rest day mo. So, yan yung sabi ng batas.

Kaya, kung mapapansin nyo kung mag-work kayo, six days lang talaga, meron kayong rest day. But, may exception to the rule dyan, yung mga nasa hospitals, yung mga medical practitioners, sa kanila, two days lang yung kanilang minimum na weekly rest period. Kaya kung mapansin ninyo, if you have a friend na nurse or medtech or medical practitioner, two days yung kanilang rest day, five days yung kanilang work days.

Kasi nakalagay yan sa batas. Pero if you are not in the medical field, so one day lang yung rest day, yung ordinary na requirement. standard or minimum terms and conditions. Okay?

So, naiintindihan niyo ba kung ano ibig sabihin ng labor standards? Okay ba? Just comment in the chat box para hindi tayo maingay.

Okay? If you understood. Kung walang questions. Okay. So let's proceed to the definition of labor relations.

So you can get an idea, because the word relations is in it. I said before, what we're talking about in labor relations is the relationship between the employer and the employees. And between them are the employees.

So that's the labor relation. it refers to the interactions between employer and employees or their representatives and the mechanism by which the standards and other terms and conditions of employment are negotiated, adjusted, and enforced. So, ang pag-uusapan natin in the entire term is ano yung mga rules concerning sa relationship between employer and employee. With respect to the labor standards, the standard of employment. But before that, let's talk about declaration of state policy.

So, this is the policy of the state. This is the basis of the state in crafting our laws with regard to labor relations. Number one, you have there 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 dispute. So when you say pre-collective bargaining and negotiation, meaning to say the employee can actually negotiate with the employer with respect to the terms and conditions of employment. Let us say for example, you say, sir, kasi member ako ng SDA so I am not allowed to work on Saturdays. So, you can negotiate to the employer that if I can work on Sunday, that's fine.

That is about collective bargaining and negotiation. Meaning, the only answer is you can negotiate with the employer with respect to the terms and conditions of your employment. Another is your salary.

You can negotiate with your employer that sir, can you increase your salary? You can do that actually. Later on you will know how.

Voluntary arbitration, mediation, and conciliation. Basically, these terms refer to mechanisms. For example, if there is a labor or industrial dispute, meaning to say there is a fight between the employer and the employee, you can agree, you can bargain or negotiate that you will not go to court first.

You can go through arbitration, mediation, or conciliation. This is where you will find the right person. What is arbitration, mediation, or conciliation?

It's like when you're in a barangay and you just settle one on another. You can also reach out in your bargaining and negotiations. So you can do that.

free trade unionism as an instrument for enhancement of democracy and the promotion of social justice and development. Okay, the state said, the government said, that it is allowed to organize a union. or labor organization because if it's one-sided, because employment is an agreement, right? That's why we call it a contract of employment because it is an agreement. So supposedly, the employer and employee should agree on the terms and conditions of employment.

It shouldn't be one-sided. That's why the state promotes a free trade unionism. So that there will be democracy.

You can complain about your hair being damaged. You should also regulate it. There is no job order per me.

In order to promote social justice and development. Otherwise, if the agreement is one-sided, it is no longer an agreement. It is now bilateral. And therefore, one ang employee is maipit siya.

Wala siya yung exercise yung right to ask for a better terms and conditions of employment. Anong magiging resulta? There will be chaos.

Strike, lockout, magkakagulo. Magkakagulo ang organization or ang employee. Ang employee at employer. If there is no unionism.

Kaya the state promotes free trade unionism. Ano ang reason? For a strong and united labor movement. Kasi kapag, actually you can individually bargain with your employer.

Pwede ka namang pumunta sa employer mo, makipag-bargain ka sa kanya with respect to the terms and conditions of your employment. Kaya lang, meron kasing disadvantage kung ikaw lang isa. The state also encourages to organize labor organizations, yung marami kayo na employee, so that you have a strong and united labor movement. Para daghan mo. To promote the enlightenment of workers concerning their rights and obligations as union members and as employees.

to provide an adequate administrative machinery for the expeditious settlement of labor or industrial disputes. So, the employer must have administrative machinery within their company in order to settle labor or industrial disputes. To ensure a stable but dynamic and just industrial peace.

If there are harmonious relationships between the employer and the employee, then there will be industrial peace, and to ensure the participation of workers in decision and policy-making processes affecting their rights, duties, and welfare. So, letter 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.

Okay, so with this labor relations law, Actually, the employees have the right to enter into collective bargaining and negotiation with the employer. You can actually demand that you can bargain with the employer with respect to your terms and conditions of employment. Let's go to terms or terminologies.

Let's start with commission. It means commission. the National Labor Relations Commission or any of its divisions as the case may be as provided under this code. So if you noticed, the Commission Bureau Board, we just use this as a shortcut so that we don't spell out NLRC. When you say Commission, automatically it refers to the National Labor Relations Commission.

Bureau means the Bureau of Labor Relations and or the Labor Relations Divisions in the Regional offices established under PD No. 1 in the Department of Labor, Mayocyan. Then when you say board, it means the National Conciliation and Mediation Board. or NCMB. Council means the Tripartite Voluntary Arbitration Advisory Council.

Remember these terms. Employer includes any person acting in the interest of an employer, directly or indirectly. So you know who the employer is, right? The person who hired, he is the employer.

Employee includes any person in the employee 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 substantial equivalent and regular employment. So when you say employee, so ang person nag-ihire.

siya ang employee. Pero nasa extended na definition, kanin term na, it shall include any individual whose work has ceased, meaning na-terminate, as a result of or in connection with any current labor dispute. So, what is an example of that?

An example is, ang employee, gitanggal siya sa employer tungod kay, let's say, The employee was born, he lived. So he applied, he availed maternity leave for 100 days. Now, when he returned to the employee, he was not called to the employer.

So he was terminated from employment. In the meantime, after that termination, the employee filed a case against the employer. Questioning. the illegal dismissal, meaning, the employee is being alleged that she was illegally dismissed from employment.

So, that's the case, even if the employment of that female worker has already ceased, she can still be considered as an employee if the cessation of the employment is due to a current labor dispute. For as long as that female employee has not obtained any other substantially equivalent and regular employment, it means that she has not received any work, which is substantially equivalent to her previous employment. So if that is the case, even if you have been terminated, as long as the termination is by reason of a labor dispute, and you have not received any new work, substantially equivalent and regular employment, then you are still considered as an employee of your previous employer for purposes of labor relations law. Labor organization means any union or association of employees which exist in whole or in part for the purpose of collective bargaining or of dealing with employers concerning terms and conditions of employment. So kapag yung mga empleyado, naggawa sila ng union or association of employees, ang tawag doon, labor organization.

Legitimate labor organization means any labor organization duly registered with DOLE. So if yung labor organization, registrado siya sa DOLE, ang tawag sa kanya, legitimate labor organization. Company union means any labor organization whose information, function, or administration has been assisted by any act defined as unfair labor practice.

practice by this code. Just take note of that. Later you will know. You will understand what is company.

Labor dispute. We mentioned earlier about labor dispute. So what is a labor dispute? It includes any controversy or matter concerning the 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 dispute can stand in the proximate relation of employer and employee. So when you say labor dispute, any controversy involving terms and conditions of employment, just like what I gave you as an example, the female worker availed a leave of absence with pay, a maternity leave of absence. Now, under the labor standards law, when you say leave, that is a term or a condition of employment.

That is part of the terms and conditions of employment. Kasi sabi ng batas, you are entitled to a maternity leave of 105 days. So yun, inavail ng employee. But nung bumalik yung employee, hindi siya tinanggap na employer. Instead, tinerminate yung kanyang employment.

So since the controversy or the matter involves a term or condition of employment, which is the leave, then that particular controversy is a labor dispute. That's what it means. Even the question of employer-employee relationship can be considered a labor dispute.

What is an example? The employee said, Hey, employer, make me a regular employee because I'm your employee. The employer said, I'm not your employee.

I just got you a job. I didn't hire you. You're just a job order. That's it.

So pinagawa nila ngayon kung empleyado ba siya o hindi. Sabi ng batas, that is a labor dispute. Because the question is about employer-employee relationship.

Managerial employee is one who is vested with powers or prerogatives to lay down and execute management policies in order to hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, discharge, assign, or discipline. employees. In short, if you have the power to hire, you have the power to approve the hiring, the transfer, the suspension, layoff, recall, discharge, assign, or you have the power to discipline your employees. If you have that power, then you are considered as a managerial employee. Or you have the power to lay down and execute management policies.

So kapag yan ang power mo, isa kang manager. But if your power is to recommend managerial actions, effectively recommend managerial actions, then you are not a managerial employee but merely a supervisory employee. So if you don't have the power to hire, this one, the one that is enumerated, but you have the power to recommend the hiring, the transfer, the suspension, etc., then you are a supervisory employee.

If you are not a managerial or supervisory, then you are a member of the rank and file employees. That is our definition, the classification of employees. Okay, I will make a new webinar, Zoom meeting, so we can continue.

Because we will end in three minutes now.