Article 13

Question 1

Define worker.

Answer 1

Any member of the labor force, whether employed or unemployed. (Art. 13a, LC)

Question 2

Define recruitment and placement.

Answer 2

refers to any act of canvassing, enlisting, contracting, transporting, utilizing, hiring or procuring workers, and includes referrals, contract services, promising or advertising for employment, locally or abroad, whether for profit or not: Provided, That any person or entity which, in any manner, offers or promises for a fee, employment to two or more persons shall be deemed engaged in recruitment and placement.
(Art. 13b, LC)

Question 3

Define license

Answer 3

a document issued by the Department of Labor authorizing a person or entity to operate a private employment agency. (Art. 13d, LC)

Question 3

Define Private fee-charging employment agency

Answer 3

any person or entity engaged in recruitment and placement of workers for a fee which is charged, directly or indirectly, from the workers or employers or both. (Art. 13c, LC)

Question 4

Define Authority

Answer 4

a document issued by the Department of Labor authorizing a person or association to engage in recruitment and placement activities as a private recruitment entity. (Art. 13f, LC)

Question 4

Define Private recruitment entity

Answer 4

any person or association engaged in the recruitment and placement of workers, locally or overseas, without charging, directly or indirectly, any fee from the workers or employers. (Art. 13e, LC)

Question 5

Define seaman

Answer 5

any person employed in a vessel engaged in maritime navigation. (Art. 13g, LC)

Question 6

Define Overseas employment

Answer 6

employment of a worker outside the Philippines. (Art. 13h, LC)

Question 7

Define emigrant

Answer 7

Any person, worker, or otherwise, who emigrates to a foreign country by virtue of an immigrant visa or resident permit or its equivalent in the country of destination. (Art. 13i, LC)

Question 8

What is the basic element of recruitment and placement?

Answer 8

offer or promise of employment

Question 9

How is offer or promise of employment be indicated?

Answer 9

by the act of requiring the person to submit pictures, birth certificates, and NBI clearances, and collecting payment for passports, training fees, placement fees, medical tests, and other sundry expenses.

Question 10

What are the limitations in protection of labor?

Answer 10

1. Protection of labor is not meant to be a sword to oppress employers.
2. Protection of labor cannot be invoked when both parties have violated the law.
3. Neither can protection of labor be used as an excuse to distribute charities at the expense of the employer.

Question 11

What is Article 4 of the Labor Code?

Answer 11

All doubts in the implementation and interpretation of the provision of this Code, including its emplementing rules and regulations, shall be resolved in favor of labor.

Question 12

What is Article 3 of the Labor Code?

Answer 12

The State shall 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 workers to self-organization, collective bargaining, security of tenure, and just and humane conditions of work.

Question 13

What is Sec. 14, Art. XIII of the 1987 Constitution?

Answer 13

The State shall protect working women by providing safe and healthful working conditions, taking into account their maternal functions, and such facilities and opportunities that will enhance their welfare and enable them to realize their full potential in the service of the nation.

Question 14

What is the Coverage Clause under Art. 6 of the Labor Code?

Answer 14

1. The workers referred in article 6 of the labor code are the employees of the private sector only.
2. Except for the provisions on Employees Compensation, the labor code does not apply to employees of the Government because the government employees are under the Civil Service Law.

Question 15

What is Art. 1700 of the Civil Code?

Answer 15

The relations between capital and labor are not merely contractual. They are so impressed with public interest that labor contracts must yield to the common good. Therefore, such contracts are subject to the special laws on labor unions, collective bargaining, strikes and lockouts, closed shop, wages, working conditions, hours of labor and similar subjects.

Question 16

What is Art. 1701 of the Civil Code?

Answer 16

Neither capital nor labor shall act oppressively against the other, or impair the interest or convenience of the public.

Question 17

What is Art. 1702 of the Civil Code?

Answer 17

In case of doubt, all labor legislation and all labor contracts shall be construed in favor of the safety and decent living for the laborer.

Question 18

What is Art. 1703 of the Civil Code?

Answer 18

No contract which practically amounts to involuntary servitude, under any guise whatsoever, shall be valid.

Question 19

What is Art. 1705 of the Civil Code?

Answer 19

The laborer’s wages shall be paid in legal currency.

Question 20

What is Art. 1706 of the Civil Code?

Answer 20

Withholding of the wages, except for a debt due, shall not be made by the employer.

Question 21

What is Art. 1708 of the Civil Code?

Answer 21

The laborer’s wages shall not be subject to execution or attachment, except for debts incurred for food, shelter, clothing and medical attendance.

Question 22

What is Art. 1709 of the Civil Code?

Answer 22

The employer shall neither seize nor retain any tool or other articles belonging to the laborer.

Question 23

What is Art. 1710 of the Civil Code?

Answer 23

Dismissal of laborers shall be subject to the supervision of the Government, under special laws.

Question 24

Define Persons

Answer 24

an individual, partnership, association, corporation, business trust, legal representatives, or any organized group of persons. (Art. 97a, LC)

Question 25

Define employer

Answer 25

any person acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee and shall include the government and all its branches, subdivisions and instrumentalities, all government-owned or controlled corporations and institutions, as well as non-profit private institutions, or organizations. (Art. 97b, LC)

Question 26

Define employee

Answer 26

any individual employed by an employer. (Art. 97c, LC)

Question 27

Define agriculture

Answer 27

“Agriculture” includes farming in all its branches and, among other things, includes cultivation and tillage of soil, dairying, the production, cultivation, growing and harvesting of any agricultural and horticultural commodities, the raising of livestock or poultry, and any practices performed by a farmer on a farm as an incident to or in conjunction with such farming operations, but does not include the manufacturing or processing of sugar, coconuts, abaca, tobacco, pineapples or other farm products. (Art. 97d, LC)

Question 28

Define employ

Answer 28

To suffer or permit to work (Art. 97e, LC)

Question 29

Distinguish wage and salary

Answer 29

Wage refers to compensation for manual labor, skilled or unskilled, paid at stated times and measured by the day, week, month, or season; whereas salary denotes a higher grade of employment, or a supergrade of services and implies a position of office. By contrast, the term wage indicates considerable pay for lower and less responsible character of employment, while salary is suggestive of a higher and more important service.

Question 30

Define labor standards

Answer 30

that branch of labor law that prescribes the minimum requirements for hours of work, wages, monetary benefits, welfare benefits, and occupational

Question 31

Define Labor Relations

Answer 31

that branch of labor law that regulates the activities of labor organizations and prescribes the modes and machinery for the settlement of labor disputes, including collective bargaining, and the modes and procedure for terminating an employment.

Question 32

Define Social Legislation

Answer 32

The Labor Code is a comprehensive body of laws that regulates labor relations, employment standards, and industrial peace in the Philippines. It covers various aspects of employment including wages, working conditions, and dispute resolution.

Question 33

What is the character of the labor code?

Answer 33

The Labor Code is both statutory and protective. It is statutory in that it is a formal law enacted by the legislature, and protective because its primary aim is to safeguard workers’ rights and promote their welfare.

Question 34

Interpretation or construction of the labor code and its IRR.

Answer 34

The Labor Code and its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) should be interpreted liberally in favor of workers to achieve the Code’s objective of protecting labor. Courts and administrative bodies interpret these provisions with a view toward ensuring fair labor standards and resolving disputes.