New Cards (WAGES) Flashcards
Define “WAGES.” (You just need to get 1, there are several versions)
Definition
(1) It is the remuneration or earnings, however designated, capable of being expressed in terms of money,
(2) whether fixed or ascertained on a time, task, piece, or commission basis, or other method of calculating the same,
(3) which is payable by an employer to an employee
(4) under a written or unwritten contract of employment for work done or to be done, or for services rendered or to be rendered and
(5) includes the fair and reasonable value, as determined by the Secretary of Labor and Employment, of board, lodging, or other facilities customarily furnished by the employer to the employee
(6) Fair and reasonable value - shall not include any profit to the employer, or to any person affiliated with the employer. [Art. 97(f)]
Who are the 6 types of workers NOT covered by the law on wages under the LC?
Coverage/Exclusions (FHN-CCB)
The Labor Code Title on wages shall not apply to the following: [Art. 98 and BOOK 3, RULE VII, Sec 3 of the IRR]
(1) Farm tenancy or leasehold;
(2) Household or domestic helpers, including family drivers and other persons in the personal service of another;
(3) Homeworkers engaged in needlework;
(4) Workers in registered cottage industries who actually work at home;
(5) Workers in registered cooperatives when so recommended by the Bureau of Cooperative Development upon approval of the Secretary of Labor;
(6) Workers in registered barangay micro business enterprise [RA 9178].
T or F: Wage is the same as Salary?
FALSE.
There are slight differences:
[Wage]
Paid for skilled or unskilled manual labor
Not subject to execution, garnishment or attachment except for debts related to necessities [Art. 1708
[Salary]
Paid to white collar workers and denote a higher grade of employment
Not exempt from execution, garnishment or attachment[Gaa vs. CA, 1985]
[Blank] is the statutory wage that is the lowest wage rate fixed by law that an ER can pay his workers. [IRR, RA 6727, (o)]
Minimum Wage
When can an employer NOT raise the minimum wage of his employees despite an increase in the statutory minimum wage? [In other words, what are the exemptions to an order to increase minimum wage, there are 4]
Upon application with and as determined by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board, based on documentation and other requirements in accordance with applicable rules and regulations issued by the NWPC, the following may be exempted from the applicability of this Order:
(1) Distressed establishments;
(2) Retail/Service establishments regularly employing not more than 10 workers;
(3) Establishments whose total assets including those arising from loans but exclusive of the land on which the particular business entity’s office, plant and equipment are situated, are not more than P3 Million; and,
(4) Establishments adversely affected by natural calamities. [Sec. 7, Wage Order No. 17, 2012]
Wage orders issued may not be disturbed for [BLANK] months from effective date; this serves as a bar for petitions for wage hikes as well
Except: when Congress passes a new law affecting wages or other supervening circumstances
12 months
T or F: Minimum wage of persons with disability shall be in no case less than 75% of the applicable minimum wage rates.
FALSE.
Minimum wage of apprentices and learners
Wages of apprentices and learners shall in no case be less than 75% of the applicable minimum wage rates. [Art. 61 & 75, LC]
Minimum wage of persons with disability
A qualified disabled EE shall be subject to the same terms and conditions of employment and the same compensation, privileges, benefits, fringe benefits or allowances as a qualified able-bodied persons. [Sec 5, RA 7277/the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons]
T or F: Commissions are part of minimum wage.
TRUE.
The Court held that the definition of “wage” under Art. 97 (f) of the LC explicitly includes commissions as part of wages. xxx While commissions are, indeed, incentives or forms of encouragement to inspire employees to put a little more industry on the jobs particularly assigned to them, still these commissions are direct remunerations for services rendered.
Likewise, there is no law mandating that commissions be paid only after the minimum wage has been paid to the employee. Verily, the establishment of a minimum wage only sets a floor below which an employee’s remuneration cannot fall, not that commissions are excluded from wages in determining compliance with the minimum wage law. [Iran v. NLRC, 1998]
Why is the distinction between facilities and supplements relevant, if at all?
The distinction between facilities and supplement is relevant because the former are wage-deductible while the latter is not. Simply put, a wage includes facilities. [Art. 97]
The IRR definition [IRR Book III Rule 7-A Sec. 5] has 2 components:
(1) Facilities are articles or services for the benefit of the employee or his family. This 1st part defines facilities.
(2) Facilities shall not include tools of the trade or articles or service primarily for the benefit of the employer or necessary to the conduct of the employer’s business. This 2nd part is essentially defines what a supplement.
What is a wage distortion?
A situation where an increase in prescribed wage rates results in the elimination or severe contraction of intentional quantitative differences in wage or salary rates between and among employee groups in an establishment as to effectively obliterate the distinctions embodied in such wage structure based on skills, length of service, or other logical bases of differentiation
4 Elements of wage distortion (ESES)
(1) Existing hierarchy of positions with corresponding salary rates;
(2) A significant change in the salary rate of a lower pay class without a concomitant increase in the salary rate of a higher one;
(3) The elimination of the distinction between the two levels; and
(4) The existence of the distortion in the same region of the country. [Prubankers Assn. v. Prudential Bank and Co., 1999]
How is a wage distortion resolved? [There are 2 ways, for organized and unorganized]
How to Resolve (NGU)
Organized Establishment [with bargaining representative]
(1) Employer and the union shall negotiate to correct the distortions.
(2) Disputes shall be resolved through the grievance procedure.
(3) If still unresolved, voluntary arbitration.
Grievance Procedure [under the CBA] if unresolved VOLUNTARY arbitration
Unorganized Establishment
(1) ERs and Employees shall endeavor to correct such distortions.
(2) Disputes shall be settled through the National Conciliation and Mediation Board.
(3) If still unresolved after 10 calendar days of conciliation, it shall be referred to the appropriate branch of the NLRC – compulsory arbitration
Both the employer and employee cannot use economic weapons.
4) Employer cannot declare a lock-out; Employee cannot declare a strike because the law has provided for a procedure for settling
(5) The salary or wage differential does not need to be maintained. [National Federation of Labor v. NLRC, 1994]
National Conciliation and Mediation Board if unresolved COMPULSORY arbitration by the NLRC
T or F: Rest day/s always have to fall on a weekend.
FALSE.
Every employee regardless of the nature of his work is entitled to at least one whole day every week as his rest day. The rest day or day off shall be determined by the employer. However, in cases where the employee is required by his religious belief to rest on certain days, such belief shall be respected by the employer.
[BLANK] is a one-day pay given by law to an employee even if he does not work on a regular holiday. This gift of a day’s pay is limited to each of the 12 regular holidays.
Holiday Pay
Exceptions to holiday pay: Who are not covered by the rule?
General Rule: All employees
Exceptions:
(1) Those of the government and any of the political subdivision, including government-owned and controlled corporation;
(2) Those of retail and service establishments regularly employing less than 10 workers;
(3) Domestic helpers and persons in the personal service of another;
(4) Managerial employees as defined in Book III
(5) Field personnel and other employees whose time and performance is unsupervised by the employer including those who are engaged on task or contract basis, purely commission basis, or those who are paid a fixed amount for performing work irrespective of the time consumed in the performance thereof. [Sec. 1, Rule IV of the IRR]
Give me 5 examples of regular holidays :) There are 12.
Regular Holidays
(1) New year’s Day - January 1 (Tuesday)
(2) Maundy Thursday – March 28
(3) Good Friday – March 29
(4) Araw ng Kagitingan – April 9 (Tuesday)
(5) Labor Day – May 1 (Wednesday)
(6) Independence Day – June 12 (Wednesday)
(7) National Heroes Day – August 26 (Last Monday of August)
(8) Bonifacio Day – November 30 (Saturday)
(9) Christmas Day - December 25
(10) Rizal Day - December 30 (Monday)
(11) Eid’l Fitr – date to be determined later
(12) Eid’l Adha – date to be determined later
