Find clear, source-backed explanations of Philippine employment, wages, working hours, resignation, dismissal, DOLE, SEnA and NLRC terms. Each entry explains the legal meaning, governing authority, evidence that may matter and the next guide or procedure to review.
Current coverage: The glossary now contains 120 controlled Philippine labor-law terms, including the Employee Benefits and Leave, Payroll and Salary, Modern Work and Workplace Protection, and Collective Labor Relations expansions. Each entry connects its definition with the governing authority, evidence, related concepts and practical next steps.
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Featured glossary terms
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Illegal DismissalIllegal Dismissal is the termination of employment without a valid just or authorized cause, or a dismissal that otherwise violates the employee’s…Read the full glossary entry →
Overtime PayOvertime Pay is additional compensation due to a covered employee for work performed beyond eight hours in a workday. Also known asOT…Read the full glossary entry →
Final PayFinal Pay is the total amount of wages, benefits and other monetary entitlements still due to an employee after resignation, termination or…Read the full glossary entry →
Single Entry ApproachSingle Entry Approach is a mandatory, time-bound conciliation-mediation process intended to resolve labor and employment issues before they become full formal cases.…Read the full glossary entry →
Security of TenureSecurity of Tenure is the constitutional and statutory protection against arbitrary loss of employment, requiring a lawful ground and due process before…Read the full glossary entry →Explore the Glossary
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20 terms · 4 guides
Labor Law Foundations
Understand employment relationships, worker classifications, legal tests and the sources of Philippine labor law.
Employer-Employee Relationship · Four-Fold Test · Regular Employment
25 terms · 7 guides
Wages and Pay
Review minimum wage, deductions, holiday and 13th-month pay, leave conversion and wage-protection rules.
7 terms · 6 guides
Working Hours and Schedules
Learn the rules for normal hours, overtime, premium pay, night work and changes to workplace schedules.
10 terms · 11 guides
Resignation and Final Pay
Follow resignation notice, turnover, clearance, final-pay and Certificate of Employment requirements.
20 terms · 7 guides
Termination and Dismissal
Distinguish lawful grounds, due process, illegal and constructive dismissal, remedies and separation pay.
8 terms · 3 guides
DOLE, SEnA and NLRC Procedures
Find the right office, understand conciliation and adjudication, and prepare workplace claims and records.
10 terms · glossary cluster
Collective Labor Relations
Understand labor unions, bargaining units, CBAs, certification elections, grievance procedures, arbitration, strikes and lockouts.
Labor Union · CBA · Strike
A
Abandonment
The deliberate and unjustified refusal of an employee to resume work, shown by absence without valid reason and clear overt acts indicating an intention to end the employment relationship.
Agricultural Minimum Wage
The minimum wage rate applicable to covered agricultural workers under the controlling regional wage order.
Analogous Causes
Other just causes for dismissal comparable to the grounds listed in Article 297 and involving a voluntary or willful act or omission.
Authorized Cause
A ground recognized by the Labor Code that may permit employer-initiated termination for business, operational or health reasons, subject to the specific legal requirements, notice and separation-pay rules.
B
Backwages
Income and employment benefits awarded to compensate an employee for compensation lost because of illegal dismissal, generally computed under Article 294 and applicable Supreme Court rulings.
Bargaining Unit
The group of employees considered appropriate for collective bargaining because its members share a sufficient community or mutuality of interests.
Basic Salary
The regular compensation paid for services during normal working days and hours, excluding separate allowances and premium payments unless integrated into regular salary.
Burden of Proof
The legal responsibility to establish a disputed fact with the required evidence, which may shift depending on whether the issue concerns employment status, the fact of dismissal or the validity of termination.
C
Casual Employment
Employment not covered by the regular, project or seasonal categories described in Article 295, subject to regularization with respect to the activity after at least one year of service.
Certificate of Employment
An employer-issued record stating an employee’s employment dates and type of work, which the employer must issue within three days after the employee requests it.
Clearance
An employer’s exit process for checking property returns, accountabilities and turnover obligations before completing final separation records and payments.
Certification Election
A DOLE-supervised secret-ballot process used to determine the sole and exclusive bargaining agent of employees in an appropriate bargaining unit.
Closure or Cessation of Business
An authorized cause for termination when an employer genuinely ends all or part of its operations and satisfies the applicable notice, proof and separation-pay requirements.
Conciliation
A neutral, non-adjudicatory process in which a conciliator helps employees and employers explore a voluntary settlement without deciding the dispute for them.
Collective Bargaining Agreement
The negotiated contract between an employer and the employees’ legitimate bargaining representative concerning wages, hours and other employment terms in the bargaining unit.
Compressed Workweek
A voluntary flexible schedule that distributes normal weekly hours over fewer workdays by extending daily hours, subject to labor standards and the no-diminution rule.
Constructive Dismissal
An involuntary separation caused by employer acts that make continued employment impossible, unreasonable or unlikely under the reasonable-person test applied in Philippine jurisprudence.
Control Test
A legal test that focuses on whether the putative employer has the right to control not only the result of the work but also the means and methods used to perform it.
Cost-of-Living Allowance
A wage-related allowance intended to help employees meet increases in living costs, generally separate from basic wage unless legally or contractually integrated.
D
Daily Rate
The wage assigned to one normal workday, generally up to eight hours, fixed directly or derived from monthly salary using the proper divisor.
Department of Labor and Employment
The national executive department responsible for labor and employment policy, labor standards administration, workplace compliance and employment-related programs in the Philippines.
Diminution of Benefits
The prohibited unilateral reduction or withdrawal of an employee benefit that has become part of compensation through law, agreement or a deliberate and consistent company practice.
Double Pay
The common term for 200% of the employee’s basic wage for the first eight hours worked on a regular holiday.
E
Economic Dependence Test
A jurisprudential test examining the economic realities of a work relationship and the worker’s dependence on the alleged employer.
Employment Contract
The express or implied, written or unwritten agreement under which an employee performs work for an employer in exchange for wages, subject to mandatory labor protections.
Employer-Employee Relationship
The legal relationship that brings a worker and an employer within Philippine labor protections, determined from the actual facts and applicable legal tests rather than contractual labels alone.
F
Final Pay
The total amount still due to an employee when employment ends, which may include unpaid salary, prorated benefits, convertible leave credits and other earned amounts less lawful deductions.
Fixed-Term Employment
Employment for a definite period that may be valid when the term was knowingly and voluntarily agreed upon and was not imposed to evade security-of-tenure protections.
Flexible Work Arrangement
An alternative work mode or schedule adopted by agreement while preserving minimum labor standards and existing benefits.
Floating Status
A temporary off-detail or layoff period during which an employee remains employed but is not assigned work because of a bona fide operational reason.
Four-Fold Test
A framework for determining an employer-employee relationship through selection and engagement, payment of wages, power of dismissal and the power of control.
G
Grievance Machinery
The agreed workplace process for resolving disputes involving CBA interpretation or implementation and company personnel policies before voluntary arbitration.
Gross and Habitual Neglect
A just cause for dismissal requiring neglect that is both serious in degree and repeated over time, supported by substantial evidence and due process.
Gross Pay
The employee’s total earnings for a payroll period before deductions, including applicable regular pay and additional earnings.
H
Holiday Pay
The statutory payment generally due to covered employees for regular holidays, subject to Labor Code coverage, attendance and implementing-rule requirements.
Hourly Rate
The wage assigned to one hour of work and used to compute overtime, night shift differential and partial-day pay.
I
Illegal Dismissal
An employer-initiated termination that lacks a lawful just or authorized cause, or otherwise fails the substantive legal requirements governing dismissal.
Immediate Resignation
A resignation that takes effect without completing the usual one-month notice period because the employer waives notice or the employee relies on a just cause recognized by Article 300 of the Labor Code.
Independent Contractor
A person or business that undertakes work on its own account and controls the manner and means of performance, rather than working as an employee under the actual legal relationship.
J
Just Cause
A ground under Article 297 that may permit an employer to dismiss an employee for a serious culpable act or omission, subject to substantial evidence, proportionality and procedural due process.
L
Labor Arbiter
An NLRC adjudicator who hears and decides labor disputes within the original and exclusive jurisdiction assigned by the Labor Code and applicable procedural rules.
Labor-Only Contracting
A prohibited contracting arrangement in which the contractor fails the applicable capital, investment, business-independence or control tests, potentially making the principal the workers’ direct employer under the law.
Labor Union
An employee organization formed wholly or partly for collective bargaining or for dealing with employers about terms and conditions of employment.
Leave Without Pay
An approved unpaid absence whose legal basis usually comes from a statute, contract, company policy, collective agreement or the employer’s written approval.
Lockout
An employer’s temporary refusal to furnish work because of an industrial or labor dispute, subject to strict lawful grounds and procedures.
Loss of Trust and Confidence
A just cause for dismissal based on a willful breach of trust by an employee occupying a position of trust and confidence, supported by substantial evidence and connected to the employee’s duties.
M
Management Prerogative
The employer’s authority to direct and organize the business and workforce, subject to law, contracts, collective agreements, good faith and protection against unfair or discriminatory action.
Maternity Leave
The statutory leave benefit for qualified female workers covering childbirth, miscarriage or emergency termination of pregnancy under the Expanded Maternity Leave Law.
Med-Arbiter
A DOLE officer authorized to hear and decide representation cases, inter- and intra-union disputes and related labor-relations matters.
Minimum Wage
The lowest lawful basic wage set by the applicable regional wage order, with coverage determined by the employee’s location, industry, establishment classification and other legally relevant factors.
Money Claim
A demand arising from employment for unpaid wages, benefits, damages or other monetary entitlements, with jurisdiction depending on the claim’s nature, amount and accompanying relief.
N
National Labor Relations Commission
The quasi-judicial labor agency that resolves specified employment disputes through Labor Arbiters and the Commission’s appellate divisions.
Net Pay
The amount actually payable to an employee after lawful deductions are subtracted from gross pay.
Night Shift Differential
Additional compensation for covered work performed between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., generally equivalent to at least ten percent of the employee’s regular wage for each qualifying hour.
Normal Hours of Work
The ordinary working hours governed by the Labor Code’s general eight-hour workday rule.
Notice Period
The interval between written resignation notice and the effective separation date, generally one month unless the employer waives it or the employee has a lawful basis for immediate resignation.
Notice to Explain
The first written due-process notice identifying the specific charge and supporting facts and giving the employee a reasonable opportunity to respond before a disciplinary decision.
O
Occupational Safety and Health
The laws, standards, programs and workplace measures used to prevent work-related injury, illness, disability and death.
Overtime Pay
Additional compensation for covered work beyond eight hours in a workday, with the applicable premium depending on whether the work occurs on an ordinary day, rest day or holiday.
P
Paternity Leave
The seven-day paid leave for a qualified married male employee covering the first four deliveries of his legitimate spouse with whom he is cohabiting.
Payslip
An employer-issued payroll statement showing earnings, deductions and the amount paid for a specific payroll period.
Pre-Shift Overtime
Compensable work performed before a scheduled shift that may qualify for overtime when covered work exceeds normal statutory hours.
Premium Pay
Additional compensation for covered work performed on a rest day or special non-working day, distinct from regular holiday pay and overtime pay.
Prescription
The legal time limit for filing an employment-related claim or action, with the applicable period depending on the nature of the claim.
Preventive Suspension
A temporary protective measure that may remove an employee from the workplace when continued presence poses a serious and imminent threat, rather than a disciplinary penalty by itself.
Probationary Employment
Employment for a trial period, generally not exceeding six months, during which reasonable regularization standards must ordinarily be disclosed when the employee is engaged.
Project Employment
Employment for a specific project or undertaking whose scope and completion are determined and made known when the employee is hired.
Q
Quitclaim
A release or waiver of employment claims that may be enforced when voluntarily executed, free from fraud or coercion and supported by reasonable consideration.
R
Redundancy
An authorized cause for termination when a position has become superfluous, subject to good faith, fair selection criteria, proper notice and separation pay.
Regional Minimum Wage
The minimum wage rate prescribed for covered workers in a particular Philippine region under the regional wage-setting system.
Regular Employment
Employment involving work usually necessary or desirable in the employer’s business, or certain initially casual work performed for at least one year with respect to the activity.
Reinstatement
The restoration of an illegally dismissed employee to the former or a substantially equivalent position without loss of seniority rights and other privileges.
Request for Assistance
The filing that starts the Single Entry Approach conciliation-mediation process for the possible settlement of a labor or employment issue.
Resignation
The voluntary act of an employee who clearly intends to relinquish employment, ordinarily subject to written notice unless a lawful exception or employer waiver applies.
Retirement Age
The age set by a valid retirement plan, agreement or law; under the private-sector statutory fallback, 60 is optional retirement and 65 is compulsory retirement.
Retirement Pay
The minimum benefit due to a qualified employee who retires under a valid plan or the statutory conditions established by Republic Act No. 7641.
Retrenchment
An authorized-cause termination used in good faith to prevent substantial actual or reasonably imminent business losses, subject to proof, notice, fair selection and separation-pay requirements.
S
Salary Differential
The employer-paid difference between a covered employee’s full salary and the SSS maternity cash benefit during statutory maternity leave.
Safe Spaces Act
Republic Act No. 11313, which prohibits gender-based sexual harassment in public spaces, online platforms, workplaces and educational or training institutions.
Seasonal Employment
Employment tied to work performed only during a recurring season, with repeated engagement potentially creating regular seasonal status.
Security of Tenure
The constitutional and statutory protection against termination except for a lawful cause and with the required procedural safeguards.
Separation Pay
A statutory or equitable payment due in specified termination situations, distinct from final pay, backwages and other earned compensation.
Serious Misconduct
Grave, work-related and wrongful conduct that may constitute just cause for dismissal when supported by substantial evidence and due process.
Service Incentive Leave
The statutory five-day paid-leave benefit generally available to covered employees after at least one year of service, subject to coverage rules and cash conversion.
Sexual Harassment
Unlawful sexual conduct in employment, including authority-based demands for sexual favors and broader gender-based sexual harassment prohibited in the workplace.
Sick Leave
An employer-granted or collectively agreed leave benefit used during illness; private-sector law generally does not require a separate sick-leave bank beyond applicable service incentive leave.
Single Entry Approach
DOLE’s mandatory 30-day conciliation-mediation mechanism for attempting to resolve labor issues before formal adjudication.
Solo Parent Leave
Up to seven working days of paid parental leave each year for a qualified solo parent employee with at least six months of service and a valid Solo Parent Identification Card.
Special Leave for Women
Two months of leave with full pay for a qualified woman employee following surgery caused by a gynecological disorder, subject to the statutory service requirement.
Statutory Minimum Wage
The lowest wage floor fixed under Philippine wage law that an employer may lawfully pay a covered worker.
Strike
A temporary stoppage of work caused by concerted employee action because of an industrial or labor dispute, subject to lawful grounds and procedures.
Substantial Evidence
The amount of relevant evidence that a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion in a labor case.
T
Telecommuting
A voluntary private-sector arrangement that allows an employee to work from an alternative workplace through telecommunications or computer technology.
Thirteenth-Month Pay
The statutory benefit generally equal to at least one-twelfth of a covered rank-and-file employee’s basic salary earned during the calendar year.
Turnover
The orderly handover of work, records, responsibilities and company property during separation, distinct from clearance and statutory final-pay or COE rights.
Twin-Notice Rule
The procedural requirement of a detailed first notice, a meaningful opportunity to answer and a written decision notice before just-cause termination.
U
Unfair Labor Practice
Prohibited employer or labor-organization conduct that violates self-organization or collective-bargaining rights and disrupts industrial peace.
Underpayment of Wages
Paying an employee less than the amount legally due under applicable wage, payroll or labor-standard rules.
Undertime
The period when an employee works fewer than the required hours in a workday; it cannot be offset against overtime performed on another day.
Union Security Clause
A CBA provision requiring covered employees to acquire or maintain union membership as a condition affecting continued employment, subject to legal safeguards.
V
Vacation Leave
A paid time-off benefit usually created by company policy, contract or collective agreement; private-sector law generally relies on service incentive leave rather than requiring a separate vacation bank.
VAWC Leave
Up to ten days of paid leave for an employed victim-survivor addressing medical or legal concerns connected with a case under Republic Act No. 9262.
Voluntary Arbitration
A labor-dispute process in which the parties select an impartial arbitrator or panel to decide submitted issues through a final and binding award.
W
Wage
Remuneration or earnings payable by an employer to an employee for work done or services rendered under Article 97 of the Labor Code.
Wage Deduction
An amount taken from employee earnings only under authority recognized by law, regulation or a valid allowed arrangement.
Wage Distortion
The elimination or severe contraction of intentional pay differences between employee groups after a prescribed wage increase.
Wage Order
A formal regional wage-board issuance prescribing minimum wage rates and related coverage rules.
Willful Disobedience
Intentional refusal of a reasonable, lawful and known work-related order with a wrongful and perverse attitude.
Workplace Accident
An unexpected event arising out of and in the course of employment that causes or may cause injury, illness, disability, death or property damage.
Workplace Harassment
Repeated or serious conduct in the world of work that causes or is likely to cause physical, psychological, sexual or economic harm.
Glossary Methodology
LaborCode.ph uses one canonical page for each legal term. Acronyms, former terminology and common workplace expressions are stored as aliases instead of being published as competing pages. Definitions follow the source hierarchy of the Constitution, Labor Code and statutes, Supreme Court decisions, and official DOLE or agency issuances.
A glossary entry is not a substitute for a complete legal guide. It answers definition intent quickly, identifies the governing rule and evidence, and links readers to the fuller guide, procedure, calculation or document that may help with the next practical step.
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Source verification: Official legal sources checked on August 6, 2026
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