What the paper covered
LaborCode’s classification, mapped against the eight parts of the Supreme Court’s syllabus: the twenty questions fell like this. View the official syllabus and coverage.
In LaborCode’s classification, a quarter of the paper concerned how the employment relationship is formed and classified — probationary status, contracting and the contractor label — before reaching dismissal. Recruitment and placement drew no standalone question in 2026, after two questions in each of the 2023 and 2024 official questionnaires.
Question by question
Question numbers and scenarios follow the official questionnaire. Each row gives LaborCode’s primary-doctrine classification and governing provision; it does not give a suggested answer.
Part III — Employment relationship
| # | What it tests | Read more |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Probationary employment — whether the six-month period may be extended by agreement, and dismissal for failing the standards during the extension. Art. 296 [281] | The six-month probationary period |
| 2 | Legitimate contracting under D.O. 174 — whether a principal answers for the money claims of a registered contractor’s workers. Arts. 106–109 | Labor-only and legitimate contracting |
| 3 | An independent contractor agreement against the reality of control — the four-fold test applied to a delivery rider paid a service fee. Art. 295 [280] | The four-fold test · Employee vs independent contractor |
| 4 | Probationary employment — the effect of failing to communicate the standards for regularisation at engagement, and the exception for a self-descriptive managerial role. Art. 296 [281] | When standards are not given at hiring |
| 9 | Post-employment restraints — whether perpetual confidentiality and non-compete clauses survive a public policy challenge. Civil Code Art. 1306 | NDAs, confidentiality and trade secrets |
Part IV — Labor standards
| # | What it tests | Read more |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Coverage and exclusions — holiday pay and service incentive leave for a home-based worker paid by output whose hours are not monitored. Arts. 82, 94, 95 | Field personnel and the exemption · Work-from-home laws |
| 7 | Wage distortion — whether an employer’s own revision of its salary scale, rather than a wage order, triggers a duty to restore differentials. Art. 124 | Not yet covered on this site |
| 8 | Non-diminution of benefits against management prerogative — withdrawal of a long-standing non-monetary workplace practice. Art. 100 | Diminution of benefits · Management prerogative |
| 10 | Sexual harassment — the gap in reach between RA 7877, which needs authority, influence or moral ascendancy, and RA 11313, which reaches peer conduct and a hostile environment. RA 7877; RA 11313 | RA 7877 and the Safe Spaces Act |
Part V — Labor relations
| # | What it tests | Read more |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | Certification election — which employees count as confidential employees excluded from the bargaining unit, and on what test. Art. 255 [245] | Not yet covered on this site |
| 12 | Union security clause — whether expulsion from the union while an internal appeal is pending obliges the employer to dismiss, and which body hears an intra-union dispute. Arts. 259 [248](e), 232 [226] | Not yet covered on this site |
| 18 | Check-off — non-remittance of union dues as a possible unfair labor practice, and whether that places the case with the Labor Arbiter rather than the DOLE regional office. Arts. 250 [241](o), 224 [217] | The Labor Arbiter (jurisdiction only) |
Part VI — Suspension and termination
| # | What it tests | Read more |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Cessation of operations and the transfer of leased premises — whether an incoming occupant must absorb the outgoing employer’s workforce. Art. 298 [283] | Not yet covered on this site |
| 13 | Preventive suspension — whether the serious and imminent threat standard was met, and the thirty-day limit. Book V IRR, Rule XXIII | Preventive suspension |
| 14 | Authorised cause — redundancy created by adopting AI tools, the criteria for choosing who goes, and notice to both the employee and DOLE. Art. 298 [283] | AI-driven redundancy · Redundancy |
| 15 | Backwages — how far forward they run where the employee would have reached retirement age during the litigation. Arts. 294 [279], 302 [287] | Backwages calculation · Retirement pay |
Part VII — Social legislation
| # | What it tests | Read more |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | Employees’ compensation — whether recovering from the State Insurance Fund forecloses a separate Civil Code action for damages against the employer. Art. 179 [173] | Not yet covered on this site |
| 17 | Seafarer disability — the 120/240-day rule and the effect of a late final assessment by the company-designated physician. POEA-SEC Sec. 20(A) | Not yet covered on this site |
Part VIII — Labor adjudication
| # | What it tests | Read more |
|---|---|---|
| 19 | Jurisdiction — whether a claim over a car plan benefit after termination has a reasonable causal connection to the employment relationship, or belongs to the regular courts. Art. 224 [217] | The Labor Arbiter (the causal connection test is not yet covered) |
| 20 | Reinstatement pending appeal — whether wages that accrued under an immediately executory reinstatement order survive a reversal by the Commission. Art. 229 [223] | Reinstatement after illegal dismissal |
Three things the 2026 paper tells you
Seafarer disability is the most reliable repeat on the exam
Seafarer disability appeared in the 2023, 2024 and 2026 Labor Law papers. It is therefore a recurring Social Legislation issue to understand, particularly the 120/240-day rule and third-doctor referral.
Jurisdiction came back
Three questions — 12, 18 and 19 — turn on which body hears the case rather than on the substantive right. Official questionnaire shows the jurisdictional issue in all three questions. That makes jurisdiction a practical revision signal for this paper.
The promise about contemporary matters was kept
The 2026 paper applies established rules to contemporary work settings, including redundancy caused by adopting AI tools, a home-based developer paid by output, and a delivery rider engaged under an independent contractor agreement. Official questionnaire None of this is new law. They are old doctrines — Article 298, Article 82, the control test — applied to how people actually work now, which is a useful thing to notice about how the examiners think.
What this site does not yet explain
Of the twenty questions, this site already carries a full explanation of the doctrine behind twelve, and a partial one behind two more. Six have nothing yet. Rather than paper over that, here is the list, and each is being written.
- Wage distortion under Article 124, and the limits of the duty to restore differentials
- Confidential employees and who is excluded from the bargaining unit at a certification election
- Union security clauses, expulsion from the union, and where an intra-union dispute is heard
- Change of business ownership and whether an incoming employer must absorb the workforce
- Employees’ compensation and the choice between the State Insurance Fund and a Civil Code action
- Seafarer disability claims — the 120/240-day rule and the third-doctor referral
Frequently asked questions
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Sources
This page is a study aid, not legal advice, and it is not affiliated with the Supreme Court or with any review centre. Published 10 September 2026.