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Guide to laws governing the rights of workers, types of employment, termination, social insurance, and other labor-related matters

In brief

The Philippine economy is expected to improve, reinforcing its status as one of the fastest growing economies in Southeast Asia. The Philippines remains an attractive country in which to do business due to relatively low labor costs and largely bilingual workforce.


According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the Philippine employment rate in November 2023 increased to 96.4%, from 95.8% in November 2022, and in October 2023. The country’s unemployment rate fell to its lowest level of 4.2% in October last year. This shows the successful initiatives of the government aimed at enhancing employment opportunities and labor conditions that resulted in a robust labor force participation.

The Guide to Philippine Employment Laws for the Private Sectors is intended to provide employers and human resources professionals with a comprehensive overview of the key aspects of Philippine labor law. It covers the entire life cycle of the employment relationship from hiring through to termination, with information on working terms and conditions, family rights, personnel policies, workplace safety and discrimination. The guide links to our global handbooks, which include information for the Philippines on immigration and data privacy. The guide also contains information on the employment implications of share and asset sales.

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© 2024 Quisumbing Torres. All rights reserved. Quisumbing Torres is a member firm of Baker & McKenzie International, a Swiss Verein. This may qualify as “Attorney Advertising” requiring notice in some jurisdictions. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Author

Gil Roberto Zerrudo is a partner in the Employment & Compensation Practice Group of Quisumbing Torres, where he is a member of its Management Committee, and co-head of the Technology, Media & Telecommunications Industry Group. Gil also participates in initiatives of Baker & McKenzie International of which Quisumbing Torres is a member firm. He currently chairs the Baker McKenzie's Nominating Committee, while also serving in the Global Policy Committee, Inclusion, Diversity & Equity Committee, and Asia Pacific Regional Council.
In his more than 25 years of law practice, Gil is consistently cited as a Legal 500 and Chambers Asia Pacific Leading Individual for Employment. Gil’s strategic focus on Employment practice propelled his and the team's consistent top-tier ranking in The Legal 500 since 2006 to the present and the Chambers Asia Pacific since 2009 to the present.

Author

Kenneth Chua is a partner and the head of Quisumbing Torres' Employment Practice Group. He is also a member of the Financial Institutions and Technology, Media & Telecommunications Industry Groups. He participates in initiatives of Baker & McKenzie International of which Quisumbing Torres is a member firm. He is a member of Baker McKenzie’s Asia Pacific Employment & Compensation Steering Committee. He has 23 years of experience advising clients on various labor and employment issues, including compensation and benefits, employment contract and employee handbook. Kenneth serves as the legal counsel (representing Quisumbing Torres) for the Global In-House Center Council Philippines (GICC). He sits in the Tripartite Executive Committee and the National Tripartite Industrial Peace Council of the Department of Labor and Employment as representative of the employer sector. He is consistently recognized as a Leading Lawyer in Employment by the Chambers Asia Pacific, Benchmark Litigation and asialaw profiles. He is ranked Hall of Fame in Employment by the Legal 500 Asia Pacific. He is also among Asia Business Law Journal’s inaugural “A-List” of the Top 100 lawyers in the Philippines.

Author

Eliseo Zuñiga, Jr. is the head of Quisumbing Torres' Dispute Resolution Practice Group and a member of the Employment Practice Group. He is also a member of the Industrial, Manufacturing & Telecommunications and the Healthcare & Life Sciences Industry Groups. He has over 20 years of experience advising clients on general employment issues, employee termination, executive compensation, benefits transfers and terminations, and general litigation. He actively participates as a speaker and presenter in various regional and local seminars and conferences on labor and employment-related issues. He served as a Chairperson of the People Management Association of the Philippines’ Labor Policy Reforms and Industrial Relations Committee and is currently the Co-Chairperson of the European Chamber of Commerce Human Capital Committee. He has been consistently cited as a Leading Individual for Employment by The Legal 500 Asia Pacific (2019-2023), Band 3 for Labor and Employment by the Chambers Asia Pacific (2018-2023), Litigation Star for Labor and Employment by Benchmark Litigation (2019 to 2023) and Notable Practitioner for Labor and Employment by asialaw Leading Lawyers (2020 to 2022). Eliseo is also recognized as a thought leader in the 2021 Q3 Lexology Legal Influencers for the Future of legal services - Asia-Pacific.