Department of Labor and Employment(DOLE)

November 14, 2023 Dear Kristel Pechon, Thank you for your request dated Nov 08, 2023 08:56:39 AM under Executive Order No. 2 (s. 2016) on Freedom of Information in the Executive Branch. You asked for Is it legal to deny overtime hours spent?. The Labor Code of the Philippines stands as the law governing employment practices and labor relations in the Philippines. Art. 87 of the Labor Code of the Philippines, states that: Overtime work. Work may be performed beyond eight (8) hours a day provided that the employee is paid for the overtime work, an additional compensation equivalent to his regular wage plus at least twenty-five percent (25%). Thus, an employee is entitled to overtime pay when they have worked in excess of eight hours a day. As a general rule, all overtime work must be voluntary, so employers cannot force their employees to work overtime. To ensure compliance with regulations, employers should accurately record and report the amount of time their employees are working each day and keep track of any overtime performed. Offsetting is NOT allowed by law and may be considered non-compliance during labor inspection. All over time pay must be paid in cash. Any issues arising from the implementation of this labor code provision may be consulted with the DOLE Regional/Field Office having jurisdiction over the workplace for appropriate action. The responses were made based only on the facts that were presented. This opinion shall not be used in any administrative or court proceedings as this may change based on any undisclosed information vital to the issues presented. Help us to continuously improve our FOI Program Implementation by completing the DOLE-FOI Request Feedback Form through this link: bit.ly/DOLE-FOIFeedbackForm Thank you. Respectfully, Mark Valeros FOI Receiving Officer