Department of Labor and Employment(DOLE)

June 28, 2020 Dear Danica Ann Arevalo, Greetings! Thank you for your request dated Jun 26, 2020 01:25:51 AM under Executive Order No. 2 (s. 2016) on Freedom of Information in the Executive Branch. You asked for Is it legal to work without pay? As per your narration, you were hired on a commission basis. The Philippines is imposing a legal system that protects workers quite generously. However, the labor law system is also based on the civil law system. We should always refer to contract or agreements reached by both parties. There are workers that are within the purview of the labor codes. Those workers that are paid by result are governed by contracts or by the civil code. With regard to workers there are five types of commission basis arrangements that are allowed in the country, these are: 1. Base Salary Plus Commission 2. Draw against Commission 3. Residual Commission 4. Team-Based Incentives 5. Straight Commission Of the five, perhaps your arrangement shall fall on number 5. This means that the employee earns their entire salary based on a percentage of the sales they complete. This can be a very lucrative arrangement for highly talented and motivated salespeople. The percentage they earn on each sale tends to be higher than if they are receiving a base salary, and in some cases this percentage will increase after they achieve a pre-determined goal. To answer your concern, may we refer you back to the contract that you executed with your company. Contracts that are governed by the Civil Code provisions on contracts shall not be in no case lower than the standards provided by the Labor Code, as amended. Thus, your work arrangement shall fall on the Civil Code of the Philippines. If you are unhappy with this response to your FOI request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response by writing to . Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made within 15 calendar days from the date when you received this letter. We will complete the review and tell you the result within 30 calendar days from the date when we receive your review request. If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Office of the President under Administrative Order No. 22 (s. 2011). Thank you. Respectfully, Mark Valeros FOI Receiving Officer