Oliva, Ma. Stephanie Faye M.

Labor Standards and Social Legislation (Prelims)

Atty. Panganiban
1. State and explain the case of Calalang vs Williams
Facts: The case itself has no connection to labor. It is a case wherein the Mayor of Manila and
the Acting Chief of Police of Manila have enforced the rules and regulations to regulate and
control the traffic on national roads by prohibiting animal-drawn vehicles from passing along
certain streets at designated times. The petitioner Maximo Calalang, in his capacity as a private
citizen and as a taxpayer of Manila, brought before the Supreme Court the petition for a writ of
prohibition against A. D. Williams, Chairman of the National Traffic Commission, on the ground
that said promulgated rules and regulations are an infringement to the constitutional precept of
the promotion of social justice.
It is in this case where Justice Laurel gave the definition of social justice which is still being used
and invoked until now. Justice Laurel said in his ruling:
Social justice is "neither communism, nor despotism, nor atomism, nor anarchy," but the
humanization of laws and the equalization of social and economic forces by the State so that
justice in its rational and objectively secular conception may at least be approximated. Social
justice means the promotion of the welfare of all the people, the adoption of measures by the
Government calculated to insure the economic stability of all the competent elements of society,
through the maintenance of a proper economic and social equilibrium in the interrelations of the
members of the community, constitutionally, through the adoption of measures legally justifiable,
or extra-constitutionally, through the exercise of powers underlying the existence of all
governments on the time-honored principle of salus populi est suprema lex. (The welfare of the
people is the supreme law.)

2. In 4 sentences, explain the significance of Social Justice in Labor Laws.

Labor Laws are considered as social legislations. Social Legislations are

defined as those laws that provide particular kinds of protection or
benefits to society or segments thereof in furtherance of Social Justice.
With this being the case, Social Justice is considered as the aim and
reason and therefore, the justification of labor laws. The Constitution
likewise supports this idea as manifested in Art. 2, sec. 10 of the 1987
Constitution which provides that The State shall promote Social Justice
in all phases of national development.
3. State at least 5 Constitutional Provisions related to labor.
Art. 13, sec. 3 of the 1987 Constitution provides that:
o The State shall afford full protection to labor local and
overseas, organized and unorganized and promote full
employment and equality of employment opportunities for
all.
o It shall guarantee the rights of the workers to: selforganization, collective bargaining and negotiation and
peaceful concerted activities including right to strike in
accordance with law. They shall be entitled to security of
tenure, human conditions of work and a living wage. They
shall also participate in policy and decision-making
processes affecting their rights and benefits as may be
provided by law.
o The state shall promote the principle of shared
responsibility between workers and employers and the
preferential use of voluntary modes in settling disputes
including conciliation and shall enforce their mutual
compliance therewith to foster industrial peace.
o The State shall regulate the relations between workers and
employers recognizing the right of labor and its just share
in the fruits of production and the right of enterprises to
reasonable returns of investments and to expansion and

growth.
Art. 2, sec. 9 of the 1987 Constitution provides that:

o The State shall promote a just and dynamic social order

that will ensure the prosperity and independence of the
nation and free the people from poverty through policies
that provide adequate social services, promote full
employment, a rising standard of living and an improved

quality of life for all.

Art. 2, sec. 10 of the 1987 Constitution provides that:
o The State shall promote social justice in all phases of

national development.
Art. 2, sec. 18 of the 1987 Constitution provides that:
o The State affirms labor as the primary social economic
force. It shall protect the rights of the workers and promote

their welfare.
Art. 2, sec. 20 of the 1987 Constitution provides that:
o The State recognizes the indispensable role of the private
sector, encourages private enterprise and provides

incentives to needed investments.

Art. 12, sec. 1 of the 1987 Constitution provides that:
o The goals of national economy are more equitable
distribution of opportunities, income and wealth, a
sustained increase in the amounts of goods and services
produced by the nation for the benefit of the people and an
expanding productivity as the key to raising the quality of
life for all especially the underprivileged.
o The State shall promote full industrialization and full
employment based on sound agricultural development and
agrarian reform through industries that make full and
efficient use of human and natural resources and which are
competitive in both domestic and foreign markets.
However, the State shall protect Filipino enterprise against

unfair foreign competition and trade practices.

Art. 13, sec. 14 of the 1987 Constitution provides that:
o The State shall protect working women by providing safe
and healthful working conditions taking into account their

maternal functions and such facilities and opportunities

that will enable them to realize their full potential in the

service of the nation.

Art. 3, Bill of Rights, sec. 8 of the 1987 Constitution provides
that:
o The right of the people including those employed in the
public and private sectors to form unions, associations or
societies for purposes not contrary to laws shall not be

abridged.
4. What are the Normal Hours of Work? What is the purpose if the law in
imposing such standard?
Art. 83 of the Labor Code provides that the normal hours of work shall
not exceed 8 hours a day. The Eight-hour labor law was enacted to
safeguard the health and welfare of the laborer or employee, to
minimize unemployment and to utilize different shifts of labourers or
employees working only for 8 hours each.
5. Is there a special rule when it comes to normal working hours? State
and explain them.
Yes. There are special rules when it comes to normal working hours. It
is not prohibited to have normal hours of work of less than 8 hours a
day or normal hours of work of more than 8 hours a day. The law does
not say that the work should be exactly 8 hours but rather, it states
that it shall not exceed 8. Therefore, a days work of less than 8 hours
is not prohibited. On the other hand, overtime pay is mandatory as
provided in Art. 87 of the Labor Code. Work may exceed 8 hours
provided that the worker shall be entitled to the corresponding
overtime pay.
6. State and explain the 7 Cardinal Rights of Workers
Art. 13, sec. 3 of the 1987 Constitution provides that:
The State shall guarantee the rights of the workers to selforganization, collective bargaining and negotiation and peaceful
concerted activities including right to strike in accordance with
law. They shall be entitled to security of tenure, human
conditions of work and a living wage. They shall also participate

in policy and decision-making processes affecting their rights and

benefits as may be provided by law.
The workingmans welfare should be the primordial and
paramount consideration. There is greater need for protection of
employees because there is a greater supply than demand for
labor and the need for employment by labor comes from vital
and even desperate necessity. Because of these reasons, the law
must protect the worker to the extent of raising him to equal
footing in bargaining relations and capital and shield him from
abuses brought about by necessities of survival.
7. When may an employer require his employees to work on any day
even on a rest day?
Art. 92 of the Labor Code provides instances when an employer may
require his employees to work on any day even on a rest day.
In case of actual or impending emergencies caused by serious
accidents, fire, flood, typhoon, earthquake, epidemic or other
disaster or calamity to prevent loss of life and property or

imminent danger to public safety.

In case of urgent work to be performed on machinery,
equipment or installation to avoid serious loss which the

employer would otherwise suffer.

In the event of abnormal pressure of work due to special
circumstances where the employer cannot ordinarily be

expected to resort to other measures.

To prevent loss or damage to perishable goods.
Where the nature of the work requires continuous operations
and the stoppage of work may result in irreparable injury or loss

to the employer and

Under circumstances analogous or similar to the foregoing as

determined by the Secretary of Labor and Employment.

8. Is it always required by law that in order to be non-compensable, meal
periods should not be less than 1 hour? Why or Why not? Explain with
legal basis.

No. In Drilons letter to Kodak Philippines dated Nov. 27, 1989, the
employees themselves may request that their meal be shortened so
they can leave work earlier than the previously established schedule.
In such a situation, the shortened meal time is not compensable. The
Department of Labor and Employment, in allowing such arrangement
imposes certain conditions:
The employees voluntarily agree in writing to a shortened meal
period of 30 minutes and are willing to waive the overtime pay

for such shortened meal period.

There will be no diminution whatsoever in the salary and other
fringe benefits of the employees existing before the effectivity of

the shortened meal period.

The work of the employee does not involve strenuous physical
exertion and they are provided with adequate coffee breaks in

the morning and afternoon.

The value of the benefits derived by the employees from the
proposed work arrangement is equal to or commensurate with
the compensation due them for shortened meal period as well as
the overtime pay for 30 minutes as determined by the

employees concerned.
The overtime pay of the employees will become due and
demandable if ever they are permitted or made to work beyond

4:30pm and
The effectivity of the proposed working time arrangement shall
be of temporary duration as determined by the Secretary of

Labor and Employment.

9. Define exhaustively the following:
Employee
o Art. 97 of the Labor Code defines an employee as any
individual employed by an employer. A more
comprehensive definition of an employee is expressed in
R.A 1161 or the Social Security Law, as amended. It states
that an employee is any person who performs services for

an employer in which both mental and physical efforts are

used and who receives compensation for such services

where there is an employer-employee relationship.

Employer
o Art. 97 of the Labor Code defines an employer as any
person acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an
employer in relation to an employee and shall include the
government and all its branches, subdivisions and
instrumentalities, all government-owned or controlled
corporations and institutions as well as non-profit private
institutions or organizations.
o Moreover, R.A 1161 or the Social Security Law, as amended
defines an employer as any person, natural or judicial,
domestic or foreign, who carries in the Philippines any
trade, business, industry, undertaking or activity of any
kind and uses the services of another person who is under
his order as regards the employment.

Labor
o Labor is understood as physical toil although it does not
necessarily exclude the application of skill, thus there is

skilled and unskilled labor.

Labor Law
o Labor laws are necessarily social legislations but not all
social legislations are labor laws. To differentiate, labor
laws directly affect employment and are a concept
narrower while social legislations govern effects of

employment and are broader in concept.

Labor Legislation
o Labor Legislation consists of statutes, regulations and
jurisprudence governing the relations between capital and
labor by providing for certain employment standards and a
legal framework for negotiating, adjusting and
administering those standards and other incidents of

employment. It is broadly subdivided into 2: Labor

Standards and Labor Relations.

Labor Standards
o Labor Standards are the minimum requirements prescribed
by existing laws, rules and regulations relating to wages,
hours of work, cost-of-living allowance and other monetary
and welfare benefits including occupational, safety and

health standards.
Labor Relations
o Labor Relations defines the status, rights and duties and
the institutional mechanisms that govern the individual
and collective interactions of employers, employees or

their representatives.
Social Legislation
o Social Legislations are those laws that provide particular
kinds of protection or benefits to society or segments
thereof in furtherance of social justice. An example of
social legislation is the Agrarian Reform Law and so is the

10.

law providing for a Social Security System.

Who is the Father of the Labor Code? When did the Labor Code

take effect? Is the Labor Code a Republic Act, Commonwealth Act,

Batas Pambansa, Letter of Instruction or Presidential Decree?
Blas F. Ople, the then Minister of Labor back in 1968, is the Father of
Labor Code. On May 1, 1974, the Labor Code was signed into law as
Presidential Decree No. 442. Art. 2 states that, This Code shall take
effect 6 months after its promulgation. Hence, the Labor Code took
effect in Nov. 1, 1974. The Labor Code is a Presidential Decree because
it was issued by the President (Pres. Ferdinand Marcos) in the exercise
of his legislative power.