RULES ON OVERTIME WORK

Dear PAO,

I am working as an office staff in a travel agency in Quezon City. As an office staff, my duty is Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Recently, my boss has been requiring us to stay beyond 5 p.m. without any explanation and simply said that we need to render overtime work. There were times when, even after completing our tasks, we were still not allowed to leave until our boss gave permission. It seems that he allows us to leave once he is done with his own work. Consequently, there were times that we stayed at the office just waiting for him. I want to know if we are bound to stay at the office even beyond office hours.

Angelica

Dear Angelica,

Under Article 83 of the Labor Code, the normal hours of work of an employee shall not exceed eight (8) hours a day. The succeeding article states that hours worked shall include (a) all time during which an employee is required to be on duty or to be at a prescribed workplace; and (b) all time during which an employee is suffered or permitted to work. There is no limit as to the number of hours an employee may render work, however, any excess time from the limit of eight hours a day would be considered as overtime work, subject to certain conditions and limitations.

The guidelines on compulsory overtime work were laid down in Section 10, Rule I, Book III of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Labor Code which states that:

"SECTION 10. Compulsory overtime work. — In any of the following cases, an employer may require any of his employees to work beyond eight (8) hours a day, provided that the employee required to render overtime work is paid the additional compensation required by these regulations:

"(a) When the country is at war or when any other national or local emergency has been declared by Congress or the Chief Executive;

"(b) When overtime work is necessary to prevent loss of life or property, or in case of imminent danger to public safety due to actual or impending emergency in the locality caused by serious accident, fire, floods, typhoons, earthquake, epidemic or other disaster or calamities;

"(c) When there is urgent work to be performed on machines, installations, or equipment, in order to avoid serious loss or damage to the employer or some other causes of similar nature;

"(d) When the work is necessary to prevent loss or damage to perishable goods;

"(e) When the completion or continuation of work started before the 8th hour is necessary to prevent serious obstruction or prejudice to the business or operations of the employer; or

"(f) When overtime work is necessary to avail of favorable weather or environmental conditions where performance or quality of work is dependent thereon.

"In cases not falling within any of these enumerated in this Section, no employee may be made to work beyond eight hours a day against his will."

The eight-hour work per day policy is intended to ensure the welfare of the employees, promoting work-life balance. Although the rules do not preclude the management to require the rendition of overtime work, the same should be imposed only on valid grounds as mentioned above. It cannot be arbitrarily imposed to an employee.

Thus, in your case, your boss should have discussed the reason why you were asked to extend your stay in the office beyond the usual office hours. Moreover, there must be a valid ground for requiring you to render overtime work. If there be none, then you may refuse to render overtime work.

We hope that we are able to answer your queries. This advice is based solely on the facts you have narrated and our appreciation of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated.

Thank you for your continued trust and support.

Editor's note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney's Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to [email protected]

2024-12-05T16:10:44Z