PRESCRIBING A WEEKLY REST PERIOD FOR WORKING IN ANY UNDERTAKING OR ENTERPRISE, WHETHER FOR PROFIT OR NOT, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

• Number: Presidential Decree No. 143
• Sections: 7

Section 1 Weekly Rest Day.

SECTION 1. Weekly Rest Day. — Every employer shall

give his employees a rest period of not less than twenty-four

consecutive hours for each period of seven days. The employer shall

determine and schedule the weekly rest day of his employees, subject to

collective bargaining agreement and to such rules and regulations as the

Secretary of Labor may prescribe: Provided, however, That the

preference of an employee as to his weekly rest day shall be respected

by the employer if the same is based on religious grounds.

Section 2 Work on a Rest Day.

SEC. 2. Work on a Rest Day. — In cases of force

majeure, public emergencies, serious accidents and other exceptional

cases as determined by the Secretary of Labor, any employee may be

required to work on his scheduled rest day even if it falls on a Sunday

or Holiday, provided he is paid an additional compensation of at least

25% of his regular wage.

Section 3 Exemption.

SEC. 3. Exemption. — Where the employees do not have

regular working days by reason of the nature of their work, they shall

be entitled to an additional compensation of at least 25% of their

regular wage for work performed on Sundays.

Section 4 Penalties.

SEC. 4. Penalties. — Any violation of this Decree or

of the rules and regulations issued thereunder shall be punished by a

fine not exceeding five hundred pesos or imprisonment for not more than

five months, or both, in the discretion of the court. If any alien

commits a violation of this Decree or of the implementing rules and

regulations, the court shall order his immediate deportation after

serving his sentence.

Section 5 Repealing Clause.

SEC. 5. Repealing Clause. — Republic Act No. 946,

and all provisions of existing laws, orders and regulations contrary to

or inconsistent with this Decree are hereby repealed.

Section 6 Effectivity.

SEC. 6. Effectivity. — This Decree shall take effect

upon the promulgation of rules and regulations implementing the same by

the Secretary of Labor, within fifteen (15) days from issuance hereof.

Done in the City of Manila, this 3rd day of March, in the year of

Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-three.

(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS

President

Republic of the Philippines

By the President:

(Sgd.) ALEJANDRO MELCHOR

Executive Secretary

In order to facilitate the implementation of this Presidential

Decree No. 143, the following were issued:

By the Department of Labor — Rules and Regulations, dated March 22,

1973, on the weekly rest periods; and

By the Central Bank of the Philippines — Circular No. 368, dated May

14, 1973, prescribing banking days and hours.

Section 9

Section 9, Article II, thereof; and

WHEREAS, as a means of realizing this objective and at the

same time the demands of national development, it is necessary to make

legislation, particularly existing labor laws, effective instruments of

full productivity and employment generation without sacrificing the

rights of workers;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the

Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me under the Constitution

as Commander-in-Chief of all the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and

pursuant to the New Constitution, and Proclamation No. 1081, dated

September 21, 1972, and General Orders Nos. 1 and 5, dated September 21,

1972, do hereby order and decree: