AMENDING FURTHER CERTAIN SECTIONS OF REPUBLIC ACT NUMBERED SIX HUNDRED SEVENTY-NINE, AS AMENDED, COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE WOMAN AND CHILD LABOR LAW

• Number: Presidential Decree No. 148
• Sections: 11

Preamble

WHEREAS, under Section 9, Article II of the New

Constitution, the State shall among other policies, afford protection to

labor, promote full employment and equality in employment, ensure equal

work opportunities regardless of sex, race, or creed, and regulate the

relations between workers and employers;

WHEREAS, there is an urgent need to translate these policies

into meaningful reality consistent with the demands of national

development particularly insofar as the employment of women and minors

is concerned; and

WHEREAS, to effect these objectives, it is necessary to

amend further Republic Act No. 679, commonly known as the Woman and

Child Labor Law;

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

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

Commander-in-chief of all the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and

pursuant to Proclamation No. 1081, dated September 21, 1972, and General

Order No. 1, dated September 22, 1972, as amended, do hereby amend

certain sections or provisions of R.A. No. 679, as amended, to wit:

Section 1

SECTION 1. Section one of the Republic Act Numbered Six

Hundred and seventy-nine, as amended, is further amended to read as

follows:

"SECTION 1. Minimum Employable Age. — No child

below 14 years of are shall be employed by any employer, except where

the child works directly under the sole responsibility of his parent or

guardian, involving activities which are not hazardous in nature and

which do not in any way interfere with his schooling."

Section 2

SEC. 2. Section two of the same Act is repealed, and in lieu

thereof, a new section is inserted to read as follows:

"SEC. 2. Age Eligibility for Employment. — Any

person between 14 and 18 years of age may be employed in any

non-hazardous undertaking as determined by the Secretary of Labor. The

employer shall not discriminate against any such person in respect to

terms and conditions of employment on account of his age."

Section 3

SEC. 3. Section 3 of the same Act is repealed and in lieu

thereof, a new section is inserted to read as follows:

"SEC. 3. Additional coverage. — Any woman who is

permitted or suffered to work, with or without compensation in any

nightclubs, cocktail lounges, bars, massage clinics, or in any similar

places, shall be considered as employees of such establishment for

purposes of this and other existing labor and social legislations."

Section 4

SEC. 4. Section 7 of the same Act is further amended by

amending paragraph (b) to read as follows:

"(b) No woman regardless of age, shall be allowed to work, with

or without compensation, in any industrial undertaking or branch thereof

between ten o'clock at night and six o'clock in the morning of the

following day, except for activities which may be allowed by the

Secretary of Labor through implementing rules and regulations."

Section 5

SEC. 5. Section 8 of the same Act is further amended to

read as follows:

"SEC. 8. Maternity Leave Benefits. —

(a) Every employer shall grant to any pregnant woman employee

who has rendered an aggregate service of at least six months for the

last twelve months, maternity leave of at least two weeks prior to the

expected date of delivery and another four weeks after normal delivery

or abortion, with full pay based on her regular or average weekly wages.

The employer may require from any woman employee applying for maternity

leave the production of a medical certificate stating that delivery

will probably lake place within two weeks.

(b) The maternity leave shall be extended without pay on account

of illness medically certified to arise out of the pregnancy, delivery,

abortion", or miscarriage, which renders the woman unfit for work,

unless she has earned unused leave credits from which such extended

leave may be charged.

(c) The maternity leave provided in the preceding paragraph shall be

paid by the employer only for the first four deliveries by a woman

employee after the effectivity of this Decree.

(d) The Secretary of Labor may by regulation require an

employer to establish a nursery in his workplace for the benefit of his

women employees.

(e) Establishments which are required by law to maintain a clinic

or infirmary shall provide free family planning services to their

employees which shall include, but not limited to, the

application or use of contraceptive and/or intra-uterine devices.

(f) In coordination with the other agencies of the Government

engaged in the promotion of family planning, the Department of Labor

shall develop and prescribe incentive bonus schemes to encourage

family planning among the married workers in any establishment or

enterprise."

Section 6

SEC. 6. Section 9 of the same Act is further

amended by amending paragraph (b) and by adding thereto paragraph (c) to

read as follows:

"(b) It shall be the duty of every employer to give his

employees not less than sixty minutes time-off for their regular meals,

unless otherwise prescribed by the Secretary of Labor.

"(c) The Secretary of Labor shall also establish standards that will

insure the health and safety of women employees."

Section 7

SEC. 7. Section 10 of the same Act is hereby

repealed.

Section 8

SEC. 8. Section 12 of the same Act as amended,

is further amended by amending paragraph (c) to read as follows:

"(c) It shall be unlawful for an employer to require as a

condition of employment or continuation of employment that a woman

employee shall not get married, or to stipulate expressly or tacitly

that upon getting married a woman employee shall be deemed resigned or

separated, or to actually dismiss, discharge, discriminate or otherwise

prejudice a woman employee merely by reason of her marriage."

Section 9 Repealing Clause.

SEC. 9. Repealing Clause. — All laws, decrees,

orders and regulations or parts thereof, which are contrary to or

inconsistent with this Decree are hereby repealed.

Section 10 Effectivity.

SEC. 10. Effectivity. — This Decree shall take

effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 13th day of March, 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. 148, the Department of Labor issued the following:

Rules and Regulations, dated May 17, 1973; and

Labor Department Order No. 4, dated June 8, 1973, declaring certain

occupations hazardous to young workers.