Labor Law defined

LABOR LAW IN GENERAL

1.01     LABOR LAW DEFINED

The law governing the rights and duties of the employer and employees

(1)  with respect to the terms and conditions of employment and

(2)  with respect to labor disputes arising from collective bargaining respecting such terms and conditions

1.02LAW CLASSIFICATION

1)   Labor Standards

Provide minimum terms and conditions of employment, below which it cannot be allowed to fall.

Terms and conditions society deem necessary to maintain health, safety, and decent living of workers

Books 1, 2, 3, 5 & 6

Must be observed in the entirety

Maternity Children’s Hospital v. Sec. of Labor (89)

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.

2)   Labor Relations

Regulates the institutional relationship between the workers organized into a union and the employers

Book V – Right to Self – Organization and Right to bargain collectively

3)   Welfare Laws

Designed to take care of the contingencies which may affect the          workers, e.g. where there is loss of         income for reasons beyond control, i.e. sickness, death, accident, etc.

·         Social Security Act of 1997, RA 8282

·         Government Service Insurance System of 1997, RA 8291

·         Employment Compensation and State Insurance Fund

·         National Health Insurance Act of 1995, RA 7875

1.03     BASIS OF ENACTMENT

1987 Constitution

Art II Sec 5                 

The maintenance of peace and order, the protection of life, liberty, and property, and the promotion of the general welfare are essential for the enjoyment by all the people of the blessings of democracy.

Art II Sec 18               

The State affirms labor as a primary social economic force.  It shall protect the rights of workers and promote their welfare.

Art XIII Sec 1 

The Congress shall give highest priority to the enactment of measures that protect and enhance the right of all the people to human dignity, reduce social, economic, and political inequalities, and remove cultural inequities by equitably diffusing wealth and political power for the common good.

To this end, the State shall regulate the acquisition, ownership, use, and disposition of property and its increments.