Some Preliminaries on Employment Contract

This Employment Agreement is a contract between an employer and employee in the

Philippines. It can be used for different types of employment such as probationary employment,
regular employment, project employment, seasonal employment, fixed-term employment or
casual employment.

This Agreement sets out all the terms in the agreement such as the job duties, salary and
benefits, work hours, confidentiality and other key terms specific for each type of employment
such as:

Probationary Employment - the period of probation and the standards upon which the
employee's competence and qualifications will be evaluated on. The maximum period of
probation is six (6) months and the standards should be made known and explained to the
employee at the time of engagement or signing of the agreement.

Project Employment - the description of the project and the date of completion of the project

Seasonal Employment - the description of the season and the date of the end of the season

Fixed Term Employment - the starting date and ending date of the employment

Casual Employment - the description of the job, which should be merely incidental to the main
business of the employer, and the starting date and ending date of the casual employment,
which should not be for more than one (1) year

Guide Questions in Drafting the Employment Contract

1. Where will the employment take place in the Philippines?
2. What is employee's age? 18 years old and above or Under 18 years old?
3. When will the Agreement be signed?
4. Which province will the Agreement be signed?
5. In which city or municipality will the Agreement be signed?
6. Is the employer an organization or an individual?
7. What is the business name of the employer?
8. If employer is an organization, what type of organization is the employer? Stock or
nonstock corporation?
9. What is the principal address of the employer?
10. What is the name of the organization's representative, if employer is an organization,
who will sign the Agreement?
11. What is the position or designation of the organization's representative?
Ex. Human Resource Manager or President?
12. If Employer is individual, what is the name of the employer?
13. If Employer is individual, what is the citizenship of the employer?
14. If Employer is individual, what is the civil status of the employer?
15. If Employer is individual, what is employers address?
16. What type of business activity is the employer engaged in?
Ex. Construction and general merchandize, drug store, grocery store
17. What is the name of the employee?
18. What is the citizenship of the employee?
19. What is the civil status of the employee?
20. What is employee's address?
21. What is the type of employment that the employee will engage in?
Ex. Probationary (not more than six months), regular, seasonal, project, fixed, casual
22. What is the rank of the employee?
Ex. Rank-and-File, Supervisory, Managerial
23. How will the rate of the employee be computed? The rate is the manner of how the
employee will be paid.
Ex. Daily, Monthly, Paid by result (commission, boundary, piece rate, task basis)
24. Will the employee be a non-agricultural field personnel? Field personnel are non-
agricultural employees who regularly perform their duties away from the principal place
of business or branch office of the employer and whose actual hours of work in the field
cannot be determined with reasonable certainty.
25. Is the employee a health personnel in a city or municipality with a population of at least
one million (1,000,000) or in hospitals or clinics with a bed capacity of at least one
(100)? Working hours will be different as per Labor Code
26. What will be the job title of the employee?
Ex. Office Secretary, Cashier, Foreman, Janitor, Driver, Sales Personnel
27. What is the maximum number of months of probation?
28. Will the duties and responsibilities of the employee be listed in this Agreement? The
duties and responsibilities of the Employee must be made known to him at the start of
the Employment. Will be listed in the Agreement or will it be in another document to be
attached to this Agreement?
29. If duties and responsibilities will form part of the Agreement, what are the duties of the
employee? List all the duties and responsibilities of the employee.
Ex. To maintain the cleanliness and maintenance of the employment premises of the
employer, To conduct market studies, To promote the products in supermarkets
30. Will the standards for regularization of the employment of the probationary employee be
listed in this Agreement? Will be listed in the Agreement or will it be in another document
to be attached to this Agreement?
31. If standards for regularization will form part of the Agreement, what are the standards
that will be used to evaluate the capacity and qualifications of the employee to be a
regular employee? List all the standards that the probationary will be judged on.
Ex. Attitude towards the public, the employer, its officers, and co-employees,
Punctuality, Integrity
32. Who will evaluate and make the recommendation for the regularization of the
probationary employee?
 Ex. Immediate manager, immediate supervisor, other
33. What is the daily rate of the employee? (In Philippine Pesos)
34. When will the employee's salary be paid? Ex. Twice a month, Other period
35. If twice a month, what day will the first portion of the salary be paid to the employee?
36. If twice a month, what day will the second portion of the employee's salary be paid?
Employees should be paid at least once every two (2) weeks or twice a month at
intervals not exceeding sixteen (16) days.
37. Will the employee be paid also of a commission in addition to their regular rates? If yes,
then escribe how the commission of the employee will be computed and paid. Ex. The
employee will receive a commission of 10% of the monthly sales made payable on the
30th of every month.
38. Will the employer pay 13th month pay? When will the 13th month pay be paid? Ex.
Before December 24, In two separate periods before December 24
39. If 13th month be paid in two separate periods before December 24, Which month will the
first installment of the 13th month pay be paid? Which month will the second installment
of the 13th month pay be paid?
40. Is there a handbook or other document that contains the benefits (such as leaves,
bonuses, etc.) of the employees? Enter the name of the handbook or document that
contains the employee's benefits. Ex. Employee Handbook
41. Does the document also contain the employer's rules, regulations, and policies?
42. Will the employee be granted leave benefits? Leave benefits are days that are paid even
if the employee does not report for work.
43. When can the employee start availing of the leave benefits? Ex. Upon regularization,
After one year from start of employment, At the start of employment
44. Will the paid leave days be separated into vacation and sick leaves? If NO, then how
many days of paid vacation and sick leaves is the employee entitled to? Note: Enter a
number greater than 5
45. State the work schedule of the employee in the Agreement? he work schedule should
not exceed 12 hours of work per day however, any work over 8 hours shall be
considered overtime with overtime pay. The employee is also entitled to 1 rest day for
every 6 consecutive normal work days. Ex. M-F: 9AM-6PM with lunch at 12NN-1PM,
Sat. 9AM-12NN, Sunday will be rest day
46. Will the overtime pay of the employee be based on the rates prescribed by law?
47. Where will the employee normally perform his duties and responsibilities?
48. Will there be a dress code that the employee should follow? Ex. Office wear from
Monday-Saturday, No open toed footwear in the workplace
49. How many days should the employee give a written notice of resignation before the date
of resignation? The law requires at least thirty (30) days unless provided otherwise.
50. To whom should the notice of resignation be addressed? This could be a name or
position of a person in the company. Ex. Human Resource Manager
51. Will the document be notarized? Notarizing a document coverts the document from a
private document to a public document. A public document is admissible in court as
evidence without need for further proof of its authenticity. If yes, then which
province/city/municipality will the document be notarized?
52. What type of I.D. will the employer's representative present to the notary public?
53. What is the I.D. number on the I.D. of the employer's representative?
54. Does the I.D. of the employer's representative have an expiry date?
55. When does the I.D. of the employer's authorized representative expire?
56. Choose the ID that the employee will present to the notary public
57. What is the ID number on the employee's ID?
58. Does the employee's ID have an expiry date?
59. When will the employee's ID expire?