Employers told: Dec. 24 is deadline for employees’ 13th month pay

Metro Manila, Philippines – Senator Joel Villanueva, chairman of the Committee on Labor, Employment, and Human Resources Development, reminded employers on Tuesday that they are legally required to pay their employees' 13th month pay by Christmas Eve, Dec. 24.

“Under Presidential Decree No. 851, the payment of the 13th month pay is a legal obligation. Employees who do not receive this benefit have the right to file a complaint with the National Labor Relations Commission,” Villanueva said in a statement.

The law states, “All employers are hereby required to pay all their employees receiving a basic salary of not more than P1,000 a month, regardless of the nature of their employment, a 13th-month pay not later than December 24 of every year.”

Villanueva highlighted that the law’s implementing rules and regulations specify that non-payment of the 13th month pay will be considered a money claim and processed in accordance with the Labor Code of the Philippines and the procedures of the NLRC.

In its guidelines released in November, the Department of Labor and Employment stated that the 13th month pay “shall be paid to rank-and-file employees in the private sector regardless of their position, designation, or employment status, and irrespective of the method by which their wages are paid, provided that they have worked for at least one month during the calendar year.”

The benefit also applies to rank-and-file employees paid on a piece-rate basis, fixed or guaranteed wages plus commission, those with multiple employers, those who resigned, those terminated from employment, and those on maternity leave who received a salary differential.

The amount shall be no less than 1/12 of the total basic salary earned during the calendar year.

Employers must report their compliance to the department by January 12, 2025.