FURTHER AMENDING CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF BOOKS I, III AND V OF PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 442, AS AMENDED, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE LABOR CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES

WHEREAS, under Presidential Decree No. 442, as
amended, otherwise known as the Labor Code of the Philippines, labor
laws were re-oriented to meet the needs of socio-economic development
and social justice;

WHEREAS, to attain the objectives of the Labor Code,
new institutions were created within the organizational framework
established by Presidential Decree No. l;

WHEREAS, on the basis of accumulated experience and
the impact of domestic and international developments on national
economic and social stability, there is now an urgent need to amend
further the Labor Code for the purpose of instituting certain critical
structural-functional changes in the Ministry of Labor to enable it to
cope with these developments in an effective, efficient and economical
manner.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby order and decree;

SECTION 1. Articles 15, 17, 20 and 35 of Book I of the Labor Code are hereby amended to read as follows:

“Article 15. Bureau of Employment Services. —
(a) The Bureau of Employment Services shall be primarily responsible
for developing and monitoring a comprehensive employment program. It
shall have the power and duty:

1. To formulate and develop plans and programs to implement the employment promotion objectives of this Title;
2. To establish and maintain a registration and/or licensing
   system to regulate private sector participation in the recruitment and
   placement of workers, locally and overseas, and to secure the best
   possible terms and conditions of employment for Filipino contract
   workers and compliance therewith under such rules and regulations as may
   be issued by the Minister of Labor;
3. To formulate and develop employment programs designed to benefit disadvantaged groups and communities;
4. To establish and maintain a registration and/or work permit system to regulate the employment of aliens;
5. To develop a labor market information system in aid of proper manpower and development planning;
6. To develop a responsive vocational guidance and testing system in aid of proper human resources allocation; and
7. To maintain a central registry of skills, except seamen.

(b) The regional offices of the Ministry of Labor shall have the
original and exclusive jurisdiction over all matters or cases involving
employer-employee relations including money claims, arising out of or by
virtue of any law or contracts involving Filipino workers for overseas
employment except seamen: Provided, That the Bureau of
Employment Services may, in the case of the National Capital Region,
exercise such power, whenever the Minister of Labor deems it
appropriate. The decisions of the regional offices or the Bureau of
Employment Services if so authorized by the Minister of Labor as provided in this Article, shall be appealable to the National Labor Relations Commission upon the same groups provided in Article 223 hereof. The decisions of the National Labor Relations Commission shall be final and inappealable.

(c) The Minister of Labor shall have the power to impose and
collect fees, based on rates recommended by the Bureau of Employment
Services. Such fees shall be deposited in the National Treasury as a
special account of the General Fund, for the promotion of the objectives
of the Bureau of Employment Services, subject to the provisions of
Section 40 of Presidential Decree No. 1177.”

“Article 17. Overseas Employment Development Board.
— An Overseas Employment Development Board is hereby created to
undertake, in cooperation with relevant entities and agencies, a
systematic program for overseas employment of Filipino workers in excess
of domestic needs and to protect their rights to fair and equitable
employment practices. It shall have the power and duty:

1. To promote the overseas employment of Filipino workers through a comprehensive market promotion and development program;
2. To secure the best possible terms and conditions of employment
   of Filipino contract workers on a government to government basis and to
   ensure compliance therewith;
3. To recruit and place workers for overseas employment on a
   government-to-government arrangement and in such other sectors as policy
   may dictate; and
4. To act as secretariat for the Board of Trustees of the Welfare and Training Fund for Overseas Workers.

“Article 20. National Seamen Board. — (a)
A National Seamen Board is hereby created which shall develop and
maintain a comprehensive program for Filipino seamen employed overseas.
It shall have the power and duty:

1. To provide free placement services for seamen;
2. To regulate and supervise the activities of agents or
   representatives of shipping companies in the hiring of seamen for
   overseas employment; and secure the best possible terms of employment
   for contract seamen workers and secure compliance therewith;
3. To maintain a complete registry of all Filipino seamen.

(b) The Board shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction over
all matters or cases including money claims, involving employer-employee
relations, arising out of or by virtue of any law or contracts
involving Filipino seamen for overseas employment. The decision of the
Board shall be appealable to the National Labor Relations Commission
upon the same grounds provided in Article 223 hereof. The decisions of the National Labor Relations Commission shall be final and inappealable.”

“Article 35. Suspension and/or Cancellation of License or Authority. ?
The Minister of Labor shall have the power to suspend or cancel any
license or authority to recruit employees for overseas employment for
violation of rules and regulations issued by the Minister of Labor, the
Overseas Employment Development Board, and the National Seamen Board, or
for violations of the provisions of this and other applicable laws,
General Orders and Letters of Instructions.”

SEC. 2. Article 128, paragraph (b) of Book III of the Labor Code is hereby amended to read as follows:

“(b) The Minister of Labor or his duly authorized representatives
shall have the power to order and administer, after due notice and
hearing, compliance with the labor standards provisions of this Code
based on the findings of labor regulation officers or industrial safety
engineers made in the course of inspection, and to issue writs of
execution to the appropriate authority for the enforcement of their
order, except in cases where the employer contests the findings of the
labor regulation officer and raises issues which cannot be resolved
without considering evidentiary matters that are not verifiable in the
normal course of inspection.”

SEC. 3. Articles 217, 222 and 262 of Book V of the Labor Code are hereby amended to read as follows:

“Article 217. Jurisdiction of Labor Arbiters and the Commission.
— (a) The Labor Arbiters shall have the original and exclusive
jurisdiction to hear and decide the following cases involving all
workers, whether agricultural or non-agricultural:

1. Unfair labor practice cases;
2. Unresolved issues in collective bargaining, including those
   that involve wages, hours of work and other terms and conditions of
   employment;
3. All money claims of workers, including those based on
   non-payment or underpayment of wages, overtime compensation, separation
   pay and other benefits provided by law or appropriate agreement, except claims for employees compensation, social security, medicare and maternity benefits;
4. Cases involving household services; and
5. All other claims arising from employer-employee relations, unless expressly excluded by this Code.

(b) The Commission shall have exclusive appellate-jurisdiction over
all cases decided by Labor Arbiters, compulsory arbitrators, and
voluntary arbitrators in appropriate cases provided in Article 263 of this Code.”

“Article 222. Appearances and Fees.—(a) Non-lawyers may appear before the Commission or any Labor Arbiter only:

1. If they represent themselves; or
2. If they represent their organization or members thereof.

(b) No attorneys fees, negotiation fees or similar charges of any
kind arising from any collective bargaining negotiations or conclusion
of the collective agreement shall be imposed on any individual member of
the contracting union: Provided, however, that attorney’s fees
may be charged against union funds in an amount to be agreed upon by
the parties. Any contract, agreement or arrangement of any sort to the
contrary shall be null and void.”

“Article 262. Grievance Machinery.—All
disputes, grievances or matters arising from the implementation or
interpretation of a collective bargaining agreement including all
matters concerning disciplinary action imposed or to be imposed on
members of the contracting union shall be threshed out in accordance
with the grievance procedure provided in such agreement. Where there is no collective bargaining agreement and in cases where the grievance procedure as provided herein does not apply, all such matters should be subject to conciliation and arbitration as provided elsewhere in this Code.”

SEC. 4. This Decree shall take effect immediately.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 1st day of May, in the year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Eighty.

			(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS President of the Philippines
	By the President:
	(Sgd.) JOAQUIN T. VENUS, JR.
		Presidential Assistant