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

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 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.”

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 Section two of the same Act is repealed, and in lieu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

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 Section 3 of the same Act is repealed and in lieu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

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.”

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.”

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.”

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repealed.

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.”

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.

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.