This Court, in previously evaluating the evidentiary value of daily time records, especially those which show uniform entries with regard to the hours of work rendered by an employee, has ruled that "such unvarying recording of a daily time record is improbable and contrary to human experience. It is impossible for an employee to arrive at the workplace and leave at exactly the same time, day in day out. The uniformity and regularity of the entries are 'badges of untruthfulness and as such indices of dubiety.' The observations made by the Solicitor General regarding the unreliability of the daily time records would therefore seem more convincing. On the other hand, respondent company failed to present substantial evidence, other than the disputed DTRs, to prove that petitioner indeed worked for only eight hours a day.
It is a well-settled doctrine, that if doubts exist between the evidence presented by the employer and the employee, the scales of justice must be tilted in favor of the latter. It is a time-honored rule that in controversies between a laborer and his master, doubts reasonably arising from the
evidence, or in the interpretation of agreements and writing should be
resolved in the former's favor. The policy is to extend the doctrine to a greater number of employees who can avail of the benefits under the law, which is in consonance with the avowed policy of the State to give maximum aid and protection of labor. This rule should be applied in the case at bar, especially since the evidence presented by private respondent company is not convincing. Accordingly, we uphold the finding that petitioner rendered overtime work, entitling her to overtime pay.
5.05 Meal Period
ART. 85: Meal periods. – Subject to such regulations as the Secretary of Labor may prescribe, it shall be the duty of every employer to give his employees not less than sixty (60) minutes time-off for their regular meals. Meal Time—Free Time
General Rule: Meal Time is NOT compensable.
Except: In cases where the lunch period or meal time is predominantly spent for the employer’s benefit or where it is less than 60 minutes.
• When Meal Time is Worked: Continuous Shifts
Meal time breaks should be counted as working time for purposes of overtime compensation.
• Meal Time of Less Than 60 Minutes
Sec. 7 of Rule I, Book III Implementing Rules allows meal time to be less than 60 minutes but not shorter than 20 minutes. But such shortened meal time should be with full pay, and the time when the employee cannot eat because he is still working, shall also be paid. If meal time is less than 20 minutes, it is considered a rest period and considered as working time.
• Shortened Meal Break Upon Employee’s Request
Shortened meal period is NOT compensable. The DOLE, in allowing such agreements, imposes certain conditions:
1. Employees voluntarily agree in writing to a shortened meal period of 30 minutes and are willing to waive the overtime pay for such shortened meal period;
2. There will be no diminution of whatsoever in the salary and other fringe benefits of the employees existing before the effectivity of the shortened meal period;
3. The work of the employees does not involve strenuous physical exertion and they are provided with adequate “coffee breaks” in the morning and afternoon;
4. The value of the benefits derived by the employees from the proposed work arrangement is equal to or commensurate with the compensation due them for the shortened meal period as well as the overtime pay for 30 minutes as determined by the employees concerned;
5. The overtime pay of the employees will become due and demandable if ever they are permitted or made to work beyond 4:30PM; and
6. The effectivity of the proposed working time arrangement shall be of temporary duration as determined by the DOLE Secretary.
Cases
Phil. Airlines, Inc. v. NLRC, 302 SCRA 582 (1999)
Sec. 7, Rule I, Book III of the Omnibus Rules Implementing the Labor Code further states:
Sec. 7. Meal and Rest Periods. — Every employer shall give his employees, regardless of sex, not less than one (1) hour time-off for regular meals, except in the following cases when a meal period of not less than twenty (20) minutes may be given by the employer provided that such shorter meal period is credited as compensable hours worked of the employee;
(a) Where the work is non-manual work in nature or does not involve strenuous physical exertion;
(b) Where the establishment regularly operates not less than sixteen hours a day;
(c) In cases of actual or impending emergencies or there is urgent work to be performed on machineries, equipment or installations to avoid serious loss which the employer would otherwise suffer; and (d) Where the work is necessary to prevent serious loss of perishable goods.
Rest periods or coffee breaks running from five (5) to twenty (20) minutes shall be considered as compensable working time.
Thus, the eight-hour work period does not include the meal break. Nowhere in the law may it be inferred that employees must take their meals within the company premises. Employees are not prohibited from going out of the premises as long as they return to their posts on time. Private respondent's act, therefore, of going home to take his dinner does not constitute abandonment.
Pan-American Airways v. Pan-American Employees Association, 1 SCRA 527 (1961)
The Industrial Court's order for permanent adoption of a straight 8-hour shift including the meal period was but a consequence of its finding that the meal hour was not one of complete rest, but was actually a work hour, since for its duration, the laborers had to be on ready call. Of course, if the Company practices in this regard should be modified to afford the mechanics a real rest during that hour (f. ex., by installing an entirely different emergency crew, or any similar arrangement), then the modification of this part of the decision may be sought from the Court below. As things now stand, we see no warrant for altering the decision.
5.06 Overtime Work and Offsetting Prohibition
ART. 87: Overtime work. – Work may be performed beyond eight (8) hours a day provided that the employee is paid for the overtime work, an additional compensation equivalent to his regular wage plus at least twenty- five percent (25%) thereof. Work performed beyond eight hours on a holiday or rest day shall be paid an additional compensation equivalent to the rate of the first eight hours on a holiday or rest day plus at least thirty percent (30%) thereof.
ART. 88: Undertime not offset by overtime. – Undertime work on any particular day shall not be offset by overtime work on any other day. Permission given to the employee to go on leave on some other day of the
week shall not exempt the employer from paying the additional compensation required in this Chapter.
ART. 89: Emergency overtime work. – Any employee may be required by the employer to perform overtime work in any of the following cases:
(a) When the country is at war or when any other national or local emergency has been declared by the National Assembly or the Chief Executive;
(b) When it is necessary to prevent loss of life or property or in case of imminent danger to public safety due to an actual or impending emergency in the locality caused by serious accidents, fire, flood, typhoon, earthquake, epidemic, or other disaster or calamity; (c) When there is urgent work to be performed on machines,
installations, or equipment, in order to avoid serious loss or damage to the employer or some other cause of similar nature;
(d) When the work is necessary to prevent loss or damage to perishable goods; and
(e) Where the completion or continuation of the work started before the eighth hour is necessary to prevent serious obstruction or prejudice to the business or operations of the employer.
Any employee required to render overtime work under this Article shall be paid the additional compensation required in this Chapter.
ART. 90: Computation of additional compensation. – For purposes of computing overtime and other additional remuneration as required by this Chapter, the “regular wage” of an employee shall include the cash wage only, without deduction on account of facilities provided by the employer. Notes:
If beyond 8 hours, regular working day: Regular Wage
+ 25% of the Regular Wage Overtime Pay
If on holiday/rest day:
Rate of 1st 8 hours on a holiday/rest day
+ 30% of holiday/rest day pay Overtime Pay
• If contract requires for more than 8 hours of work/day, it is void if it does not provide:
a. Fixed hourly rate OR
b. Daily wages include OT (Manila Terminal v. CIR)
c. If built-in OT, it could provide higher pay, whether excess time is worked or unworked (Engineering Equipment v. MOLE)
• Undertime cannot offset overtime
Definition and Rationale—Overtime Pay
Definition: Overtime Compensation is additional pay for service or work rendered or performed in excess of 8 hours a day by employees or laborers in employment covered by the Eight-Hour Labor Law, and not exempt form its requirements. It is computed by multiplying the overtime hourly rate by the number of hours worked in excess of eight hours.
Rationale: Because the employee is made to work longer than what is commensurate with his agreed compensation for the statutorily fixed or voluntarily agreed hours of labor he is supposed to do—opportunity cost for him.
Cases
Letran, etc. v. NLRC, 543 SCRA 26 (2008)
“3. The normal hours of work of teaching or academic personnel shall be based on their normal or regular teaching loads. Such normal or regular teaching loads shall be in accordance with the policies, rules and standards prescribed by the Department of Education, Culture and Sports, the Commission on Higher Education and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority. Any teaching load in excess of the normal or regular teaching load shall be considered as overload. Overload partakes of the nature of temporary extra assignment and compensation therefore shall be considered as an overload honorarium if performed within the 8-hour work period and does not form part of the regular or basic pay. Overload performed beyond the eight-hour daily work is overtime work.”
In the present case, while the DOLE Order may not be applicable, the Court finds that overload pay should be excluded from the computation of the 13th-month pay of petitioner's members.
In resolving the issue of the inclusion or exclusion of overload pay in the computation of a teacher's 13th-month pay, it is decisive to determine what "basic salary" includes and excludes.
In the same manner that payment for overtime work and work performed during special holidays is considered as additional compensation apart and distinct from an employee's regular wage or basic salary, an overload pay, owing to its very nature and definition, may not be considered as part of a teacher's regular or basic salary, because it is being paid for additional work performed in excess of the regular teaching load.
Caltex Regular Employees, etc. v. Caltex (Phils.) Inc., 247 SCRA 398 (1995)
Overtime work consists of hours worked on a given day in excess of the applicable work period, which here is eight (8) hours. It is not enough that the hours worked fall on disagreeable or inconvenient hours. In order that work may be considered as overtime work, the hours worked must be in excess of and in addition to the eight (8) hours worked during the prescribed daily work period, or the forty (40) hours worked during the regular work week Monday thru Friday.