FIFTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC 
) 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
) 
First Regular Session 
) 
Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago .\",'>'('1«[> ,,\ 
... , 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The Constitution, Article II, provides: 
Section 18, The State affirms labor as a primary social economic force, It 
shall protect the rights of workers and promote their welfare, 
Pursuant to the policy, laws have been enacted to protect the rights of the workingrtlan, In 
~,>~" 
the case of wait staff employees, service employees, and service bartenders, howevei,"the 
pertinent laws are the following: Presidential Decree No, 442, as amended, otherwise known as 
the Labor Code of the Philippines in Section 96, and the Omnibus Rules Implementing the labor 
Code in Book III, Rule VI. A cursory study of these laws reveal that they focus merely on the 
distribution of service charges - what portion goes to the employees and to the management -
without any provision to safeguard the tips paid to the wait staff employees, service employees, 
• 
and service bartenders personally, Neither is there any provision that regulates the interference of 
management in the payment of such tips, 
In view of the dearth of laws to protect the wages and tips of wait staff employees, 
service employees, and service bartenders, this Bill seeks to extend the State's protection to the 
such employees by ensuring the gratuities given to them shall be theirs alone and not subject to 
any deduction or interference by their employers.' 
• This bill was originally filed during the Thirteenth Congress, Second Regular Session. 


FIFTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC 
) 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
) 
First Regular Session 
) 
SENATE 
S.No. 1820 
Introduced by Serator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
AN ACT 
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PROVIDING FOR THE PROTECTION OF WAGES AND TIPS RECEIVED BY CERTAIN 
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EMPLOYEES 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress 
assembled: 
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SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the "Wages and Tips Protection 
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Act." 
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SECTION 2. Purpose. - Pursuant to the State's policy of protecting the rights of workers, 
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the purpose of the Act is to protect the wages and tips of certain employees, particularly wait 
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staff employees, service employees, or service bartenders, from unlawful deductions and 
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interference by their emp loyees. 
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SECTION 3. Definition of Terms. - For the purposes ofthis Act, the term 
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(A) "Wait staff employee" means a person, including a waiter, waitress, bus person, and 
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counter staff, who: 
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(1) Serves beverages or prepared food directly to patrons, or who clears patrons' 
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tables; 
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(2) Works in a restaurant, banquet facility, or other place where prepared food or 
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beverages are served; and 
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(3) Has no managerial responsibility. 
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(B) "Service employee" means a person who works in an occupation in which employees 
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customarily receive tips or gratuities, and who provides service directly to customers 
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or consumers, but who works in an occupation other than in food or beverage service, 
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and who has no managerial responsibility. 


(C) "Service bartender" means a person who prepares alcoholic or nonalcoholic 
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beverages for patrons to be· served by another employee, such as a wait staff 
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employee. 
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(D) "Employer" means any person or entity having employees in its service, including an 
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owner or officer of an establishment employing wait staff employees, service 
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employees, or service bartenders, or any person whose primary responsibility is the 
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management or supervision of wait staff employees, service employees, or service 
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bartenders. 
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(E) "Patron" means any person who is served by a wait staff employee or service 
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employee at any place where such employees perform work, including, but not 
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limited to, any restaurant, banquet facility or other place at which prepared food or 
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beverage is served, or any person who pays a tip or service charge to any wait staff 
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employee, service employee, or service bartender. 
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(F) "Service charge" means a fee, charged by an employer to a patron in lieu of a tip to 
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any wait staff employee, service employee, or service bartender, including any fee 
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designated as a service charge, tip, gratuity, or a fee that a patron or other consumer 
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would reasonably expect to be given to a wait staff employee, service employee, or 
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service bartender in lieu of, or in addition to, a tip. 
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(G) "Tip" means a sum of Il)oney, including any amount designated by a credit card 
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patron, a gift or a gratuity, given as an acknowledgment of any service performed by 
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a wait staff employee, service employee, or service bartender. 
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SECTION 4. Payment of Service Charges or Tips by Employers. - Any service charge or 
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tip remitted by a patron or person to an employer shall be paid to the wait staff employee, service 
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employee, or service bartender by the end of the same business day, and in no case later than the 
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time set forth for timely payment of wages under Article 103 of the Presidential Decree 442, as 
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amended, otherwise known as the Labor Code ofthe Philippines, and Section 4, Rule VI, Book 
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III of the Omnibus Rules Implementing the Labor Code. 
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SECTION 5. Acts Prohibited. - Any agreement to the contrary notwithstanding, the 
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following acts shall be unlawful when cQmmitted by an employer or any other person against a 
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wait staff employee, service employee, or service bartender: 
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(A) To demand, request or accept from any wait staff employee, service employee, or 
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service bartender any payment or deduction from a tip or service charge given to such 
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wait staff employee, service employee, or service bartender by a patron. 
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(B) To retain or distribute in a manner inconsistent with this Act any tip or service charge 
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given directly to the employer or person. 
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(C) To cause, require or permit any wait staff employee, service employee, or service 
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bartender to participate in a tip pool through which such employee remits any wage, 
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tip or service charge, or any portion thereof, for distribution to any person who is not 
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a wait staff employee, service employee, or service bartender, except as provided in 
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Section 6 of this Act. 
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(D)To submit a bill, invoice or c~arge to a patron or other person that imposes a service 
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charge or tip, where the total proceeds of that service charge or tip is not remitted to 
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the wait staff employees, service employees, or service bartenders in proportion to the 
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service provided by those employees. 
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SECTION 6. Valid Tip Pool. - The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is 
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hereby' tasked to promulgate implementing rules and regulations for the creation and 
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administration of a valid tip pool. Such tip pool may be maintained by the employer or any 
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person who is also a wait staff employee, service employee, or service bartender of the 
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establishment for which the tip pool contributors work. Such employer or person shall keep a 
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record of the amounts received for bookkeeping or tax reporting purposes. He shall be required 
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to pay the wait staff employee, service employee, or service bartender his share in the tip pool in 
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accordance with Section 4 of this Act and any rules and guidelines to be promulgated by the 
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Department of Labor and Employment. 
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SECTION 7. House or Administrative Fee. - Nothing in t4is Act shall prohibit an 
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employer from imposing on a patron any house or administrative fee in addition to a service 
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charge or tip, if the employer provides a designation or written description of that house or 
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administrative fee and informs the patron that the fee does not represent a tip or service charge 
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for wait staff employees, service employees, or service bartenders. 
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SECTION 8. Exemption by Special Contract or Other Means. - No employer or person 
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shall by a special contract with an employee or by any other means exempt itself from the 
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provisions of this Act. 
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SECTION 9. Penalties. - Any person, corporation, trust, firm, partnership, association or 
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entity found violating this Act or the rules and regUlations promulgated thereunder shall be 
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punished by a fine not exceeding Twenty-five thousand pesos (P25,000) or imprisonment of not 
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less than thirty (30) days nor more than sij< (6) months. 
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If the violation is committed by a corporation, trust or firm, partnership, association or 
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any other entity, the penalty of imprisonment shall be imposed on the entity's responsible 
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officers, including, but not limited to, the president, vice-president, chief executive officer, 
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general manager, managing director or partner directly responsible therefor. 
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SECTION 10. Nondiminution. - Nothing in this Act shall be construed to reduce any 
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existing benefits of any form granted under existing laws, decrees, executive orders, or any 
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contract, agreement or policy between employer and employee. 
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SECTION 11. Appropriations. - The amount necessary to carry out the provisions of this 
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Act shall be included in the budget of concerned government agencies in the General 
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Appropriations Act of the year following its enactment into law and thereafter. 
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SECTION 12. Repealing Clause. '- All laws, decrees, executive orders, administrative 
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orders or parts thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed, amended 
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or modified accordingly. 
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SECTION 13. Separability Clause. - If any provision of this Act is held invalid or 
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unconstitutional, other provisions not affected thereby shall continue to be in full force and 
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effect. 
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SECTION 14. Effictivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (I5) days following 
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its complete publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) newspapers of generl;\l 
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circulation. 
Approved. 
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