Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF Representatives
Quezon City, Metro Manila

FIFTEENTH CONGRESS

House Bit No,__ 4816

INTRODUCED BY HON. YEVGENY VINCENTE B. EMANO
Second District, Province of Misamis Oriental

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This bill seeks to change the compulsory retirement age of Filipino employees covered by the
Labor Code of the Philippines from sixty five to sixty years old.

This proposal stems from the dual purposes of providing benefits not only to the employers but to
the retiring employees as well. By reducing the compulsory retirement age into sixty years old, it will
produce an effect of creating a number of job openings to the younger Filipinos and will enable them to
move into the workforce, while others will have their retirement secured. It will likewise make succession
and financial planning easier and will reassure younger employees of future promotion prospects. In turn,
it will help employers retain valued younger employees, reducing the risk of having to manage older
employees on capability grounds. In sum, forcibly retiring people at sixty years old is relatively a simple
way of reducing employment cost for employers and managing unemployment statistics for government.

Studies show that those employees that are already below sixty-five years of age are already
suffering from pre-existing health condition problems which include heart disease, asthma, high blood
pressure, arthritis or cancer, thereby making them unproductive to their employers. They would be
considered at risk of losing health insurance when they need it most, or be denied coverage altogether.
Older people between 55 and 64 years old are at particular risk of these diseases, not to include the
emotional stress that they experience due to work pressure and health problems, making them more
impatient and unproductive. Due to these health problems, older workers will cost the company too much
money in terms of health care premiums. In turn, older employees do utilize more health care benefits
than younger employees.

Another health care problem that employers are facing is that older workers have memory
problems. The latest research shows that people do lose some of their memory ability as they age;
‘Therefore, when people are at risk of memory impairment, they usually become burdens to their

companies.
bill is highly a

In light of the foregoing, passage of thi



Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF Representatives
Quezon City, Metro Manila

FIFTEENTH CONGRESS

House Bill No.__ 48.16

INTRODUCED BY HON. YEVGENY VINCENTE B. EMANO
Second District, Province of Misamis Oriental

AN ACT

AMENDING ARTICLE 287 OF PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 442, AS AMENDED,
OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE LABOR CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES, BY
CHANGING THE COMPULSORY RETIREMENT AGE OF SIXTY FIVE TO SIXTY
YEARS OF AGE.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:

Section 1. Paragraph Three, Article 287 of Presidential Decree No. 442, as amended,
otherwise known as the Labor Code of the Philippines, is hereby amended to read as
follows:

"In the absence of a retirement plan or agreement providing for retirement benefits
of employees in the establishment, an employee upon reaching the age of fifty-five
(55) years or more, but not beyond sixty (60) years, which is hereby declared the
compulsory retirement age, who has served at least five (5) years in the said
establishment, may retire and shall be entitled to retirement pay equivalent to at
least one-half (1/2) month salary for every year of service, a fraction of at least six
(6) months being considered as one whole year.

Sec. 2. This act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved.