Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

NINETEENTH CONGRESS
Third Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 13446

Introduced by Rep. Ra}

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry has long been recognized
as a pillar of economic growth in the Philippines. Since its emergence, this sector has
significantly contributed to the country's GDP and solidified its reputation as a global
leader in outsourcing services. According to the Information Technology and Business
Process Association of the Philippines, (IBPAP), the BPO sector generated an
estimated $32.5 billion in revenue in 2022, accounting for over 7% of the nation's GDP.
Furthermore, it provides employment to approximately 1.6 million Filipinos, with
indirect jobs benefitting millions more. Such figures underscore the strategic
importance of the BPO industry not only as an enabler of economic progress, but also
as a source of stable livelihood for a substantial portion of the population

However, beneath this economic success lies a workforce contending with
conditions that often fail to safeguard their welfare and safety. The 24/7 operational
nature of BPO companies, necessitated by global time zone differences, imposes
irregular and prolonged working hours on employees. Studies by occupational health
experts have consistently shown that night shifts and disrupted sleep cycles are linked
to a higher risk of cardiovascular disorders, chronic fatigue, and mental health issues,
including anxiety and depression. A survey conducted by the Philippine Statistics
Authority in recent years indicated that most BPO workers experience sleep
deprivation and work-related stress — factors known to compromise both health and
productivity. These concems make it imperative to legislate measures that ensure the
well-being and protection of this vital workforce.

At present, while labor laws extend general protections to employees, they fail
to account fully for the unique challenges faced by BPO workers. Many are exposed
to ergonomic risks from sedentary jobs, while others report inadequate health
coverage despite the industry's demanding environment. Additionally, concerns
regarding job security, wage parity for night shifts, and access to mental health support
remain inadequately addressed for a sector that thrives on operational efficiency.


These gaps leave BPO workers vulnerable to both immediate and long-term risks,
underlining the necessity for tailored legislative measures.

This bill seeks to establish a Magna Carta for BPO employees, focusing on their
rights, welfare, and safety. Mandatory health and wellness programs, provisions for
ergonomic and safe workstations, fair compensation for unconventional hours, and
mechanisms to tackle the mental health challenges endemic to this industry are some
of the challenges this bill seeks to resolve. Addressing these issues is not merely a
matter of protecting workers; it is a strategy to future-proof the BPO industry by
fostering a healthy, motivated, and resilient workforce.

The continued success of the BPO sector depends on the recognition of its
employees not only as contributors to economic development, but also as individuals
deserving protection and care, Honoring their rights and the occupational hazards they
face will not only enhance their quality of life but will also sustain the industry's global
competitiveness. The enactment of this bill is necessary to strike a balance between
the nation's economic ambitions and the rights of the workforce that drives them.

In view of the foregoing, the passage of this bill is earnestly sought.

‘Ss
Representative Ahakalusugan Party-List


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

NINETEENTH CONGRESS
Third Regular Session

House Bit No. 11446

Introduced by Rep. Ray yes

AN ACT
ENSURING THE RIGHTS, WELFARE, AND SAFETY OF BUSINESS PROCESS
OUTSOURCING (BPO) WORKERS IN THE PHILIPPINES

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

CHAPTER ONE:
GENERAL PROVISIONS

SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Magna Carta of BPO
Workers Act”.

SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. — It is the policy of the State to protect the rights
and promote the welfare of workers in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)
industry and to take appropriate steps to recognize such rights and welfare while
taking into account the special characteristics of the industry. Towards this end, the
State shall strive to improve and promote their social and economic status, living and
working conditions, terms of employment, professional growth, and career
development

SECTION 3. Coverage. - This Act shall cover all employees and workers in the
Business Process Outsourcing industry.

SECTION 4. Definition of Terms. — As used in this Act:

a) Agencies shall refer to government agencies mandated to monitor, administer,
promote, and ensure health and safety regulations and standards. These
agencies are the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Bureau of
Working Conditions, Employees Compensation Commission, and Occupational
Safety and Health Center;


b) Approved shall mean acceptable to the Secretary of Labor and Employment,
as indicated in writing, after a proper examination showing compliance with
prescribed standards;

Authorized representative shall refer to and include any employees or official of

other government agencies empowered by the Secretary of Labor and

Employment to enforce the provisions of the Standards;

d) Bureau shall refer to the Bureau of Working Conditions;

e) Business Process Outsourcing shall refer to the whole outsourcing industry in
the Philippines. It is the delegation of information and service-type business
processes to a third-party or extemal provider. Sectors include, but are not
limited to, call centers, back-office services, data transcription, animation,
software development, engineering development, game development, and
other businesses of a similar nature;

f) Code shall refer to Presidential Decree 442, the Labor Code, as amended;

g) Department shall refer to the Department of Labor and Employment;

h) Director shall refer to the Director of the Bureau of Working Conditions;

i) Employer shall include any person or enterprise acting directly or indirectly in
the interest of an employer, in relation to an employee, and shall include
government-owned or controlled corporations, as well as non-profit private
institutions or organizations. Indirect employers or contractors shall also be
considered “employers” in this Act;

i) Employee shall refer to any person employed by an employer in a
temporary/probationary or permanent capacity;

k) Enforcement officer shall refer to the industrial safety engineer, the labor
regulation officer, or any duly authorized representatives of the Secretary to
enforce the Standards;

|) Health shall refer to a sound state of the body and mind of the employee, which
enables them to perform their job normally, in a state of well-being;

m) Occupational iliness shall refer to any illness caused by environmental factors,

the exposure to which is characterized or peculiar to a particular process, trade

or occupation, and to which an employee or worker is not ordinarily subjected
to, or exposed to, outside of or away from such employment;

Registered party shall refer to any duly registered non-stock non-profit

organization advocating occupational health and safety;

Safe or safety shall refer to the physical or environmental conditions of work or

employment, which substantially comply with the prescribed Standards, as

defined in this Act;

p) Secretary shall refer to the Secretary of Labor and Employment;

Q) Shift work shall refer to the employment practice designed to make use of the
24 hours of the day. Employees are given schedules that correspond to a 24-
hour work cycle. The term shift work includes both long-term night shifts and
work schedules in which employees change or rotate shifts;

1) Standards shall mean the Occupational Safety and Health Standards and
regulations, as described in Section 26;

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s) Work accident shall refer to an unplanned or unexpected occurrence that may
or may not result in personal injury, property damage, work stoppage or
interference, or any combination thereof: which arises out of and in the course
of employment;

t) Work injury shall refer to any injury or occupational illness suffered by a person,

which arises out of or in the course of employment;

Workplace shall refer to the office, premises, or work site, where employees

are habitually employed and shall include the office or place where the

employees, who have no fixed or definite work site, regularly report for
assignment in the course of their employment.

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SECTION 5. Construction in Favor of Labor. — All doubts in the implementation and
interpretation of the provisions of this Act, including its implementing rules and
regulations, shall be resolved in favor of labor.

CHAPTER TWO:
GENERAL EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS

SECTION 6. Standard of Treatment. - The State shall ensure that the employer and
the supervisors must, at all times, treat the BPO worker in a just and humane manner
and ensure that all the rights and benefits of BPO workers are provided for and
accorded to them as mandated by the Labor Code. Abusive language, physical
violence or any act which debases the dignity if a person shall not be used against the
employee.

SECTION 7. Access to Relevant Information. — The State shall ensure that BPO
companies allow their workers and employees access to:

a) Relevant information that helps them understand their rights, benefits,
obligations, conditions and realities attending to their profession. BPO
companies shall not restrain their employees from organizing or attending
activities, such as but not limited to, workshops and symposia, that seek to
equip BPO workers with relevant information with regard to their rights, welfare
and conditions; and

b) Information on service level agreements between client and vendor, especially
when it affects working conditions and worker compensation and benefits
consistent with Sec. 3, Article XIll of the 1987 Philippine Constitution.

SECTION 8. Protection from Understaffing or Overloading. — There shall be no
understaffing or overloading of BPO workers. The ratio of BPO worker to client quota
or quantitative targets shall be such as to reasonably effect a sustained quality of
service at all times without overworking the worker and over-extending their services
beyond what is stipulated in the employment contract, or what is allowed as the


worker's regular hours of work. The employer may request the employee to perform
tasks beyond the duties stipulated in the employment contract Provided, That such
tasks are duly compensated by the employer with an additional pay of not less than
twenty-five percent (25%) of the regular rate per hour.

SECTION 9. Regularization. - All BPO workers allowed to work after the completion
of the sixth (6) month period of employment as trainee or apprentice, or upon the
completion of a maximum probationary training of six (6) months, shall be considered
as regular employees.

SECTION 10. Right to Self-Association. — It shall be unlawful for any person or
company to restrict the rights of BPO employees to join, organize, or assist
organizations, collective bargaining and negotiations, and participate in policy and
decision-making processes affecting their rights and benefits.

SECTION 11. Freedom from Interference or Coercion. — It shall be unlawful for any
person or company to commit any of the following acts of interference or coercion:

a) To interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees in the exercise of their right to
self-association or organization;

b) To require as condition of employment that BPO employees shall not join, form

or assist in the formation of an organization, or to withdraw from one to which

they belong:

To contract out services or functions being performed by BPO employees who

are union members when such will interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees

in the exercise of their right to self-organization;

To discriminate in order to encourage or discourage membership in an

organization;

To initiate, dominate, assist or otherwise interfere with the formation or

administration of any labor organization, including the giving of financial or other

support to its or its organizers or supporters;

f) To discriminate in regard, to wages, hours of work, and other terms and

conditions of employment in order to encourage or discourage membership in

any labor organization;

To prevent a BPO employee from carrying out his duties and functions in his

organization to penalize the employee for any unlawful action performed in that

capacity; and

h) To perform acts calculated to diminish the independence and freedom of the
union or organization to direct its own affairs.

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SECTION 12. Freedom from Excessive Company Bond. - |t shall be unlawful for
any person or company to compel a BPO worker to commit to a company bond,
imposing an unreasonable or exorbitant fee to be paid by the employee upon leaving
the company before a specified length of time.


SECTION 13. Right to Money Claims. - It shall be unlawful for any person or
company in any case to prevent a BPO worker from receiving their rightful money
claims arising from labor disputes.

SECTION 14. Protection from Discrimination. - BPO workers shall be protected
from discrimination by reason of ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, race, color,
religion, political, or other opinion, national, social or geographical origin, disability,
property, birth, civil status, pregnancy, physical characteristics or disability or other
status as established by human rights standards.

SECTION 15. Safeguards in Administrative Proceedings. - In any administrative
proceeding, a BPO worker shall have the:

a) Right to notice and hearing which includes the right of the party interested or
affected to present his own case and submit evidence in support thereof,

b) Right to be informed of the nature and accusation against them;

c) Right to full access to evidence presented against them;

d) Right to cross-examine the witnesses against them;

e) Right to defend themself or by a counsel of their choice;

f) Right to be given adequate time to prepare their case which shall, in no case,
be less than one (1) week;

4g) Right to an independent and impartial tribunal;

h) Right to a decision rendered in such a manner that both parties can know the
various issues involved and the reasons for such decisions;

i) Right to appeal to designated authorities; and

j) Such other rights as will ensure fairness and impartiality during proceedings.

SECTION 16. Regular Hours of Work. — Regular work hours for BPO employees
shall not exceed eight (8) hours a day. Any work done by BPO employees beyond
regular hours of work shall be duly compensated by the employer.

SECTION 17. Overtime Work. - BPO employees may be required to render services
beyond their required working hours in cases provided for in the Code; Provided, That,
the employee is paid for the overtime work, an additional compensation equivalent to
their regular wage plus at least twenty-five percent (25%) thereof.

BPO employees who work beyond eight (8) hours on a holiday or their designated rest
day shall be paid an additional compensation equivalent to the rate of the first eight
hours of holiday pay in accordance with existing laws, plus at least thirty percent (30%)
thereof.

SECTION 18. Night Shift Differential. - BPO employees shall be paid a night shift
differential of not less than ten percent (10%) of their regular wages for each hour of
work performed between ten o'clock in the evening and six o’clock in the morning.


SECTION 19. Rest and Meal Periods. - BPO employees shall be entitled to
compensable rest periods and meal periods not less than what is provided for in the
Code and other existing laws.

SECTION 20. Regular Working Days. - All BPO employees shall render work for not
more than six (5) consecutive days per week. The employer shall determine and
schedule the weekly rest day of the BPO employees subject to collective bargaining
agreement and to such rules and regulations as the Secretary of Labor and
Employment may provide. However, the employer shall respect the preference of
employees as to their weekly rest day when such preference is based on religious
grounds.

SECTION 21. Work on Holidays. - BPO employees may be required to render
services on days designated as non-working holidays in the Philippines given the
nature of their profession; Provided, That the employer shall duly compensate the
employee's work on such days in accordance with existing laws regarding holiday pay.

SECTION 22. Leave Benefits. - BPO employees shall be entitled to all leave benefits
and privileges in accordance with existing laws, including but not limited to maternity,
paternity, vacation, and sick leaves. Provided, That upon separation of the employee
from service, they shall be entitled to all accumulated leave credits with pay. It shall
be unlawful for any person or company to terminate their employees based solely on
unapproved leaves without providing the employee due process in an administrative
proceeding

SECTION 23. Transportation Benefits. - In the absence or lack of safe and
adequate public transportation services in BPO employees’ places of work, they shall,
at least between 10:00 PM and 6:00 AM, be entitled to safe transportation service,
including but not limited to, shuttle services to and from the place of work to designated
drop-off points, or to travel allowance which shall be provided by the company in order
to facilitate the safe commute of employees at vulnerable times at night or early in the
morning,

SECTION 24. Security of Tenure. — BPO employees may not be terminated except
for just cause as may be provided by the Code and other existing laws and after due
process in an administrative proceeding as provided for under the law.

CHAPTER THREE:
OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY STANDARDS AND REGULATIONS

SECTION 25. Employers’ Obligations. — Article 106 of the Code prohibits “labor
only” contracting. Employers engaging independent contractors to perform work on
their behalf have a duty to minimize the health and safety risks of the contractor's


employees. For the purposes of the Code, as well as this Act, independent contractors’
employees are deemed to be employees of the BPO company. Employers have a duty
to protect all employees at or near their workplace. Failure to provide and maintain a
safe workplace for all employees, regardless of the nature of their employment, may
constitute a contravention of the employer's general duty under the law.

SECTION 26. Occupational Health and Safety Standards and Regulations for
BPO Workers. - Under its mandate, the Department of Labor and Employment is
tasked to establish Occupational Health and Safety Standards (Standards) for BPO
work. The Standards shall adhere to the prevailing standards of health and safety for
BPO work and other similar employment. The minimum provisions in the Standards
must meet the International Labor Organizations’ recommendations. The Standards
should be reviewed annually by the agencies, Workplace Occupational Health and
Safety Officer (WOHSO), and registered interested parties, and must include
provisions related to the Enforcement Officers and Authorized Representatives, as
well as the WOHSO.

SECTION 27. The Nature of BPO Night-Shift Work. — Establishments engaged in
shift work to complete their 24-hour work cycle expose their employees to health and
security risks, as well as unnatural stresses; as such, night-shift work is considered
hazardous under this Act.

SECTION 28. Compliance with the Standards. — The Standards shall be strictly
enforced in all establishments operating in the country. Compliance with the provisions
of the Standards shall be mandatory and subject to inspection by enforcement officers
and authorized representatives, as outlined in the Standards.

SECTION 29. Workplace Occupational Health and Safety. — Each establishment
shall formulate their own Workplace Occupational Health and Safety (WOHS) policy,
which adheres at minimum to the Standards as defined in Section 26 of this Act. Any
additional safety measures deemed appropriate to the nature of the localized
workplace and work environment may also be included, pending approval by the
Bureau. The policy must be reviewed annually by the Employers, the WOHSO, and
by enforcement officers and authorized representatives.

All employees shall be informed of the WOHS policy. Informational materials shall be
distributed to employees free of charge.

SECTION 30. Workplace Occupational Health and Safety Officer. - From among
the employees, a WOHSO shall be elected for the purposes of consultation and in-
house monitoring of the Standards. The WOHSO shall review the measures taken to
ensure the health, safety, and welfare of the employees, investigate and attempt to
resolve any matters that may constitute as a risk to health and safety at the place of
work.


The employees may elect more than one WOHSO upon approval of the Department
The powers, functions, and manner of the election of the WOHSO shall be included in
the Standards, subject to the following guidelines:

a) That all employees are entitled to vote in an election of the WOHSO;

b) That the powers of a WOHSO shall include the powers to inspect any part of
the workplace, require the establishment of a health and safety committee, and
other relevant tasks as may be necessary.

SECTION 31. Health Program. — The company physician, in addition to their duties
stated in the Labor Code, shall formulate, develop, and implement a comprehensive
‘occupational health program for the benefit of all employees.

SECTION 32. Health Insurance. — All employees are entitled to free full medical
examination upon commencement of employment, and annually during the tenure of
their employment. The establishment is encouraged to provide full health insurance to
the employees, the coverage of which shall be agreed upon by the company and its
employees.

SECTION 33. Work Related Injuries, Sickness, and Death Compensation. — All
employees and their dependents shall be compensated for injuries, medical
complications, illness, disability and death arising from, and related to, their work in
accordance with existing laws, labor policies, guidelines or circulars, as the case may
be. The Employees Compensation Commission shall promptly process any claims
forlby injured, disabled, deceased employees or their dependents.

SECTION 34. Prohibition Against Elimination and Diminution of Benefits. —
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to eliminate or diminish in any way existing
benefits being enjoyed by BPO employees at the time of the effectivity of this Act. All
other rights of BPO employees provided under existing laws shall remain in full force
and effect, and they shall have the right to avail of greater rights offered by existing
laws, including those granted under this Act.

CHAPTER FOUR:
FINAL PROVISIONS:

SECTION 35. Penal Provision. - Any person or company who violates any of the
provisions of this Act shall be punish with a fine of not less than One hundred thousand
pesos (100,000.00) and/or imprisonment of not less than one (1) month but not more
than two (2), or both, at the discretion of the court.


SECTION 36. Separability Clause. - If, for any reason, any provisions of this Act are
declared to be unconstitutional or invalid, the other sections or provisions thereof
which are not affected thereby shall continue to be in full force and effect.

SECTION 37. Repealing Clause. — All laws, decrees, executive orders, rules and
regulations, and other issuances or parts thereof which are inconsistent with this Act
are hereby repealed, amended or modified accordingly.

SECTION 38. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation

Approved,