EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE } 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
} 
F irst R e g u la r S essio n  
}
S E N A T E  
S.B. No. 4 8 5
s; I'I :
•19 
JUL15 rao so
RlXLiVO '
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR VICENTE C. SOTTO III
AN ACT
CREATING A FRIENDLY WORKING ENVIRONMENT FOR WOMEN AND
FOR OTHER PURPOSES
EXPLANATORY NOTE
According to the 2018 statistical resources collected by the Philippine 
Statistics Office, more than half of employed Filipinos are male, with 
25,573,084 or 61.6%. Females, on the other hand, m ake up 38.4%  or 
783,317 out of the total num ber of employed Filipinos.1 Furtherm ore, in a 
study conducted by the World Bank, working women in the Philippines earn 
ju s t 76 percent of w hat Filipino men do.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) 
declares th at when more women work, economies grow. An increase in 
female labor force participation—or a reduction in the gap between w om en’s 
and m en’s labor force participation—results in faster economic growth.
Although women have enjoyed greater equality in Philippine society 
than in other parts of Southeast Asia'*, there is still significant room for 
im provem ent as far as gender equality in the country is concerned 
particularly on economic opportunity.
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It h as been obsei-vecl th at in our countiy men relegated household 
chores to women even until today -  blaming it on the Spanish influence over 
the country that women are expected to become caring and nurturing 
m others for their own children and take care of m ost household chores. This 
situation leads to either women staying at home to be a wife and m other, or 
be employed and rem ains to be a wife and m other.
Considering that the State declares the im portance of women in 
nation-building, this proposed m easure seeks to encourage unwaged women 
to be gainfully employed and working wom en’s rights advancem ent.
The aforem entioned purposes shall come into effect through the 
following salient provisions of this bill, among others:
1) Longer m aternity leave
2) Rights of Pregnant Women
3) Rights of Women Working in M anufacturing Firms
4) M easures to Avoid Sexual H arassm ent in the Workplace
5) Flexible Work Policies for Working Mother and Female G uardian
Penalties for violations of the provisions contained in this m easure are 
likewise provided to ensure its effective im plem entation.
It’s high time to remove the im balance between men and women 
specifically in workplaces, th u s the passage of this bill is earnestly 
recom m ended.
VICENTE C. SOTTO III


EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE } 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
} 
F irs t R e g u la r S essio n  
}
S E N A T E
S.B. No. 485
i i ' i - i r r  0. i
*19 JUL 15 A1G50
i
L
-
Rictr. :•
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR VICENTE C. SOTTO III
AN ACT
CREATING A FRIENDLY WORKING ENVIRONMENT FOR WOMEN AND
FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
Philippines in Congress assem bled:
1 
SECTION 1: S h o rt Title. -  This act shall be known as the “Friendly
2 
Working Environment for Women Act.”
3 
SECTION 2. D e cla ra tio n  o f Policy. -  The State recognizes the role of
4 
women in nation-building, and shall ensure the fundam ental equality before
5 
the law of women and men.
6 
SECTION 3. Coxferage. -  This Act shall cover women employees in all
7 
private enterprises, but not to m anagerial employees, field personnel,
8 
m em bers of the family of the employer who are dependent on him for
9 
support, dom estic helpers, persons in the personal seiwice of another, and
10 
w orkers who are paid by results.
11
12 
SECTION 4. R ig h ts o f P re g n a n t Em ployee. -  The covered employer
13 
shall guarantee the following rights of a pregnant employee:


1 
a) No pregnant woman shall be required by her employer to perform any
2 
ard u o u s job, or which involves long hours of standing, or which is in
3 
any way is likely to interfere with her pregnancy or the norm al
4 
developm ent of the fetus, or is likely to cause her m iscarriage or
5 
otherwise to adversely affect her health;
6 
b) W hen a female employee is on her m aternity leave, the employer
7 
cannot term inate her seiwices;
8 
c) Flexible working hours shall be granted to pregnant women for the
9 
whole duration of their pregnancy;
10 
d) Pregnant women should be given an option to work from home
11 
provided that a certification from her attending physician to th at effect
12 
shall be presented prior to the request and reasonable notice be given
13 
to their employer, unless the accom m odation would impose an undue
14 
hardship on the employer.
15 
SECTION 5. P re n a ta l C are Leave. -  A covered pregnant employee
16 
having rendered continuous aggregate employment service of at least six (6)
17 
m onths for the last twelve (12) m onths shall be entitled to a prenatal care
18 
leave of at least five (5) days but not exceeding 11 days with full pay based
19 
on her gross m onthly com pensation to be used during pregnancy when
20 
visiting her doctor for prenatal care.
21 
In order to avail of this leave, reasonable notice m ust be given to the
22 
employer and certification to that effect from the physician m ust be
23 
presented on the day the pregnant employee reported for work after her
24 
consultation with her physician.
25 
SECTION 6. P ro p er T reatm en t o f P re g n a n t o r W omen E m ployees
26 
w ith  R e la te d  M edical C ondition. -  A covered employer is prohibited I'rom
27 
treating an applicant or worker differently on the basis of pregnancy,
28 
childbirth or a related medical condition.
29 
Pregnancy-related medical condition, as herein referred to, shall
30 
include, but not limited to, the following:
3 1 
a) fertility treatm ent(s) a n d /o r family planning;


2
3
4
5
6
7
8 
9
1
b) medical or health conditions or com plications that m ight affect or 
be affected by pregnancy or chikltjirth (e.g. diabetes, high blood 
pressure, etc.);
c) m iscarriage or conditions arising as a direct or indirect result of 
m iscarriage;
d) stillbirth or conditions arising as a direct or indirect result of 
stillbirth; and
e) abortion or conditions arising as a direct or indirect result of 
abortion.
10 
SECTION 
7. 
A ccom m odations f o r  
W omen 
E m ployees 
w ith
11 
P reg n an cy -R elated  M edical C ondition. -  Covered employers are also
12 
required to m ake reavSonable accom m odations for employees who have
13 
pregnancy-related medical condition. This may include tem porary transfer
14 
to a less strenuous or less hazardous position, if an employee so requests
15 
upon the advice of her attending physician, unless the accom m odation
16 
would impose an undue hardship on the employer.
17 
SECTION 8. E m ploym ent o f Women. -  No employer shall refuse to
18 
hire a wom an because she's pregnant or because she may become pregnant
19 
in the future, except in cases mentioned in Section 10 (c) of this Act.
20 
SECTION 9. R ig h ts o f W omen W orking in M a n u fac tu rin g  Firm s. -
21 
The covered employer shall guarantee the following rights of women in
22 
m anufacturing firms;
23 
a) Women workers may be given the option to be assigned in a day
24 
shift;
25 
b) The shift timing of a woman worker cannot be changed w ithout at
26 
least a  24-hour notice for their shift timing change;
27 
c) Prohibitions for women workers to work in a hazardous occupation
28 
that will endanger their 
lives and limbs, or would prevent them
29 
from conceiving


1 
SECTION 
10. M easures to Avoid S ex u al H a ra ssm e n t in  th e
2 
W orkplace. -  All covered 
employers 
m ust provide a safe working
3 
environm ent for women that would deter the comm ission of sexual
4 
h arassm ent in the workplace such as, but not limited to, the following:
5 
a) Organize w orkshops and aw areness program s at regular intervals
6 
for sensitizing employees on the issues and im plications of
7 
workplace sexual harassm ent. Separate trainings may be m ade for
8 
rank 
and 
file 
employees, 
and 
supeiwisoiy 
and 
m anagerial
9 
employees.
10 
The training for rank and file employees should teach employees
11 
w hat sexual harassm ent is, explain that employees have a  right to
12 
a workplace free of sexual harassm ent, discuss the com plaint
13 
procedure, and encourage employees to avail of the grievance
14 
m achineiy of the company.
15 
The training for supeiwisoiy and m anagerial employees should
16 
educate the m anagers and supeiwisors about sexual harassm ent
17 
and their role in the prevention of such acts, and explain them  how
18 
to deal with com plaints.
19 
b) Support women employees when they organize and plan activities
20 
that would aid them  to better deal with sexual harassm ent in the
21 
workplace
22 
c) Monitor and revise the policy and education/inform ation program s
23 
on a regular basis to ensure that it is still effective for the workplace
24 
SECTION 11. Flexible W ork P olicies f o r  W orking M other a n d
25 
F em ale G u ard ian . -  Covered employers shall allow Ilexible work policies
26 
including, but not limited to, job sharing, telecom m uting/telew orking, and
27 
career flexibility for working m other or female guardian with children or
28 
w a rd /s a g e/s zero (0) to five (5); provided that the aforem entioned
29 
arrangem ents would not impose an undue hardship on the employer.
30 
Job sharing or work sharing is an employm ent arrangem ent where
31 
typically two people are retained on a part-tim e or reduced-tim e basis to
32 
perform a job norm ally fulfilled by one person working full-time. In such an


1 
arrangem ent, the com pensation is apportioned between the workers sharing
2 
the sam e job.
3 
Telecom m uting or teleworking is working from a remote location
4 
outside of a traditional office.
5 
SECTION 12. P e n a lties. -  Any violation of the provisions of this Act
6 
shall be punished with a fine of not less than One H undred Thousand Pesos
7 
(P 100,000.00) nor more than Five Hundred T housand Pesos (P500,000.00)
8 
at the discretion of the court.
9 
In addition to such penalty, any alien found guilty shall be sum m arily
10 
deported upon completion of seiwice of sentence.
11 
SECTION 13. L iab ility  o f a  J u rid ic a l P erson. -  If the offense is
12 
com m itted by a corporation, trust, firm, partnership, association or any
13 
other entity, the penalty shall be imposed upon the guilty officer or officers
14 
of such corporation, trust, firm, partnership, association or entity.
15 
SECTION 14. Im p lem enting R ules a n d  R eg u latio n s. -  W ithin six (6)
16 
m onths from the effectivity of this Act the D epartm ent of Labor and
17 
Employm ent shall prom ulgate rules and regulations necessary to ensure the
18 
effective im plem entation of this Act.
19 
SECTION 15. S e p a ra b ility  C lause. - If any provision of this Act is
20 
declared invalid or unconstitutional, other provisions hereof which are not
21 
affected thereby shall continue to be in full force and effect.
22 
SECTION 16. R ep ealin g  C lause. -  Section 14-A of Republic Act No.
23 
1166, as am ended, and all other laws, presidential decrees or issuances,
24 
executive orders, letters of instruction, adm inistrative orders, rules or
25 
regulations contraiy to or inconsistent with any provision of this Act is
26 
hereby am ended or modified accordingly.
27 
SECTION 17. E ffectim ty C lause. - This Act shall take fifteen (15)
28 
days following its publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2)
29 
new spaper of general circulation.
Approved,