FIFTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
First Regular Session 
SENATE 
Senate Bill No. 8'70 
) 
) 
) 
INTRODUCED BY SEN. JINGGOY EJERCITO ESTRADA 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The Labor Code provides that a retiring employee 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, 
in the absence of a retirement plan, employment contract, or collective 
bargaining agreement granting higher retirement benefits. 
The retirement pay of employees is exempted from tax, subject to certain 
conditions and requirements provided under the Tax Code and RA 4917. 
However, there are certain instances wherein employers fail to comply with these 
requirements, the most common of which is their failure to register their 
retirement plans. 
When the request for tax exemption is denied by the Bureau of Internal 
Revenue, it is usually the retiring employees who bear the full burden of the tax, 
even though it is wholly the fault of the employer. This is unfair and unjust to the 
retirees, especially to those who would be receiving a meager retirement pay. 
This bill seeks to reaffirm the tax-exempt status of retirement benefits, and 
to pass the tax burden to the employers in the event that the request for tax 
exemption is denied by the BIR for any reason, as long as the retiring employee 
is without fault. 
Hence, the immediate passage of this bill is therefore earnestly solicited. 
Senator 


FIFTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC) 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
First Regular Session 
SENATE 
Senate Bill No. 870 
) 
) 
3Ef ' 
INTRODUCED BY SEN. JINGGOY EJERCITO ESTRADA 
AN ACT 
AMENDING ARTICLE 287 OF PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 442, AS 
AMENDED, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE LABOR CODE OF THE 
PHILIPPINES, 
BY 
REQUIRING 
EMPLOYERS 
TO 
RELEASE 
THE 
RETIREMENT PAY OF EMP,"OYEES WITHIN FIFTEEN DAYS FROM 
SUBMISSION OF COMPLETE DOCUMENTARY REQUIREMENTS 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled: 
SECTION 1. 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: 
"ART. 287. Retirement. - Any employee may be retired upon 
reaching the retirement age established in the collective bargaining 
agreement or other applicable employment contract. 
"I n case of retirement, the employee shall be entitled to receive 
such retirement benefits as he may have eamed under existing laws and 
any collective bargaining agreement and other agreements: Provided, 
however, That an employee's retirement benefits under any collective 
bargaining and other agreements shall not be less than those provided 
herein. 
"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 sixty (60) years or more, but not beyond sixty-five (65) 
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. 
"Unless the parties provide for broader inclusions, the term one-half 
(1/2) month salary shall mean fifteen (15) days plus one-twelfth (1/12) of 
the 13th month pay and the cash equivalent of not more than five (5) days 
of service incentive leaves. 


• 
"THE RETIREMENT PAY OF EMPLOYEES, INCLUDING HIS 
OTHER EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS, SHALL BE RELEASED BY THE 
EMPLOYER AS A SINGLE LUMP-SUM AMOUNT IN LEGAL TENDER 
WITHIN FIFTEEN (?5) DAYS FROM HIS SUBMISSION OF COMPLETE 
DOCUMENTARY REQUIREMENTS, BUT NOT EARLIER THAT THE 
DATE OF HIS RETIREMENT. 
"An underground mining employee upon reaching the age of fifty 
(50) years or more, but not beyond sixty (60) years which is hereby 
declared the compulsory retirement age for underground mine workers, 
who has sewed at least five (5) years as underground mine worker, may 
retire and shall be entitled to all the ,retirement benefits provided for in this 
Article. 
• 
"Retail, service and agricultural establishments or operations 
employing not more than ten (10) employees or workers are exempted 
from the coverage of this provision. 
"Violation of this provision is hereby declared, unlawful and subject 
to the penal provisions provided under Article 288 of this Code. 
"Nothing in this Article shall deprive any employee of benefits to 
which he may be entitled under eXisting laws or company policies or 
practices. " 
SEC. 2. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its complete 
publication in the Official Gazette or in at least .two (2) national papers of general 
circulation, whichever comes earlier. 
Approved,