Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Constitution Hills, Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH (17) CONGRESS
Second Regular Session

House Bill No, 6716

Introduced by REPRESENTATIVE ERIC L. OLIVAREZ

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The 1987 Philippine Constitution provides in Article II,
Section 9 that the State shall promote a just and dynamic social
order that will ensure the prosperity and independence of the
nation and free the people from poverty through policies that
provide adequate social services, promote full employment, a
rising standard of living and an improved quality of life for all.
Relative thereto, Section 15 thereof provides that the State shall
protect and promote the right to health of the people and instill
health consciousness among them. It is very evident from the
said provisions of the constitution that the right to work is a
fundamental right of every citizen in the Philippines and it must
be linked to the right for a safe working condition. Likewise, it is
the policy of the State that aside from safe working condition it
shall instill and promote health consciousness among the
workers and this could only be achieve if the State would
effectively direct the employers to adopt measures to address the
health issues and concerns of their employees. Needless to state
that the requirement of faithful execution of duties and work of
an employee must be harmonized to their right to heath.

In view of the policy of the State to protect the safe working
conditions of every employee and their health, the government
has introduce and enforce mandatory occupational safety and
health standards in all workplaces in order to eliminate health


risks, and to ensure safe and healthful working conditions in
places of employment. One of the measures adopted by the
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is to issue
Department Order No. 184 which aims to permanently inculcate
the guidelines to the employers or establishments to address the
occupational and health safety issues and concerns concomitant
to sedentary work or work requiring prolonged sitting, such as
anxiety, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure,
musculoskeletal disorders, and obesity, among others. However,
it is better if such guidelines would put into law to give it some
degree of permanency and more teeth in its enforcement.
Furthermore, it shall ensure that occupational and safety issues
and concerns are to be fully addressed not only by the State but
by the employers as well. As Dr. James Levine of the Mayo Clinic
warns that the sedentary life is not only linked to weight
problems but also poses greater risks of cancer and heart
diseases. He emphatically stressed that ‘sitting is the new
smoking” as his clinic studied the sitting habits of 800,000 people
over a 15-year period. The findings showed that people who sat in
front of the screen for more than four hours have increased risks
of death by any cause by 50 percent and risks of heart attack,
chest pain or similar ailments by 125 percent. Hence, the
purpose of this bill, aside from being complementary to DOLE
Order No. 184, is to have a countervailing measure in order to
address the employees’ long hours of sitting while at work and to
give them a five minute break every two hours from sitting time
to stretch their body muscles. After all, labor workers are
“company’s greatest asset,” according to businesswoman Anne
Mulcahy, and these assets should be well taken care of and their
health safety must be given priority and essentially be protected
to make them more productive, prolific and dynamic.

In view of the foregoing reasons, the approval of this Bill is
earnestly sought.

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Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Constitution Hills, Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH (17) CONGRESS
Second Regular Session

6716

House Bill No.

Introduced by REPRESENTATIVE ERIC L. OLIVAREZ

AN ACT CREATING AND PROVIDING A REGULAR FIVE-
MINUTE BREAK EVERY TWO HOURS FROM SITTING TIME
FOR SEDENTARY WORKERS

SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the
“Sedentary Workers’ Break Act of 2017”.

SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. - The State shall instill
health consciousness among the employees and to effectively
direct the employers to respect such fundamental right to a safe
working condition of an employee. The requirement of faithful
execution of duties and work of an employee must be harmonized
to their right to heath.

Towards this end, this Act aims to harmonize the health of
workers to their working conditions. It shall protect the health of
the workers, skills and capabilities to make them more
productive, prolific and dynamic. Specifically, to address the
occupational and health safety issues and concerns concomitant
to sedentary work or work requiring prolonged sitting.

SECTION 3. Definition of Terms. - As used in and for the
purposes of this Act, the following terms shall mean:


a) Department or DOLE shall mean the Department of
Labor and Employment; and

b) Sedentary workers are those who are sitting while
working for more than two (2) hours.

SECTION 4. Coverage. - This Act shall cover all workers
who, by nature of their work, have to spend long hours sitting at
work or for more than two (2) hours, such as those involved in
computer, administrative, and clerical works, those working in
high-mechanized establishments, those working in the fields of
transformation, tool booths, information technology and business
process management, and all other processes and industries
where sedentary work is observed.

SECTION 5. Five-Minute Break. - All employers and/or
establishment are directed to institute appropriate control
measures to address the risks to safety and health workers who
spend long hours sitting at work which include, among others,
providing workers with regular five-minute breaks every two (2)
hours from sitting time.

SECTION 6. Other Measures. - For the purpose of
addressing the risks to safety and health of sedentary workers,
the following other measures, among others, may be enforced by
the employers:

a.) Conduct awareness raising on the health effects of
prolonged sitting and sedentary work;

b,) Encourage workers to reduce work by interrupting
sitting time and substitute it with standing and walking;

c.) Conduct medical surveillance among workers who
are at risk of getting the deleterious health effects of
prolonged sitting and sedentary work.

d.) Ensure that the workstation is designed
appropriately for the type of work;

e.) Organize health promotion activities that will allow
workers to do more physical activities after work;


f.) Change work systems - ex. Providing sit-stand
workstations, and conducting standing meetings; and

g.) Redesign work tasks.

Employers may adopt other measures to address the
occupational safety and health problems of workers who have to
spend long hours sitting at work.

SECTION 7. Massive Information Campaign. - The DOLE
shall conduct a massive information campaign to disseminate
these rights under this act to the sedentary working men and
women and it shall conduct and provide research, information,
education, and training in the field of occupational safety and
health of sedentary workers.

SECTION 8. Rules and Regulations. - The Secretary of
Labor and Employment shall promulgate the necessary
implementing rules and regulations within ninety (90) days from
the effectivity of this act.

SECTION 9. Repealing Clause. - All laws, presidential
decrees, executive orders and their implementing rules, or parts
thereof, inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby,
repealed; amended or modified accordingly.

SECTION 10. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen
(15) days after its publication in at least two (2) national
newspapers of general circulation.

Approved.