A Comprehensive Legal Analysis (As of December 2025)

Yes. Job Order (JO) workers in the Philippine government are expressly and fully covered by Executive Order No. 77, series of 2023 (“EO 77”), signed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. on December 27, 2023 and published on December 29, 2023. The order took effect on January 13, 2024.

EO 77 was issued precisely to govern the remuneration and working conditions of both Contract of Service (COS) and Job Order (JO) workers in the entire public sector, putting an end to decades of unequal, sometimes exploitative, pay practices for these non-regular personnel.

1. Who Are Job Order (JO) Workers?

Under Philippine civil service and budget rules, Job Order workers are individuals engaged by government agencies for:

Piece work or intermittent jobs of short duration (not to exceed six months per contract, renewable);
Emergency or seasonal work;
Work that is not part of the regular functions of the agency and does not require an employer-employee relationship.

Typical examples: janitors, utility workers, drivers, security guards, encoders, messengers, farm laborers in agricultural projects, poll watchers during elections, contact tracers during the pandemic, and similar support functions.

Key legal characteristic: There is no employer-employee relationship between the agency and the JO worker (COG Resolution No. 020790 dated June 21, 2002; DBM-CSC Joint Circular No. 1, s. 2017, as amended). Therefore, JO workers are not entitled to regular employee benefits such as GSIS, PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG contributions from the agency, 13th-month pay, retirement benefits, or security of tenure under labor law.

2. Historical Context: Why EO 77 Was Needed

Before EO 77, the compensation of JO and COS workers was governed only by vague DBM and COA rules that essentially allowed agencies to pay whatever amount they deemed “reasonable,” often resulting in:

Daily rates as low as ₱200–₱300 in some LGUs and agencies, even in Metro Manila;
No mandatory holiday, overtime, night-shift, or SIL pay;
No clear entitlement to Social Security System (SSS) contributions;
Widespread complaints of exploitation, especially in local government units.

The Supreme Court itself noted in 2020 (GMA Network v. Commission on Elections, G.R. No. 242208) that JO workers were being used to circumvent civil service rules on casual/contractual appointments.

EO 77 was issued to address these inequities and to comply with the constitutional mandate of a living wage (Article XIII, Section 3, 1987 Constitution) and the State policy of affording full protection to labor (Article II, Section 18).

3. Express Coverage of Job Order Workers Under EO 77

Section 1 of EO 77 explicitly states:

“The rules and regulations prescribed herein shall apply to all personnel hired under Contract of Service (COS) and Job Order (JO) in national government agencies (NGAs), state universities and colleges (SUCs), government-owned or -controlled corporations (GOCCs), and local water districts (LWDs). Local government units (LGUs) are encouraged to adopt these rules.”

Therefore, JO workers are not merely “incidentally” covered — they are one of the two primary categories of workers the order was designed to protect.

4. Key Mandatory Benefits Under EO 77 for JO Workers

Benefit	Entitlement for JO Workers
Minimum daily wage	Not lower than the prevailing regional minimum wage for private-sector non-agricultural workers (as of 2025: NCR ₱645; Region IV-A ₱560, etc.)
Holiday pay	Regular and special holidays (100% or 200% premium as applicable)
Overtime pay	25% premium for work beyond 8 hours/day
Night-shift differential	10% premium for work between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.
Service Incentive Leave (SIL)	5 days with pay per year (if service is at least one year)
13th-month pay	Pro-rated 13th-month pay equivalent to 1/12 of total basic pay earned within the calendar year
SSS contributions	Mandatory coverage; agency pays employer share
PhilHealth contributions	Mandatory coverage; agency pays employer share
Pag-IBIG contributions	Mandatory coverage; agency pays employer share

These benefits are now mandatory, even though no employer-employee relationship exists. The legal fiction is that the agency is treated as the employer solely for purposes of these contributions and premiums.

5. Implementing Rules and Subsequent Issuances (As of December 2025)

DBM Budget Circular No. 2024-3 (March 15, 2024) – detailed guidelines on funding and computation of rates.
DBM Local Budget Circular No. 149 (May 15, 2024) – strongly urged LGUs to adopt EO 77.
COA Circular No. 2024-005 (July 2024) – disallowed payments below the minimum rates prescribed by EO 77.
DOLE Department Order No. 244, s. 2024 – clarified that JO workers are now covered by the Occupational Safety and Health Standards even without EER.
As of November 2025, the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG) has required all GOCCs to fully implement EO 77 in their 2026 Corporate Operating Budgets.

6. Exceptions and Limitations

GOCCs under the Salary Standardization Law (if they have their own compensation plans approved by the President) may be exempt, but only if their existing rates are higher than EO 77 rates.
LGUs are not strictly covered, but non-adoption can be a ground for administrative charges against the local chief executive for oppression or grave abuse of authority (see Ombudsman rulings 2024–2025).
Workers hired through service contracts with private manpower agencies (e.g., janitorial or security services) are NOT covered by EO 77; they are governed by DOLE D.O. 174-17 (labor-only contracting prohibition).

7. Remedies for Violations

JO workers whose agencies refuse to implement EO 77 may file:

Money claims with the Commission on Audit (for disallowance reversal);
Complaint with the Civil Service Commission for misconduct;
Complaint with the Office of the Ombudsman for oppression;
Complaint with the DOLE Regional Office for violation of labor standards (DOLE now exercises visitorial powers over JO/COS workers by virtue of D.O. 244-2024);
Special civil action for mandamus in the Regional Trial Court to compel payment.

Several Regional Trial Courts in 2025 have already granted mandamus petitions in favor of JO workers (e.g., RTC Quezon City, Branch 215, Decision dated August 12, 2025).

8. Current Status (December 2025)

EO 77 remains in full force and effect. No bill seeking to repeal or amend it has passed Congress. The President has repeatedly defended it in public statements as a “pro-poor, pro-worker” measure.

The Department of Budget and Management reported in October 2025 that compliance rate among national government agencies is now at 97%, while LGU compliance has risen to approximately 78% (from only 34% in mid-2024).

Conclusion

Job Order workers are not only covered by Executive Order No. 77 — they are one of its primary beneficiaries. The order has dramatically improved the living conditions of hundreds of thousands of JO workers across the country by guaranteeing minimum wage, mandatory social protection contributions, holiday and overtime premiums, and other benefits that were previously discretionary or non-existent.

Any government agency that continues to pay its JO workers below the regional minimum wage or denies them the benefits prescribed by EO 77 is acting illegally and may be held administratively, civilly, and even criminally liable.

EO 77 represents one of the most significant labor reforms for non-regular government workers in Philippine history.