Can Employers Charge Applicants for Pre-Employment Medical Exams in the Philippines?

Executive summary

Short answer: In mainstream practice and under a web of Philippine rules on labor standards, recruitment, OSH, and anti-discrimination, employers should shoulder the cost of pre-employment medical exams (PEMEs). While there is no single statute that uses the exact sentence “employers are prohibited from charging applicants for medical exams,” several binding and persuasive authorities—plus DOLE enforcement practice—point to the employer as payor. There are also clear categories where charging applicants is impermissible (e.g., most overseas employment and seafarer hiring), and strong constraints on what tests may be required and when.

Below is a comprehensive, practitioner-style guide.

1) The legal building blocks

A. General labor standards & recruitment principles

No payment for the privilege of work. Philippine labor policy rejects arrangements where workers bear the cost of being hired. This animates rules that (i) forbid deposits/bonds tied to job retention, and (ii) regulate recruitment fees. By analogy and enforcement practice, PEME costs are treated as a normal cost of doing business—akin to PPE, onboarding, and statutory medical surveillance.
Reasonableness & job-relatedness. Any medical requirement must be reasonably related to the job and proportionate to legitimate business needs (e.g., fitness to perform safety-sensitive tasks), not a proxy for discrimination.

B. Occupational Safety & Health (OSH) framework

Employers have a duty to ensure a safe and healthy workplace, which includes medical examinations for baseline and periodic surveillance where risks warrant it. Costs tied to compliance with OSH obligations are the employer’s responsibility. Requiring applicants to pay would effectively transfer a compliance cost to a prospective worker, which regulators generally disallow.

C. Overseas employment and seafaring (special rules)

Seafarers (MLC 2006 regime). Recruitment and placement must be free of charge to the seafarer. Compulsory medical certificates for service on board are borne by the shipowner/principal or agency. Charging the seafarer/applicant is a compliance risk and can ground administrative sanctions.
Land-based OFWs (POEA/DMW rules). As a rule of thumb, principals/employers shoulder mandatory medical exams required for deployment. Charging migrant worker-applicants is typically prohibited or strictly limited (and, for some categories like household service workers, absolutely barred). Violations can result in suspension, cancellation, or monetary penalties.

D. Government sector (Civil Service)

Medical fitness checks are often part of post-offer/entry requirements. Agencies customarily shoulder costs of required medical clearances or channel applicants to government facilities. Blanket shifting of costs to applicants risks equal-access concerns and may be questioned.

2) What may (and may not) be tested

Even if the employer pays, the content and timing of exams are regulated:

HIV testing: No mandatory HIV testing for employment. Testing requires informed, written consent under the HIV and AIDS Policy Act. Using HIV status to make hiring decisions is prohibited.
Pregnancy tests: Using pregnancy status to deny hiring constitutes sex discrimination. Requiring pregnancy tests for non-safety-critical roles is high-risk; if ever justified (e.g., exposure to teratogens), obtain informed consent, provide clear risk communication, and never use the result to exclude where reasonable accommodation exists.
Drug testing: Must follow lawful drug-free workplace policies, with validated procedures and accredited facilities. Random or pre-employment testing must be policy-based, necessity-driven, and privacy-compliant.
Disability/medical history inquiries: Limit to fitness-for-duty and job-related questions. Avoid broad health questionnaires at the application stage; defer to post-offer, pre-placement where possible, and consider conditional offers subject to a fitness result.
Genetic testing: Treat as off-limits absent a clear, specific legal basis (which generally does not exist in PH employment law).

3) Data privacy & confidentiality

The Data Privacy Act applies to health data, which is sensitive personal information:

Legal basis: Obtain freely given, specific, informed consent for the exam and for processing the results; identify necessity (e.g., compliance with OSH, fitness to work).
Data minimization: Collect only what’s strictly necessary for job placement or OSH. Don’t default to full panels if a focused exam suffices.
Access controls: Results should be accessible only to occupational health professionals and authorized HR on a need-to-know basis; store securely; define retention periods; ensure Breach Response readiness.
Applicant rights: Provide privacy notices, allow access and correction, and explain decisions made from medical data.

4) Timing: when in the hiring process?

Best-practice sequencing reduces discrimination risk:

Application & interviews: No medical exams. Evaluate qualifications and skills.
Conditional offer: Issue a written conditional offer that is uniformly contingent on a fitness-for-work exam paid by the employer.
Post-offer, pre-placement exam: Conduct job-related PEME and risk-specific lab tests.
Placement & periodic surveillance: For hazard-exposed roles, schedule periodic exams at employer cost.

5) Can an employer ever make the applicant pay?

Local (domestic) hiring

General rule in practice: No—employer pays. DOLE inspections and labor-standards rationale treat PEMEs as an employer cost. Asking applicants to pay (or to “pay now, reimburse later”) is legally risky and may be deemed an unlawful hiring condition or a form of recruitment fee shifting.
Edge cases: For purely optional medicals requested by the applicant (e.g., the applicant wants additional tests beyond the employer’s required panel), cost-sharing is possible if truly voluntary and clearly documented, with the employer still covering the required tests.

Overseas employment & seafaring

Do not charge. For most categories—and especially for seafarers—charging applicants for mandatory medicals is prohibited.

6) Consequences of charging applicants

Administrative exposure: For overseas hiring and seafaring, agencies and principals face license sanctions, fines, and delisting.
Unfair labor practice / illegal deduction theories: While ULP typically concerns employees and unions, novel complaints or illegal exaction claims can be entertained where applicants were compelled to pay to get hired.
Equal opportunity & discrimination claims: Requiring payment can have disparate impact on protected groups (e.g., women, PWDs), compounding liability.
Data privacy penalties: Improper collection/processing of medical data—especially if bundled with payment—creates privacy compliance risk.

7) Practical compliance playbook (employers)

Policy: Adopt a written Pre-Employment Medical Exam Policy stating that the company shoulders all required PEME costs.
Uniformity: Apply the same requirement post-offer across similarly situated roles to avoid discrimination.
Job-related panels: Map tests to job hazards (e.g., audiometry for noise, spirometry for dusts); avoid shotgun panels.
Accredited providers: Use DOH-accredited clinics; ensure valid chain of custody for any drug testing.
Privacy by design: Issue privacy notices, get informed consent, and limit internal access to results; retain only as long as necessary.
No-cost experience: Make logistics cashless for applicants (e.g., clinic bills the employer directly). If reimbursement is unavoidable, reimburse 100% promptly and never make reimbursement contingent on actually starting work.
OFW/Seafarer hiring: Align with DMW/POEA and MLC rules; audit agencies for compliance; include zero-fee clauses in service agreements.
Recordkeeping: Keep proof of payment, clinic accreditation, consent forms, and risk assessments.

8) Applicant’s rights & remedies

Ask upfront: “Who pays for the PEME?” If told to pay, request written policy and reconsideration citing OSH and recruitment norms.
Keep receipts: If you paid under pressure, keep proof; you may pursue reimbursement through company channels or file a labor standards complaint with DOLE/DMW (for overseas placements).
Privacy rights: You may request a copy of your results, ask how they were used, and seek correction of inaccuracies.

9) Frequently asked scenarios

“We only reimburse if you pass and start.” High-risk. It conditions reimbursement on hiring and can chill equal access. Safer: pay directly or reimburse regardless of outcome within a set number of days.
“We’ll deduct the PEME cost from your first pay.” For domestic employment, treat as non-compliant—this shifts an onboarding cost to the worker and risks an illegal deduction finding.
“We require a comprehensive executive panel for all roles.” Overbroad. Tailor to job demands and hazards; otherwise, exposure to privacy and discrimination challenges increases.
“Pregnancy test for factory line workers exposed to solvents.” Only if risk-based, consented, and paired with accommodation; never used to exclude categorically.

10) Bottom line

Domestic hiring: Treat PEMEs as an employer-paid cost. Avoid charging or reimbursing conditionally. Keep tests job-related, post-offer, and privacy-compliant.
Overseas & seafarers: Do not charge applicants for mandatory medical exams; costs belong to the principal/shipowner/agency.
Policy & practice: Clear written policies, accredited providers, and cashless workflows eliminate most legal risks.

Model clause you can adopt

Pre-Employment Medical Exams (PEME). The Company shall fully shoulder the cost of all required pre-employment medical examinations, laboratory tests, x-rays, and drug testing, where applicable. PEMEs shall be conducted after a conditional offer of employment and shall be limited to tests reasonably related to the job or required by occupational safety and health regulations. Results are confidential and processed in accordance with the Data Privacy Act. Any optional tests requested by the applicant shall be at the applicant’s expense unless otherwise approved in writing by the Company.

This article is intended for general information and compliance planning in the Philippine context. For high-risk roles, overseas deployments, or unionized settings, obtain advice on the specific rule set that applies to your industry and workforce.