1) The basic rule: holiday pay is a statutory labor standard tied to being an “employee,” not to having a written contract

In the Philippines, holiday pay is primarily governed by the Labor Code provisions on holiday pay (commonly identified as Article 94) and the Omnibus Rules Implementing the Labor Code (particularly the rules on Holiday Pay). The central idea is simple:

If an employer–employee relationship exists, statutory benefits apply—including holiday pay—even if there is no written employment contract.
A written contract helps prove terms (rate, schedule, status), but lack of a written contract does not erase legal rights.

So the real threshold question is not “Is there a contract?” but “Is this worker legally an employee?”

2) Are you an “employee” even if you’re part-time and undocumented? The legal tests that matter

Philippine labor law recognizes employment relationships even when hiring is informal. In disputes, authorities typically look to the four-fold test, with heavy emphasis on control, to determine if someone is an employee:

Selection and engagement (who hired you)
Payment of wages (who pays you)
Power of dismissal (who can discipline/terminate you)
Power of control (who controls how the work is done—methods, schedule, rules, supervision)

If the putative employer controls the manner and means of work (not just the end result), the worker is usually treated as an employee, even if:

work is part-time,
paid per hour/day,
paid in cash,
“no contract” exists,
the worker was told they are “freelance” or “contractual.”

Key consequence: A part-time worker who is truly an employee is generally entitled to Labor Code labor standards (including holiday pay), unless an express legal exemption applies.

3) What “holiday pay” means in Philippine labor standards

A. Regular holidays (Labor Code holiday pay)

For regular holidays, covered employees are generally entitled to be paid even if they do not work, subject to certain eligibility conditions (discussed below).

Typical pay rules (daily-rated baseline):

No work on regular holiday: paid 100% of regular daily wage
Worked on regular holiday: paid 200% of regular daily wage (first 8 hours)
Worked on regular holiday falling on rest day: paid 200% + 30% of 200% = 260% (first 8 hours)
Overtime on regular holiday: add 30% of the hourly rate on that day (so overtime hours are paid at holiday hourly rate × 1.30)

B. Special non-working days (premium pay rules; “no work, no pay” principle)

For special non-working days, the default principle is:

No work: generally no pay (unless company policy/CBA/practice grants pay, or the worker is on a monthly-salary arrangement that effectively covers the day)
Worked: generally 130% of the daily wage (first 8 hours)
Worked on a special day falling on rest day: 130% + 30% of 130% = 169% (first 8 hours)
Overtime: add 30% of the hourly rate on that day

C. Special working days

Some declared days are special working days, typically treated like an ordinary working day (no statutory premium), unless a company policy/CBA grants otherwise.

Important: Holiday classifications and specific dates can change year-to-year due to legislation and presidential proclamations. The category (regular vs special non-working vs special working) drives the pay rule.

4) Part-time employees: covered in principle, but pay is usually computed proportionately

A. Part-time status does not automatically remove holiday pay rights

Philippine labor standards generally do not say “holiday pay is only for full-time employees.” The law speaks in terms of “employees” or “workers,” with defined exemptions.

So, a part-time employee is generally eligible for regular holiday pay if:

they are a covered employee (not exempt), and
they meet the eligibility conditions for that holiday.

B. The practical question: how much is a part-timer’s holiday pay?

Holiday pay is based on the employee’s regular wage for the day. For part-time work, computation commonly follows a pro-rata logic: you pay what the employee would normally earn for the work time that day.

Common computation approaches (depending on the worker’s wage arrangement):

1) Hourly-paid part-time with a fixed daily schedule

If a part-time employee has a standard schedule (e.g., 4 hours/day), then the “day’s wage” is typically:

Hourly rate × scheduled hours for that day

Example (Regular holiday, no work):

Hourly rate: ₱120
Usual work that day: 4 hours
Holiday pay: ₱120 × 4 = ₱480

Example (Regular holiday, worked 4 hours):

Pay is at 200% for worked hours
Holiday pay: ₱120 × 4 × 2 = ₱960

2) Part-time with varying hours or irregular scheduling

If hours vary, disputes typically focus on what constitutes the employee’s “regular daily wage.” Employers may use:

the scheduled hours (if there was a posted schedule),
a reasonable average of recent working days, or
the employee’s established pattern (e.g., every Mon/Wed/Fri, 5 hours each).

Because irregular schedules can create factual disputes, documentation matters (timecards, chats, rota/schedule posts).

3) Daily-paid part-time (paid per day worked)

If paid per day (even if “part-time day”), the daily rate is the baseline.

4) Result-based pay (piece-rate/task/commission) part-time

Certain result-based arrangements are treated differently under the implementing rules. In some cases, holiday pay is computed using an average of earnings over a defined prior period, or based on a guaranteed wage component. However, some result-based workers may fall under exemptions (see Section 6), especially where work is unsupervised or purely commission-based.

5) “No written contract”: what it changes—and what it doesn’t

A. What it does not change

Statutory minimum benefits still apply if employment exists: holiday pay, minimum wage compliance, overtime (where applicable), 13th month pay (for rank-and-file, subject to rules), SSS/PhilHealth/Pag-IBIG coverage (subject to legal thresholds), etc.
Employers cannot defeat labor standards by simply not issuing a contract.

B. What it can change in real life: evidence and disputes

Without a written contract, the dispute often becomes proof-based:

What was the agreed hourly rate?
What are the normal hours/days?
Was the worker really an employee or an independent contractor?
Was the worker absent the day before the holiday?

Common evidence used to prove employment and terms:

Payslips, payroll entries, bank transfers, cash vouchers
Time records, biometrics logs, DTRs
Schedules/rosters, group chats directing attendance
Company IDs, uniforms, assigned workstations
Work instructions, performance monitoring, supervision notes
Emails/messages showing control (required reporting, approvals, disciplinary rules)

6) Who is not entitled to holiday pay under Labor Code rules (important exemptions)

Even if someone is an employee, Philippine rules typically exempt certain categories from holiday pay (regular holiday pay), such as:

Employees of retail and service establishments regularly employing fewer than 10 workers (a common statutory exemption in implementing rules)
Managerial employees (and certain officers exercising managerial prerogatives)
Field personnel and other employees whose hours of work cannot be determined with reasonable certainty, and those not supervised in time/performance
Some task-based/contract-based or purely commission-based arrangements, especially where time and performance are not supervised
Domestic helpers and persons in the personal service of another (covered by a different legal framework; benefits differ)
Family members dependent on the employer for support (in certain contexts)

Important for “part-time” workers: Many disputes arise because employers label workers as “part-time,” “freelance,” “commission-only,” or “project-based.” Labels do not control; the actual facts of control and supervision do. A part-timer who is scheduled, supervised, and disciplined like staff is usually not a “field personnel” type and is often treated as covered.

7) Eligibility conditions for regular holiday pay (the “day before” rule and other common rules)

Holiday pay is not always automatic. Under typical Labor Code implementing rules:

A. The “day immediately preceding the holiday” rule

An employee is commonly required to be:

present at work, or
on paid leave

on the workday immediately preceding the regular holiday to be entitled to holiday pay.

If the employee is absent without pay on that preceding workday, the employee may lose entitlement to the holiday pay.

B. Rest day before the holiday

If the day before the holiday is the employee’s rest day, that generally should not defeat holiday pay entitlement (the employee cannot be “absent” on a rest day).

C. Successive regular holidays (e.g., two consecutive regular holidays)

Rules commonly address consecutive regular holidays and how absence before the first holiday can affect entitlement to both.

D. Authorized absences

Company-approved leave without pay, suspensions, or AWOL scenarios can affect eligibility.

For part-time workers: The tricky part is identifying the “workday immediately preceding” the holiday when schedules are irregular. In practice, this often means:

the last scheduled workday before the holiday, or
the immediately preceding calendar day if that was a scheduled workday.

This becomes factual and is best supported by the roster/schedule practice.

8) Does a part-time employee get holiday pay even if the holiday falls on a day they’re not scheduled to work?

This is one of the most disputed practical issues for part-time workers.

A. The statutory framing

Regular holiday pay is framed as payment of the regular daily wage during regular holidays for covered employees. The law does not always speak in “scheduled shift” language because it was designed around standard workweeks.

B. The practical payroll approach

Many employers compute part-time holiday pay based on the employee’s established work schedule—i.e., holiday pay is due when the regular holiday falls on a day the employee would ordinarily have worked, and computed based on that day’s usual hours.

C. The risk area (for both employees and employers)

If a part-time employee can show that:

their workdays are consistently determined by the employer, and
the holiday reduced a day they would have worked or been scheduled,

then the claim for holiday pay is stronger.

If the employee truly has no predictable schedule and only works upon call or acceptance of gigs, the employer may argue there was no “regular daily wage” loss for that day and/or the person is not a covered employee but a contractor.

Bottom line: For part-time arrangements, entitlement is typically strongest where there is a stable, employer-controlled schedule or a provable work pattern.

9) Computing holiday pay for part-time employees: common scenarios

Scenario 1: 4 hours/day, Monday–Friday schedule, hourly-paid

Regular holiday falls on Wednesday
- No work: Pay hourly × 4 hours
- Worked 4 hours: Pay hourly × 4 × 200%
- Worked overtime beyond 8 hours: apply overtime premium on the holiday hourly rate (rare for part-time, but possible)

Scenario 2: Works only Saturdays (e.g., students), fixed weekly schedule

Regular holiday falls on Saturday
- No work: typically hourly × scheduled hours
- Worked: apply holiday worked premium

Scenario 3: Irregular schedule, but employer posts weekly roster

Use the posted roster as the best evidence:
- If roster showed the employee scheduled on the holiday: pay rules apply
- If roster did not schedule the employee: entitlement is more contestable and will depend on pattern and classification

Scenario 4: Paid by output, but closely supervised and time-controlled

Determine if worker is covered or exempt
If covered, holiday pay may be based on average earnings rules under implementing regulations (where applicable), or a guaranteed wage component.

10) What if the employer says: “You’re part-time; you don’t get holidays”?

That statement is not automatically correct.

A part-time employee can still be entitled to:

Regular holiday pay (if covered and eligible)
Premium pay for work on certain holidays/days (depending on classification)
Other labor standards (minimum wage compliance, overtime rules where applicable, 13th month pay subject to rules, etc.)

The employer’s position may only hold if:

the worker falls under an exemption (e.g., genuine field personnel, exempt establishment), or
the worker is not actually an employee (true independent contractor), or
the employee did not meet eligibility conditions (e.g., unpaid absence on the preceding workday, per applicable rules), or
the day in question is not a regular holiday (it may be a special non-working or special working day with different pay consequences).

11) Enforcement and remedies for unpaid holiday pay (no contract cases included)

A. Unpaid holiday pay is typically treated as an underpayment of wages/benefits

Holiday pay is a labor standard benefit. Non-payment can be pursued as a money claim.

B. Where claims are usually brought

Common avenues include:

DOLE processes (including mandatory conciliation/settlement mechanisms used in labor disputes and labor standards enforcement), and/or
NLRC adjudication when the dispute involves broader issues or requires a formal case resolution

Which forum applies can depend on:

whether employer–employee relationship is contested,
the type and amount of the claim,
whether reinstatement or other relief is involved,
the applicable procedural rules at the time of filing.

C. Prescription period (deadlines matter)

Money claims arising from employer–employee relations (including many wage-related benefits) are commonly subject to a 3-year prescriptive period counted from the time the cause of action accrued (i.e., when the holiday pay should have been paid).

D. Evidence is decisive when no written contract exists

In “no contract” situations, the practical success of a claim often depends on:

proof of employment relationship (control and supervision),
proof of agreed pay rates and work schedules,
proof of non-payment (payroll, payslips, bank records),
proof of attendance status around the holiday (time records, schedule).

12) Employer policies, CBAs, and “practice”: benefits can be higher than the law—and may become enforceable

Even if a worker is arguably outside statutory coverage (or in gray areas), an employer may still be bound if it has:

a policy granting holiday pay to part-time workers,
a CBA provision,
a consistent and deliberate company practice of paying it over time

Under Philippine labor doctrine on non-diminution of benefits, a benefit that is:

consistently granted,
deliberate,
not due to a one-time mistake,

may become difficult to withdraw unilaterally.

13) Practical compliance checklist (Philippine context)

For employees (part-time, no written contract)

Identify whether the day is a regular holiday or special day (classification matters).
Gather proof of employment: schedules, instructions, supervision evidence, payroll proof.
Check if there was an unpaid absence on the workday immediately preceding the holiday (eligibility issue).
Compute what is owed using the part-time pro-rata baseline (hourly × scheduled hours; then apply the proper premium if worked).

For employers

Document part-time arrangements (schedule basis, hourly rate, status).
Classify holidays correctly (regular vs special non-working vs special working).
Apply holiday pay and premium pay rules consistently.
Maintain time records and payroll records, especially for hourly and part-time staff.

14) Summary: the core legal position

No written contract does not remove holiday pay rights if an employer–employee relationship exists.
Part-time employees are generally eligible for regular holiday pay if covered and eligible, and holiday pay is typically computed proportionately based on their wage and normal hours/pattern.
Exemptions exist (small retail/service establishments under the worker threshold, managerial employees, genuine field personnel/unsupervised workers, and other defined categories).
Regular holidays are generally paid even if unworked (subject to eligibility rules), while special non-working days follow the no work, no pay default unless worked or unless company policy/practice provides otherwise.
In “no contract” situations, proof of employment, schedule, and pay practice is often the deciding factor.

This article is for general information and does not substitute for individualized legal advice.