Legal Obligations for Preferred Names of Transgender Employees in the Philippines

I. Introduction

The question of whether employers in the Philippines are legally obliged to respect the preferred names of transgender employees does not yet have a single, explicit answer in statute or Supreme Court jurisprudence. Instead, the answer is pieced together from:

Constitutional guarantees of dignity and equal protection
Civil Code provisions on human relations and privacy
Labor standards and workplace safety norms
The Safe Spaces Act (RA 11313) on gender-based harassment
The Data Privacy Act (RA 10173)
Local anti-discrimination ordinances (ADOs)
Corporate best practices and international standards

This article explains how these sources of law interact and what they practically require from employers, even in the absence of a specific “preferred name law”.

II. Basic Legal Framework

1. Constitution

Key constitutional principles relevant to transgender employees and preferred names:

Dignity and full respect for human rights – The Constitution recognizes the dignity of every human person and guarantees full respect for human rights. Systematic misnaming or misgendering can be framed as an affront to dignity.
Equal protection of the laws – While there is no explicit constitutional reference to “gender identity”, unequal treatment of transgender employees just because they are trans can be argued as an equal protection issue.

These principles do not directly say “you must use preferred names,” but they inform how labor and civil laws should be interpreted.

2. Civil Code on Human Relations and Privacy

Several Civil Code provisions are often invoked when dealing with dignity and respect in social and employment relations:

Article 19 – Requires every person, in the exercise of rights, to act with justice, give everyone their due, and observe honesty and good faith.
Article 21 – Liability for willful acts contrary to morals, good customs or public policy that cause damage to another.
Article 26 – Protects a person’s right to privacy and peace of mind; prohibits, among others, unwarranted prying into someone’s privacy and vexing or humiliating another on account of their personal condition.

If an employer or manager insists on using a deadname or misgendering a person to humiliate or “make a point”, this may fall under Articles 19, 21 and 26 and become a basis for civil liability.

3. Labor Law and DOLE’s Protective Role

The Labor Code and related issuances are built around:

Security of tenure
Just and humane conditions of work
Protection against discrimination and harassment

There is no explicit national statute that says: “Employers must use the preferred names of transgender employees.” However:

DOLE’s general mandate is to ensure a safe and healthy workplace, including protection from psychosocial hazards such as harassment and bullying.
In practice, DOLE can consider persistent, intentional misnaming/misgendering as a form of harassment or as creating an unsafe or hostile work environment.

4. Safe Spaces Act (RA 11313)

The Safe Spaces Act covers gender-based sexual harassment in:

Streets and public spaces
Online spaces
Educational institutions
Workplaces

In the workplace context, the law:

Covers acts that are sexist, misogynistic, transphobic, homophobic or otherwise discriminatory, if they create a hostile or offensive environment.
Obligates employers to prevent and address gender-based harassment, including transphobic acts by managers, co-workers, or third parties.

Persistent refusal to use a transgender worker’s name or pronouns, when done in a mocking, hostile, or demeaning way, can be legally framed as:

Gender-based harassment under the Safe Spaces Act, and/or
A form of workplace bullying or psychological harassment.

Thus, while RA 11313 doesn’t literally say “use the employee’s preferred name,” it strongly supports policies that prevent harassment — and systematic misnaming is increasingly recognized as exactly that.

5. Data Privacy Act (RA 10173)

The Data Privacy Act (DPA) regulates the collection and processing of personal and sensitive personal information. Gender identity and transgender status can be treated as sensitive personal information, especially when linked to medical or transition-related data.

Relevance to preferred names:

Employers collect and store legal names for payroll, SSS, PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG, tax, and other official purposes – this is allowed and required.
Information about a person’s trans status (e.g., deadname, medical transition, sex assigned at birth) must be handled carefully; unauthorized or unnecessary disclosure may be a privacy violation.
“Outing” an employee by publicly revealing their deadname, especially when they have transitioned in the workplace, can be risky under the DPA and under Civil Code provisions on privacy.

Respecting a trans employee’s preferred name in day-to-day use, and limiting access to deadname/legal name to HR and payroll, can be seen as good privacy compliance.

6. Civil Registration and Legal Name Rules

Under civil registration and name laws:

A person has a legal name as recorded in the civil registry (PSA records, birth certificate).
Changing this name is possible only through specific legal processes (Rule on Change of Name, petitions filed in court or in some cases through administrative procedures for minor corrections).
Supreme Court cases have historically been restrictive on changing sex markers and names solely by reason of gender transition, with a narrow exception for intersex conditions.

For employers, the effect is:

For official documents and government reporting, you are generally required to use the employee’s legal name.
For internal, non-legal documents (nameplates, email display names, internal chat, the name on their desk, etc.), the law does not forbid the use of a different name, as long as there is no intent to defraud or mislead.

III. Legal Name vs. Preferred Name in Employment

A useful way to think about obligations is to separate:

Where legal names are mandatory
Where there is flexibility

1. Where Legal Name is Typically Required

Employers in the Philippines are generally obliged to use legal names in:

Employment contracts and HR master records
Payroll records and payslips (often tied to bank account name)
SSS, PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG registrations and reports
BIR registration, Form 2316, and other tax documents
Government permits or clearances where legal ID is required

Here, using the name that appears in the employee’s birth certificate or PSA documents is not a matter of choice; it is part of compliance.

However, even within formal records, some employers adopt formats like:

Legal Name: Juan Dela Cruz (a.k.a. “Janelle Dela Cruz” – preferred name)

as long as there is clarity for audit and legal purposes.

2. Where Preferred Name is Lawfully Possible

In contrast, the law does not prohibit an employer from using an employee’s preferred name in:

Email addresses and display names
Office directories and organizational charts (internal)
ID badges (with a line elsewhere or in the system listing the legal name)
Name plates, uniforms name tags, internal chat and collaboration tools
Internal memos that do not go to government or external regulators

The main legal conditions are:

No intent to defraud third parties or government
The company can still trace and match the preferred name to the legal name internally
There is no specific external legal requirement that the exact legal name must be printed/visible on that particular document

Given this flexibility, a default refusal to recognize a preferred name, especially when justified only by “wala sa batas yan”, can clash with:

Civil Code obligations to act with justice and good faith
Workplace harassment and Safe Spaces Act obligations
Local anti-discrimination ordinances where applicable

IV. Non-Discrimination and Harassment: How They Shape Obligations

1. National Law (General)

Even without a comprehensive SOGIE Equality Law at the national level, existing laws and general principles make it risky for employers to:

Treat trans employees worse just because they are trans
Tolerate a culture of deliberate misnaming/misgendering
Punish or disadvantage someone because they asserted their gender identity or asked to be called by a different name

This can be viewed as:

Violation of human relations provisions (Civil Code)
Creating a hostile work environment (under RA 11313)
A breach of the employer’s duty to provide a safe and healthy workplace

2. Local Anti-Discrimination Ordinances (ADOs)

Many cities and LGUs have SOGIE anti-discrimination ordinances, which:

Prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression
Often cover employment, education, access to services, and public accommodations
Provide administrative penalties (fines, possible imprisonment) for discriminatory acts

While exact wording varies by LGU, common prohibited acts in the employment context include:

Refusal to hire or promote due to SOGIE
Denial of benefits
Harassment and abusive conduct because of a person’s SOGIE

In some ordinances, disrespecting a person’s gender identity in forms of address can be treated as discriminatory or harassing conduct. That naturally extends to cases where managers refuse to use a trans person’s name or insist on using a deadname as a form of disrespect.

If an employer operates in an LGU with such an ordinance, they have stronger, more explicit legal obligations to respect SOGIE — including, by implication, preferred names consistent with gender identity.

V. Privacy and “Deadnaming”

“Deadnaming” refers to calling a transgender person by their former name (usually associated with their sex assigned at birth), especially after they have changed their name socially.

Legally, the issues include:

Right to privacy (Civil Code & Constitution)
Data protection (DPA)
Freedom from harassment (Safe Spaces Act & local ordinances)

Key points for employers:

HR and payroll may need to know and store the legal name for compliance.
However, not everyone in the company needs to know the deadname. Over-disclosure can be an unnecessary invasion of privacy.
Posting the deadname on public company sites or internal systems visible to many (when the employee prefers otherwise and there is no legal need to do so) can be challenged as intrusive or harassing.

Best practice (and often the safer legal position) is:

Limit the use of the legal/deadname to functions where it is required.
Use the preferred name in day-to-day interactions and visible systems.
Treat information about the person’s transition as confidential, shared on a strict need-to-know basis and ideally with the employee’s consent.

VI. Practical Employer Obligations in Policy and Practice

Even without a specific statute, when you combine the Constitution, Civil Code, Safe Spaces Act, DPA, labor standards, and local ordinances, a coherent picture emerges of what employers should do and what may now be viewed as legally expected.

1. Policy-level Obligations

An employer, especially a medium or large one, is expected to:

Adopt an anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policy that explicitly covers SOGIE.
Define harassment to include repeated, intentional misgendering or use of deadnames against the wishes of the employee.
Provide reporting channels (HR, hotline, email) where employees can complain about misnaming or harassment.
Investigate and act on complaints, with appropriate disciplinary measures when warranted.
Train managers and supervisors on respectful handling of SOGIE issues, including correct use of names and pronouns.

These obligations flow directly from RA 11313, DOLE expectations on workplace harassment, and general duties to provide a safe workplace.

2. Operational/HR Obligations

Concretely, HR should:

Include a field for “Preferred Name” (and optionally pronouns) in onboarding forms and HRIS, while still collecting legal name for official records.
Ensure systems display the preferred name for everyday use (email display, internal chat, phonebook, ID badge, name tags) where legally permissible.
Maintain a cross-reference in HR records between legal and preferred names for compliance and audit purposes.
Update internal documents when employees socially transition (e.g., from “Mario” to “Marielle”), within a reasonable period, once formally notified.

3. Manager and Co-worker Conduct

Managers and coworkers should:

Use the employee’s preferred name in all interactions, except in limited situations where the legal name must appear (e.g., signing legal documents).
Avoid mocking, “joking about,” or deliberately ignoring the preferred name or pronouns — this is where conduct can veer into harassment.
Respect privacy: do not “out” the person’s deadname to others without consent.

Employers can be held liable if they knowingly allow harassment or hostile conduct to continue.

VII. Disputes, Remedies, and Liability Exposure

If an employer refuses to respect preferred names or allows systematic misnaming/misgendering, potential avenues for redress include:

Internal Grievance Mechanisms
- Filing a complaint with HR, ethics hotline, or grievance committee.
- Requesting a change in name usage, correcting entries in internal systems, or disciplinary action against harassers.
DOLE Complaints / NLRC Cases
- Complaints for illegal dismissal, constructive dismissal, or unfair labor practice may involve facts showing discrimination or harassment based on SOGIE.
- While there may be no specific “preferred name” cause of action, facts about misnaming and harassment help prove hostile or abusive treatment.
Civil Actions
- Claims for damages under Articles 19, 21, and 26 of the Civil Code.
- Basis: humiliation, mental anguish, and violation of privacy arising from persistent, deliberate misnaming or exposure of deadname.
Administrative or Criminal Complaints under Local ADOs and the Safe Spaces Act
- In LGUs with SOGIE anti-discrimination ordinances, discriminatory and harassing acts can be subject to administrative or quasi-criminal penalties.
- Under RA 11313, certain forms of gender-based harassment at work carry criminal and administrative liability.
Data Privacy Complaints
- If a company mishandles or improperly discloses sensitive information about an employee’s trans status or deadname, complaints can be lodged with the National Privacy Commission.

VIII. Grey Areas and Common Pitfalls

Despite the strong trend toward recognition of transgender rights, there remain grey areas:

No national law expressly ordering use of preferred names – Employers sometimes rely on this absence to justify staying “neutral.” However, this position becomes weaker when constitutional, civil, harassment, and local anti-discrimination norms are considered together.
Small businesses with limited systems – Micro enterprises may argue that they lack HRIS or resources to modify IDs and records, but they can still honor preferred names in interpersonal practice and communication.
Conflict between customer-facing IDs and legal requirements – For certain roles (e.g., financial or regulated sectors), there may be stricter requirements on IDs and legal names. Employers can address this with dual-name approaches (“Legal Name: ___ / Preferred Name: ___”) and clear policies to avoid confusion while still minimizing daily deadnaming.
Religious or cultural objections by co-workers – Co-workers may claim personal beliefs prevent them from using a trans colleague’s name or pronouns. Employers must balance religious freedom with the duty to prevent discrimination and harassment. As a rule, the obligation to ensure a safe workplace prevails; employees cannot rely on personal beliefs to justify harassing or demeaning conduct.

IX. Best-Practice Model for Philippine Employers

From a compliance and risk-management perspective, the safest model is:

Recognize SOGIE explicitly in company policies.
Collect both legal and preferred names, but strictly limit the use of the legal name to what is required by law.
Use preferred names by default in internal communications, IDs, and collaboration tools.
Define harassment to cover deliberate, repeated refusal to respect names and pronouns.
Train HR, managers, and security/frontline personnel (guards, reception, etc.) on handling transgender employees respectfully, including name and pronoun usage.
Provide clear avenues for complaints and remedies, and show that the company is willing to act.

This approach is consistent with:

Philippine constitutional and civil law principles
The Safe Spaces Act and local SOGIE ordinances
Data privacy obligations
International labor and human rights standards applied to gender identity and expression

X. Conclusion

In the current Philippine legal landscape:

There is no single statute that commands: “Employers must always use the preferred names of transgender employees.”
But when constitutional guarantees, Civil Code provisions on human relations and privacy, labor and harassment norms, the Safe Spaces Act, data privacy principles, and local SOGIE ordinances are read together, a clear expectation emerges:

Employers should, as a matter of legal prudence and respect for dignity, use the preferred names of transgender employees in all contexts where the law does not require the use of the legal name, and must never use deadnames or misnaming as a tool of harassment, hostility, or humiliation.

Failing to do so exposes employers to risks: harassment and discrimination complaints, civil damages, data privacy issues, reputational harm, and potential liability under local and national laws. Recognizing and using preferred names is therefore not merely a courtesy; it is increasingly part of what it means, in the Philippine context, to run a lawful, safe, and rights-respecting workplace.