A practitioner-style legal article in Philippine context (general information; not legal advice).

1) Why this topic matters

More Filipinos work past the traditional retirement ages—whether by choice, necessity, or employer need. Once an employee turns 65, questions immediately arise:

Do employers still have to deduct and remit SSS, PhilHealth, and Pag-IBIG?
If the employee is already a pensioner, can they still be “covered” as an employee?
What changes in payroll compliance, reporting, and penalties?

The short answer is: it depends on the specific mandatory program, and for some programs it depends on when the person first became covered and whether they are already treated as retired under that system.

2) The Philippine legal and regulatory framework (high level)

In private employment, mandatory payroll-based social protection typically involves:

SSS (Social Security System) — social insurance for private-sector employees and certain self-employed/voluntary members.
PhilHealth — national health insurance under the Universal Health Care framework.
Pag-IBIG Fund (HDMF) — savings/housing fund with mandatory coverage for many employees.
Employees’ Compensation (EC) — a work-related contingency program closely associated with SSS coverage for private employees (employer-funded).

For government employees, the parallel system is generally GSIS (and related programs), which has its own rules on compulsory coverage and retirement.

Because each program is created by law and implemented by its agency through circulars and regulations, “over 65” does not automatically mean “no contributions” across the board.

3) Age, retirement, and continued employment: separate concepts

A recurring compliance mistake is mixing up three different ideas:

A. Age

Turning 65 is a fact, but programs differ on whether age ends coverage, ends contribution liability, or simply triggers retirement eligibility.

B. Retirement status

An employee may be:

retired under company retirement policy (or under the Labor Code’s retirement framework), and/or
retired under SSS (receiving an SSS retirement pension), and/or
retired under GSIS (if a government employee).

These do not always happen at the same time.

C. Employment status

A person can be actively employed even if:

they are 65+, and/or
they are already a pensioner under a social insurance system.

The compliance question is not “Is the person old?” but rather: “Is the person still a type of worker that the law requires to be covered and to contribute, under that particular program?”

4) SSS: the most “age-sensitive” program in practice

4.1 General rule (private sector)

SSS is structured as social insurance tied to employment (or membership type). In practice, SSS coverage and contribution obligations often hinge on:

Whether the person became an SSS-covered employee before reaching the system’s age thresholds, and
Whether the person is already considered retired under SSS.

4.2 Employees hired at 65+ (common compliance issue)

A frequent operational question is: If you hire someone who is already over 65, must you register them and pay SSS contributions as an employee?

In many payroll implementations, new compulsory employee coverage is not treated the same when first employment/coverage begins beyond certain ages, because the SSS retirement framework is anchored on maximum insurable ages and retirement eligibility. Practically, this can result in:

No SSS deductions/remittances for a newly hired employee already beyond the age cutoffs recognized for compulsory employee coverage; and/or
Classification adjustments (e.g., the person may already be a retiree/pensioner, or may not be eligible for the usual coverage).

Important: Whether SSS contributions are required can depend on the employee’s SSS membership history and retirement/pension status (and agency rules at the time). Employers should avoid assuming a one-size-fits-all rule based only on age.

4.3 Employees who were covered earlier and simply continued working past 65

Another scenario: the employee was a long-time SSS-covered worker and remained employed past 65.

Here, employers typically encounter one of two compliance realities:

The employee retires under SSS (often aligned with mandatory retirement age in SSS practice), and payroll stops deducting SSS because the person is already treated as a retiree/pensioner; or
The person continues working and the employer must ensure the correct SSS handling based on whether the member is still contribution-eligible under SSS rules and whether retirement has been claimed/recognized.

4.4 What about Employees’ Compensation (EC)?

For private employees, EC is employer-paid and is generally integrated with SSS coverage. As a practical matter, if an employee is not being treated as SSS-contributory, EC treatment often follows—but the exact handling should be consistent with the employee’s SSS coverage status.

4.5 Practical SSS compliance checklist for 65+ employees

For each 65+ worker on payroll, document:

Are they already receiving SSS retirement pension?
Were they SSS-covered before turning 60/65 (as applicable)?
Are they classified by SSS as a retiree, employed member, or other member type?
Does payroll currently deduct SSS? If yes, why; if no, why not?
Is the basis supported by the employee’s SSS records and current agency rules?

Because SSS is the program where age/retirement status most often changes contribution treatment, misclassification here is a common source of remittance disputes or audit findings.

5) PhilHealth: age does not automatically stop premium obligations for employed members

5.1 Universal coverage structure

PhilHealth membership is universal in policy terms, and senior citizens (60+) are generally PhilHealth members even without paying individually, because they are typically covered as a protected/sponsored group.

5.2 But if the senior is still employed…

When a person is an actively employed member, PhilHealth premiums are generally collected through payroll contributions consistent with the employed-member category.

So, for a 65+ employee who is still actively employed, it is commonly treated as:

PhilHealth contributions continue via payroll, because employment-based premium sharing is tied to being an employed contributor, not to being under 60.

5.3 Common payroll confusion: “They’re a senior, so they’re free”

Even if seniors are protected under the law, employment can place the person back into a payroll-premium arrangement. In practice, employers generally continue to remit PhilHealth for employed seniors unless there is a specific recognized exemption or classification that removes them from employee premium contributions.

6) Pag-IBIG (HDMF): often mandatory for covered employees, but membership rules can be age-bounded in implementation

Pag-IBIG is typically mandatory for many employees, but in real-world compliance the question becomes:

Is the employee still within the mandatory coverage parameters as implemented (including age and membership eligibility)?
Is the employee already a Pag-IBIG member continuing membership, or a new registrant beyond a threshold?

Many employers treat Pag-IBIG as continuing for employees who remain covered, but age and membership eligibility can affect whether a person is required (or even allowed) to be newly covered as a mandatory member.

Practical approach

For a 65+ employee:

Verify whether they have an existing Pag-IBIG MID and membership history.
Confirm whether the person remains under mandatory coverage or becomes optional/voluntary given age and program rules.
Document the basis for whether you deduct/remit.

7) Government employees (GSIS) working past 65

If the employee is in government service, rules may shift from SSS to GSIS coverage. Government retirement is heavily program-specific, and the compulsory nature of GSIS contributions may be influenced by:

Appointment status (regular, casual, contractual, etc.),
Whether the person is already a GSIS retiree/pensioner, and
Whether re-employment affects pension and contribution obligations under GSIS rules.

If your “employee over 65” is in the public sector, treat it as a separate legal track and avoid importing SSS rules.

8) Company retirement pay vs. statutory contributions: don’t confuse the buckets

Even if statutory contributions change after 65 under a specific program, employers must still consider:

Company retirement plan obligations, if any; and/or
The default retirement framework commonly applied in Philippine labor practice (retirement eligibility, minimum retirement pay when applicable, and plan integration).

A 65+ employee might be:

no longer contributing to SSS (depending on status), yet
still receiving wages, benefits, and possibly retirement-plan accruals depending on company policy.

9) Penalties and audit risk: where employers usually get hit

Employers are commonly exposed when they:

stop deductions based solely on age without documentation, or
continue deductions for a retiree/pensioner without proper basis (creating employee relations and refund issues), or
fail to update member classifications, resulting in mismatched reporting.

Best practice: maintain a written payroll compliance memo for each 65+ employee explaining the contribution treatment for SSS, PhilHealth, and Pag-IBIG, supported by the employee’s membership/pension documentation.

10) Practical “rules of thumb” for HR/payroll (with caution)

These are operational heuristics used in many workplaces—but always validate against current agency guidance and the employee’s status:

PhilHealth: contributions typically continue if the senior is still employed, because employed-member premiums are payroll-based.
SSS: the most sensitive—often changes once the person is treated as retired/pensioner or if compulsory coverage doesn’t apply due to age and coverage timing.
Pag-IBIG: often continues for covered employees, but eligibility/mandatory coverage can be affected by age and membership history.

11) Frequently asked questions

Q1: “Our employee is 67 and still working full-time. Do we still deduct all three?”

Often: PhilHealth yes, SSS depends, Pag-IBIG depends—based on the employee’s membership/pension status and the program’s coverage rules.

Q2: “If they’re already receiving SSS pension but we re-hired them, do we resume SSS deductions?”

Not automatically. Many employers treat SSS pensioners differently in payroll contribution handling. The correct treatment depends on how SSS rules classify pensioners who are re-employed and whether contributions are still required/accepted under the member’s status.

Q3: “Can we just stop all contributions once someone turns 65?”

That is risky. Age alone is not a universal stopping rule, especially for PhilHealth.

12) Recommended employer protocol for employees over 65

Collect documentation (with consent and data privacy safeguards): proof of pension status (if any), membership numbers, and program classifications.
Classify per program: SSS, PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG handled separately.
Write a payroll memo for each 65+ employee: deductions/remittances on/off, with reasons.
Align onboarding templates for senior hires: include specific questions about pensioner status and prior coverage.
Recheck periodically (especially after retirement claims or re-employment events).

13) A note on accuracy and changes over time

Philippine social protection programs frequently update contribution rates, salary credit rules, premium computation, and classification procedures through agency issuances. For that reason, the decisive source for “mandatory contributions for 65+ employees” is often the current implementing rules and circulars, applied to the employee’s exact membership and pension status.

If you tell me whether the workers are private sector or government, and whether they are already pensioners (SSS/GSIS), I can provide a tighter, scenario-based compliance guide and a sample payroll memo format you can adopt.