Mandatory “Sick Leave” Under the Philippine Labor Code – A Comprehensive Guide (2025 update)
1. Is there a statutory sick-leave entitlement in the Philippines?
Contrary to popular belief, the Labor Code does not prescribe a stand-alone, paid sick-leave allotment for private-sector workers. What it does contain is Article 95 (renumbered) on Service Incentive Leave (SIL)—five (5) paid days per year that an employee may use “for vacation or sick purposes.” (Omni HR, Labor Law Philippines)
Practical effect: Unless more generous leave is bargained for in a CBA or company policy, those five SIL days are the only leave credits the law obliges an employer to grant for illness.
2. Service Incentive Leave at a glance
| Feature | Key rule | Notes / Cases |
|---|---|---|
| Coverage | Private-sector employees who have rendered at least 1 year of service | Exempt: managerial employees, field personnel, workers in establishments with <10 data-preserve-html-node="true" regular employees, government employees and domestic helpers (they have their own rule) (RESPICIO & CO.) |
| Benefit | 5 days with full pay, convertible to cash if unused at year-end | Domestic workers (kasambahay) also get 5 days, but unused leave is not convertible (RA 10361) (Lawphil) |
| Prescription | Monetary claims prescribe in 3 years (Art. 306) | Auto Bus v. Bautista fixes the 3-year count from each date the SIL should have been paid (Lawphil) |
| Field personnel test | Employee must BOTH regularly perform services away from the employer’s premises and their actual hours of work cannot be determined with reasonable certainty (Auto Bus, elaborated in 2020 & 2021 cases) (Lawphil, Lawphil) |
3. Income-replacement while ill: SSS Sickness Benefit
Because statutory sick leave is minimal, lawmakers rely on Social Security System (SSS) benefits to cover longer illnesses:
Legal basis: Social Security Act of 2018 (RA 11199) and its IRR. (Social Security System, Social Security System)
Eligibility:
- At least 3 monthly contributions within the 12-month period* before the semester of sickness;
- Confinement for ≥ 4 days (hospital or certified home isolation, e.g., COVID-19) (Social Security System).
Allowance: 90 % of the member’s average daily salary credit for each approved day.
Caps: Maximum 120 days per calendar year and 240 days on the same illness (thereafter it converts into a disability claim). (Social Security System)
Employer role: Advance the benefit and seek reimbursement; refusal is an unlawful deduction.
Where the illness is work-related, the Employees’ Compensation Program (PD 626, as amended) adds medical services, rehabilitation and disability income. (Social Security System)
4. Special statutes that function as sickness-related leave
| Special leave | Coverage & duration | Pay | Statute |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gynecological-surgery leave | Women after hysterectomy, myomectomy, etc. | Full pay up to 2 months per surgery | RA 9710 §18 (Philippine Commission on Women, Philippine Commission on Women) |
| VAWC leave | Women victims of violence | 10 days with pay (extendable) | RA 9262 (iacvawc.gov.ph) |
| Solo-parent parental leave | Solo parents w/ ≥ 6 months service | 7 days with pay yearly | RA 11861 (2022) (Philippine Commission on Women) |
| Expanded maternity leave | All female workers | 105 days (+30 days optional unpaid; +15 days if solo parent) | RA 11210 (Bureau of Customs) |
| Paternity leave | Married male employees | 7 days with full pay | RA 8187 (not amended) |
| Service Incentive Leave for Kasambahay | Domestic workers | 5 days w/ pay, non-convertible | RA 10361 §29 (Lawphil) |
5. Termination due to disease (Art. 300, formerly 284)
An employer may dismiss an employee who is certified by a competent public health authority to have an incurable illness that would endanger co-workers after at least six months of treatment. The employee is entitled to separation pay (1 month or ½ month per year of service, whichever is higher). (DivinaLaw, FCB Law Office)
6. Occupational-safety backdrop
Republic Act 11058 (OSH Law) obliges employers to keep workers from being forced to work while unfit and imposes daily administrative fines for violations. (Respicio & Co., L&E Global) Sick-leave policies therefore interact with OSH compliance: denying rest to an ill worker may breach both the Labor Code (duty to “humane conditions of work”) and RA 11058.
7. Enforcement and penalties
Labor standards inspections (Art. 128) cover SIL and maternity/VAWC/solo-parent leave; DOLE may issue compliance orders with back wages plus legal interest.
Refusal to honor SSS sickness benefits exposes the employer to:
- 2 % per month penalty on un-remitted contributions; and
- Criminal liability under RA 11199.
OSH Law fines: ₱20 000–₱100 000 per day until the violation is corrected.
8. Jurisprudential themes
- Field personnel exemptions are strictly construed. Auto Bus v. Bautista holds that even bus conductors who spend the day on the road are entitled to SIL because their employer could track hours through schedules and dispatchers. (Lawphil)
- Prescriptive period: Monetary claims for SIL (or its cash conversion) prescribe in three years from each date they should have been paid (Auto Bus, applied in 2025 cases). (Supreme Court of the Philippines)
- Company practice vs. contract: Once an employer habitually grants more than 5 SIL or a separate sick-leave bank, it becomes a benefit that cannot be unilaterally withdrawn (Maxim’s Tea House, 2003). (Lawphil)
9. Collective bargaining and company policy
Because statutory sick leave is minimal, CBAs routinely provide 15-30 paid sick-leave days and hospitalization allowances. DOLE statistics show sick-leave benefits rank in the top three monetary items bargained since the COVID-19 pandemic. (Institute for Labor Studies)
10. Pending reforms (19ᵗʰ Congress, 2025)
| Proposal | Status | Essence |
|---|---|---|
| House Bill 9345 – “Paid Sick Leave Act” | Approved on 3ʳᵈ reading, Nov 2024; pending at Senate Labor committee | 15 paid sick-leave days nationwide; medical certificate required only after 3 consecutive days (RESPICIO & CO.) |
| Senate Bill 1294 / House Bill 6405 – Mental-health leave | Committee hearings ongoing | 10-day paid leave for mental-health needs, to run parallel with PhilHealth coverage (RESPICIO & CO.) |
| Family & Medical Leave Bill (15 days) | Re-filed July 2024 | Extends leave to care for seriously ill family members (Senate of the Philippines, Senate of the Philippines) |
11. Best-practice checklist for employers (2025)
- Policy audit: Align handbook language—make clear that SIL counts toward any separate sick-leave bank only if expressly stated.
- SSS liaison: Assign an HR staff member to track sickness notifications and file reimbursements within 60 days.
- Medical-certificate rules: Require certificates only when absence exceeds the company-paid threshold, consistent with GDPR/Privacy Act and pending HB 9345 standards.
- OSH synergy: Integrate sick-leave triggers in your OSH program’s Health Surveillance plan (Rule 1960, OSHS).
- Record-keeping: Maintain SIL, SSS benefit and special-leave logs for at least 3 years to defend against DOLE back-wage claims.
- Educate supervisors: Many claims arise because immediate managers deny leave in ignorance of special statutes (VAWC, solo-parent, etc.).
12. Take-away
There is no broad “mandatory sick leave” in Philippine law beyond the five SIL days and the income-replacement schemes of SSS/ECC. Nonetheless, a mosaic of special-purpose leave laws, social-security benefits, OSH obligations, and jurisprudence combine to protect workers’ health. Employers who ignore this mosaic risk statutory penalties, back-pay awards, and health-and-safety fines that swiftly outstrip the cost of simply granting proper leave.
Updated 30 May 2025, Manila.