Payslip Content Requirements Including Government Contributions

Payslip Content Requirements (including Government Contributions) Philippine Legal Framework and Practical Guide (2025)


1. Why payslips matter

A payslip (sometimes called a “pay statement” or “pay stub”) is both a right of the employee and an employer obligation. It serves to

Purpose Governing basis
Show how wages were computed Labor Code (Arts. 102–103) & Implementing Rules, Rule VIII §13 (a)
Prove proper withholding/remittance of taxes & social-security dues NIRC (Tax Code), RA 11199 (SSS), RA 11223 (PhilHealth), RA 9679 (Pag-IBIG)
Document compliance in a labor inspection or tax audit DOLE Labor Advisory No. 11-14, Department Order (DO) No. 202-19
Protect data privacy & integrity RA 10173 (Data Privacy Act), RA 8792 (E-Commerce Act)

Failure to issue an accurate payslip can trigger (a) DOLE compliance orders and administrative fines, (b) criminal penalties for non-remittance of government contributions, and (c) assessments and surcharges from the BIR.


2. Core statutory and regulatory sources

Instrument Key mandate on payslips
Labor Code of the Philippines (PD 442, as renumbered) – Art. 102 & 103 Employers must give wages “in legal tender” together with a statement of each deduction at every payday.
Implementing Rules & Regulations (IRR) – Rule VIII §13 (a) Requires a written or printed pay slip containing the “amount paid and all deductions” signed by the employee if practicable.
DOLE Labor Advisory No. 11-14 Prescribes the minimum data that must appear (see §3 below) and clarifies that electronic payslips satisfy the requirement if accessible to the worker.
DOLE Department Order (DO) No. 202-19 (Revised Rules on Service Contractors) Contractors must furnish payslips duplicating the Labor Advisory 11-14 content and indicating the principal as client.
RA 10361 Domestic Workers Act (Kasambahay Law) – §12 Employers of kasambahay must issue a payslip at least once a month, keep copies for 3 years, and include SSS/PhilHealth/Pag-IBIG contributions.
RA 11199 (Social Security Act of 2018) – §§18-31 Sets contribution schedule; requires employers to give each employee proof of monthly SSS deductions.
RA 11223 (Universal Health Care Act) – §§9 & 44 Similar proof requirement for PhilHealth premium deductions.
RA 9679 (Pag-IBIG Fund Law) – §19 Requires employers to withhold and show contributions on the payslip.
BIR Rev. Regs. No. 11-2018 & 2-98 Mandate issuance of BIR Form 2316 yearly; payslip must reflect cumulative taxes withheld per period.

3. Mandatory items that must appear on every Philippine payslip

Tip: The Labor Advisory speaks in the minimum; in practice, most employers add more detail for transparency.

Cluster Specific data (minimum) Notes / legal anchor
Employer identifiers Registered business name, address & TIN LA 11-14, Art. 109 (solidary liability)
Employee identifiers Name, position / job title, employee number, date hired, SSS/PhilHealth/Pag-IBIG numbers, TIN Separate column for confidentiality of IDs
Pay period covered Start & end dates; date of payment Needed for computation of night-shift diff., OT, etc.
Wage rates & hours Hourly or daily basic rate; number of regular hours, overtime hours, night-shift hours, rest-day/holiday hours IRR Rule I §2, Art. 87, 93
Gross earnings Basic pay, COLA, incentives, commissions, service charges (hotel/resto sector), 13th-month amortization if partial payout, hazard pay, holiday pay, OT pay, night-shift diff. DOLE Department Advisory 01-15 (formulae)
Statutory deductions (itemised) Employee share only:
• SSS contribution
• PhilHealth premium
• Pag-IBIG contribution
• Withholding income tax
• ECC (employee share for seafarers)
Must use current rates (see §4)
Other lawful deductions Company-authorized (e.g., union dues), salary loans & advances, SSS/Pag-IBIG/PhilHealth salary-loan amortisation, court-ordered deductions Art. 113-115; requires employee written authorisation
Total deductions Sum of statutory + other deductions
Net take-home pay Amount actually paid to employee
Employer share of government contributions (informational) Not deducted from net pay but must be disclosed: SSS-ER, PhilHealth-ER, Pag-IBIG-ER, ECC Required by LA 11-14 for transparency
Year-to-date (YTD) running totals Optional but recommended: YTD gross, taxes, contributions Aligns with BIR Form 2316 reconciliation
Acknowledgment / e-signature Space for employee signature or electronic acknowledgment Proves receipt; good practice but not strictly mandatory when using secure e-payslip portal

4. Government-mandated contributions: current (2025) rates & disclosure format

Scheme Law & latest implementing circular Total rate Employee share (deducted) Employer share (informational)
SSS RA 11199; SSS Circular 2025-003 14 % of Monthly Salary Credit (MSC) up to ₱30 k
(breakdown: 4.5 % EE / 9.5 % ER)
Show EE peso amount and MSC used Show peso amount OR at least the %
PhilHealth RA 11223; PhilHealth Circular 2024-0015 5 % of monthly basic salary, cap ₱100 k (equal sharing) 2.5 % 2.5 %
Pag-IBIG RA 9679; HDMF Circular 477-2023 Member’s option up to 4 % but mandatory 2 % EE and 2 % ER on monthly comp. up to ₱10 k (for most employers) 2 % (₱200 max) 2 % (₱200 max)
ECC PD 626; ECC Board Res. 20-08-08 Fixed ₱10/₱30 (depending on risk class) paid by ER only Entire amount (still disclose)

How to show on the payslip

Example line-item layout

Gov’t Contributions:   EE Share    ER Share
  SSS (MSC=30,000)     1,350.00    2,850.00
  PhilHealth           1,250.00    1,250.00
  Pag-IBIG               200.00      200.00
  ECC (Class B)              —        10.00
---------------------------------------------
Total Contributions    2,800.00    4,310.00

5. Special sectors & situations

Sector / situation Payslip twists
Contracted / agency workers DO 202-19 obliges contractors to issue payslips mirroring principal’s format and identifying the principal; principal is solidarily liable.
Kasambahay RA 10361 requires annual income statements and monthly payslips; employer keeps copies 3 yrs.
BPO / flex-time setups Must still reflect night-shift differential (10 % of basic hourly) and segmented schedules.
Piece-rate & “pakyaw” workers Show quantity accomplished × rate; list any rest-day differential.
Seafarers POEA Contract clause 20(B) requires monthly allotment slips itemizing SSS/PhilHealth/ECC.
Minimum-wage earners Even if exempt from income tax, payslip must state “Tax-exempt under RR 8-2018” for clarity.

6. Electronic & paperless payslips

  • Legal basis: RA 8792 (E-Commerce Act) + DOLE Advisory 11-14 accept electronic formats provided:

    1. The employee can securely access, download, and print the file.
    2. Data privacy safeguards (RA 10173) are in place.
    3. The system retains a tamper-evident archive for at least 3 years (parallel to Article 128 record-inspection period).
  • Best practice: Employee click-through acknowledgment or automated read-receipt log; mirrors a physical signature.


7. Record-keeping & inspection

Requirement Retention period
Payroll & payslips (all industries) 3 years from due date of filing per Art. 128(b) & Revenue Regs. 2-98
Kasambahay payslips 3 years (RA 10361 §12)
SSS/PhilHealth/Pag-IBIG proof of remittance 10 years advisable (statutory offense prescribes in 20 yrs under Art. 1146 Civil Code, but agencies audit up to 10 yrs)
BIR Form 2316 copies 4 years (Sec. 235 NIRC)

8. Compliance monitoring & penalties

Violation Liability
No payslip / incomplete payslip DOLE Regional Office may issue Compliance Order; fines up to ₱100k and possible “yellow-red flag” in Labor Law Compliance System (LLCS).
Non-remittance of contributions SSS: 2–12 yrs imprisonment + fine (RA 11199 §28); PhilHealth: double unpaid amount + interest (RA 11223 §44); Pag-IBIG: 0.1 %/day penalty + possible criminal action (RA 9679 §24).
Improper tax withholding disclosure Deficiency tax + 25 % surcharge + interest (NIRC §248).
Data-privacy breach of payslip data 1–3 yrs imprisonment + ₱500k–₱2 M fine (RA 10173 §25).

9. Practical checklist for HR & payroll teams (2025)

  1. Template audit – Compare current payslip template against the §3 list; add employer contribution column if absent.
  2. Rate update cadence – Schedule automatic rate refresh in payroll software for SSS/PhilHealth (changes almost every other year under their catch-up schedules).
  3. Validation rules – Flag any net-pay lower than minimum-take-home pay thresholds (₱5,000 for government, varying for private CBAs).
  4. Dual currency display (for POGO/BPO paying in USD) – Show peso equivalent to comply with Art. 102.
  5. E-archive – Keep hashed PDF copies and access logs for 3 yrs; sync with DOLE inspector portal readiness.
  6. Quarterly self-audit – Reconcile payslip totals with actual SSS/PhilHealth/Pag-IBIG electronic collection system (E-CS) receipts.

10. Frequently asked questions

Question Short answer
Must employer share of SSS/PhilHealth be shown even if it isn’t deducted? Yes. Labor Advisory 11-14 treats it as part of “complete payroll information”.
Can a WhatsApp screenshot of payroll suffice? No. Must be printable and structured; PDF or HRIS portal extract is the accepted format.
Are service charges in hotels/restaurants part of gross pay? They should be shown separately because 85 % goes to employees and is subject to 13th-month-pay computations.
Is 13th-month pay required to be prorated on the monthly payslip? Only if the company adopts semi-monthly crediting; otherwise disclose when actually paid (on or before 24 Dec).
Our cooperative deducts rice-loan amortisation. Is that “government”? No, that is an other lawful deduction; must be itemised with written consent.

11. Key take-aways

  1. Payslip issuance is mandatory at every payout interval, whether weekly, semi-monthly, or otherwise.
  2. Itemisation is king: each statutory deduction and the corresponding employer counterpart must appear.
  3. Electronic payslips are fully valid if the employee can securely access and store them and data-privacy safeguards are in place.
  4. Government-contribution transparency protects both employer and worker; failure to remit has severe criminal and financial consequences.
  5. Advance planning—rate updates, digital archiving, routine audits—keeps your organisation compliant and inspection-ready.

This article synthesises the full suite of Philippine wage-statement requirements as of July 8 2025. Always monitor DOLE, SSS, PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG, and BIR issuances for future updates.

Disclaimer: This content is not legal advice and may involve AI assistance. Information may be inaccurate.