Quick answer

Covered private-sector employees are generally entitled to:

Overtime pay for work beyond eight compensable hours in a day: at least 125% of the basic hourly rate on an ordinary working day, or 130% of the applicable hourly rate for that rest day or holiday.
Regular-holiday pay: generally 100% of the daily wage even if no work is performed, subject to attendance and coverage rules; at least 200% if the employee works.
Special non-working-day premium pay: ordinarily no work, no pay, but at least 130% of the daily wage if the employee works.
Night shift differential: an additional 10% of the applicable hourly rate for each hour actually worked between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.

These benefits can apply together. For example, overtime performed at night on a regular holiday earns the regular-holiday rate, the holiday overtime premium, and night differential. A contract, collective bargaining agreement (CBA), company policy, or established practice may provide higher benefits.

Coverage is not determined by salary level or job title alone. Managerial employees, genuine field personnel and certain other workers may be excluded, but the employee’s actual duties, supervision and working arrangements control.

Minimum statutory rates

The following table shows the usual minimum multipliers for a covered employee. “First eight hours” means the employee’s total pay for those hours. The overtime column is the multiplier applied to the basic hourly rate for each hour beyond eight.

Day worked	First eight hours	Each overtime hour
Ordinary working day	100%	125%
Scheduled rest day	130%	169%
Special non-working day	130%	169%
Special non-working day falling on a rest day	150%	195%
Regular holiday	200%	260%
Regular holiday falling on a rest day	260%	338%

The multipliers come from Articles 86, 87, 93 and 94 of the Labor Code and Book III of its Omnibus Implementing Rules. DOLE’s Workers’ Statutory Monetary Benefits Handbook provides the same working formulas.

These are minimums. Use the higher rate if one is required by a CBA, employment contract, company policy or established company practice.

How overtime pay works

The normal statutory limit is eight hours of work a day. On an ordinary working day:

Overtime pay = basic hourly rate × 125% × overtime hours

If an employee’s daily basic wage is ₱800 for an eight-hour day, the basic hourly rate is ₱100. Two overtime hours on an ordinary working day would be:

₱100 × 125% × 2 = ₱250

This ₱250 is added to the employee’s pay for the first eight hours.

On a regular holiday, the applicable hourly rate is first increased to 200%, then the 30% holiday-overtime premium is applied:

Basic hourly rate × 200% × 130% = 260%

On a regular holiday that is also the employee’s rest day:

Basic hourly rate × 200% × 130% × 130% = 338%

What counts as working time?

Compensable time generally includes:

Time when the employee is required to be on duty, remain at the workplace or be at another prescribed work location.
Work the employer “suffers or permits”—meaning work it requires, knows about or knowingly allows.
Necessary work that benefits the employer and is performed with the knowledge of the employer or immediate supervisor.
Waiting time that is an integral part of the job, or when the employee must remain on the premises or so close that the time cannot be used effectively for personal purposes.
Short rest or coffee breaks of five to 20 minutes.
Required meetings or training, unless attendance is outside regular hours, genuinely voluntary and involves no productive work.

A bona fide meal period is generally not compensable when the employee is completely relieved from duty. If the employee must continue answering calls, monitoring operations, serving customers or performing other duties, the time may be compensable. A shortened meal period of at least 20 minutes is permitted only in specified circumstances and must be credited as working time.

Is prior approval required?

Employers may adopt reasonable authorization and timekeeping procedures. However, the absence of a signed overtime form does not automatically defeat a claim if the employer or supervisor required, knew of or knowingly allowed the work.

The employee must still present substantial evidence that the overtime was actually performed. In Zonio v. 1st Quantum Leap Security Agency, the Supreme Court emphasized both the need to establish actual work and the importance of employer-controlled records such as payrolls, payslips and daily time records. In Maitim v. Teknika Skills and Trade Services, the Court likewise applied the general rule requiring proof of actual overtime while recognizing that the available evidence and the employer’s control of records must be considered realistically.

Can undertime or time off replace overtime pay?

As a rule, no. Undertime on one day cannot be offset against overtime on another day, and granting leave on another day does not by itself erase the overtime premium already earned.

A valid compressed-workweek arrangement may produce a different result for the agreed extended hours, but its legality depends on voluntary agreement, compliance with DOLE conditions, preservation of pay and benefits, and the actual schedule followed. Ordinary scheduling changes or informal “offsetting” should not be assumed to qualify.

Can a monthly salary include overtime?

Being monthly paid does not by itself remove overtime rights. A salary arrangement that purports to include overtime must clearly separate or reliably account for regular and overtime compensation, and the mathematical result must not be less than what the law requires.

A vague statement that a fixed salary covers a 10- or 12-hour day is not enough. In PESALA v. NLRC, the Supreme Court rejected an ambiguous arrangement that did not clearly and adequately account for overtime.

Regular holidays

A covered employee who does not work on a regular holiday is generally entitled to 100% of the regular daily wage. If the employee works for up to eight hours, the minimum is 200%. If the holiday is also the employee’s scheduled rest day, worked hours are paid at 260% for the first eight hours.

For monthly paid employees whose salary genuinely pays all days of the month, regular-holiday pay may already be included in the monthly salary. That does not remove the additional compensation due when they actually work on the holiday.

Attendance requirement

Holiday pay for an unworked regular holiday is subject to these rules:

An employee on paid leave on the working day immediately before the holiday remains entitled.
An employee on leave without pay immediately before the holiday may lose the unworked holiday pay.
If the preceding day is the employee’s rest day or a non-working day in the establishment, entitlement is generally preserved if the employee worked on the working day immediately before that rest or non-working day.
For successive regular holidays, an employee absent without pay immediately before the first may lose pay for both, unless the employee works on the first holiday, in which case holiday pay for the second may be due.

The Supreme Court confirmed the regular-holiday entitlement and attendance qualification in Nippon Paint Philippines v. Nippon Paint Philippines Employees Association.

Double regular holidays

If two regular holidays fall on the same date, the usual minimum rates are:

Not worked: 200% of the daily wage, subject to eligibility rules.
Worked for eight hours: 300%.
Worked and also a rest day: 390%.
Overtime: 390% of the basic hourly rate, or 507% if the double holiday is also a rest day.

Because double holidays are rare, confirm the classification in the applicable presidential proclamation and DOLE labor advisory before computing pay.

Special non-working and special working days

A special non-working day follows the usual “no work, no pay” rule. An employee who works is entitled to at least:

130% for the first eight hours;
150% if it is also the employee’s rest day;
169% per overtime hour, or 195% if it is also a rest day.

The employee must still be paid for an unworked special day if a CBA, employment contract, company policy or established practice provides that benefit.

A special working day is treated like an ordinary working day. There is no holiday premium solely because of that declaration. Rest-day, overtime and night-work rules still apply when independently triggered.

Sunday is not automatically a holiday or premium day. Sunday work earns the rest-day premium only when Sunday is the employee’s established rest day or another applicable rule or agreement grants a higher rate.

For 2026, the nationwide classifications appear in Proclamation No. 1006, s. 2025. Eid’l Fitr and Eid’l Adha were separately declared regular holidays through Proclamation No. 1189 and Proclamation No. 1264. Local proclamations may also create special days in particular provinces, cities or municipalities.

Night shift differential

A covered employee receives at least an additional 10% of the applicable hourly rate for every compensable hour worked from 10:00 p.m. through 6:00 a.m.

On an ordinary day:

Night differential = basic hourly rate × 10% × covered hours

If the night hours are also overtime, the 10% is based on the overtime rate. For a ₱100 basic hourly rate:

₱100 × 125% = ₱125 overtime rate

₱125 × 10% = ₱12.50 night differential

The total for each ordinary-day overtime hour between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. is therefore ₱137.50.

For a regular-holiday overtime hour at night:

Basic hourly rate × 200% × 130% × 110%

Thus, the combined minimum multiplier is 286%. Night differential is additional compensation, not a substitute for overtime or holiday pay.

Only actual compensable hours within the statutory window qualify. A genuine, duty-free meal period inside that window is normally excluded.

Who is covered—and who may be excluded?

These rules principally protect covered employees in private establishments, whether the employer operates for profit or not. Probationary, project, seasonal, casual, part-time and fixed-term status does not automatically remove coverage.

Common statutory exclusions include:

Government personnel governed by civil service and public-sector compensation rules.
Managerial employees and qualifying officers or members of managerial staff.
Genuine field personnel whose actual hours in the field cannot be determined with reasonable certainty.
Dependent family members of the employer.
Kasambahays and persons in the personal service of another, who are governed by separate rules.
Certain workers genuinely paid by results under authorized output standards.

For holiday pay, employees of retail and service establishments regularly employing fewer than 10 workers are also excluded under the implementing rules. For night differential, the separate exclusion covers retail and service establishments regularly employing not more than five workers.

These exclusions must be applied narrowly and according to the facts:

A “manager,” “officer” or “supervisor” title is not conclusive. Actual management authority, discretion, independent judgment and duties matter.
Working outside the office or from home does not by itself make someone field personnel. The crucial issue is whether actual hours can be determined with reasonable certainty.
Piece-rate, commission, task or pakiao payment does not automatically establish an exemption. The governing output standards and degree of time supervision must be examined.
Employees of government-owned or controlled corporations may be governed by different systems depending on the entity’s charter and legal status.
Seafarers, overseas workers and workers in regulated industries may also have special contracts or sector-specific rules that require separate review.

How to check a payslip

Use the following process for every disputed pay period:

Confirm your basic rate. Identify the basic daily and hourly wage, excluding items that are not legally part of the computation base. For an eight-hour day, the basic hourly rate is ordinarily the daily rate divided by eight.
List actual compensable hours by date. Separate the first eight hours, overtime hours and hours falling between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.
Classify each date. Determine whether it was an ordinary day, scheduled rest day, special non-working day, special working day, regular holiday or an overlapping holiday.
Apply each earned premium. Holiday or rest-day premium comes first, followed by overtime where applicable, then night differential on the applicable hourly rate.
Compare the result with payroll entries. Check whether amounts labelled “allowance,” “premium,” “OT,” “ND” or “holiday” actually equal the statutory amount.
Check the applicable regional minimum wage. Current wage orders and regional rates are published by the National Wages and Productivity Commission.

Avoid treating the percentages as amounts that are simply added together. For example, regular-holiday overtime is 200% × 130% = 260%, not 230%.

Evidence to preserve

Keep copies outside company-controlled devices or accounts, where lawful and safe:

Employment contract, job description, handbook, CBA and work schedules.
Payslips, payroll summaries, bank-credit records and tax forms.
Daily time records, biometric logs, bundy cards and attendance screenshots.
Shift rosters, dispatch records, security logbooks, job tickets and production records.
Emails, chats or text messages assigning work before or after the scheduled shift.
Records of online meetings, system logins, call logs, delivery timestamps or submitted work.
Overtime requests, approvals, rejections and instructions to alter time records.
The applicable holiday proclamation and company announcement.
A personal date-by-date computation showing the rate, hours, amount paid and claimed shortfall.
Written requests to HR or payroll and the company’s responses.

Employers are required to maintain payroll and individual time records showing, among other things, time paid, rates, regular pay, overtime pay, deductions and amounts actually paid. Once actual work and entitlement are sufficiently shown, the employer ordinarily bears the burden of proving payment through credible payroll records, vouchers, payslips and similar documents.

Common mistakes

Assuming all salaried employees are exempt.
Treating every supervisor as managerial.
Believing Sunday automatically carries a premium.
Confusing a special non-working day with a regular holiday.
Applying the overtime multiplier only to the ordinary hourly rate when the overtime occurred on a holiday or rest day.
Omitting night differential from holiday or overtime hours.
Deducting short coffee breaks of five to 20 minutes.
Offsetting overtime against undertime or a later day off.
Accepting “OT is already included” without a clear computation.
Claiming approximate schedules without identifying specific dates and hours.
Signing an unexplained quitclaim, waiver or settlement without checking the computation and covered period.
Waiting until older claims fall outside the three-year filing period.

What to do if pay appears short

Prepare a written date-by-date computation and attach supporting records.
Ask payroll or HR in writing for the company’s computation, applicable salary divisor, time records and explanation of each disputed entry.
Check the company policy or CBA for rates higher than the statutory minimum.
If the issue remains unresolved, file a Request for Assistance under the Single Entry Approach. Requests may be filed through DOLE ARMS or onsite at a DOLE regional or provincial office, an NLRC Regional Arbitration Branch, or an NCMB office.
SEnA ordinarily provides up to 30 calendar days for mandatory conciliation-mediation under Republic Act No. 10396 and DOLE Department Order No. 249-25. If unresolved, request the appropriate referral or endorsement rather than assuming the claim was formally adjudicated.
The proper forum depends on the relief, amount and employment status. A DOLE Regional Director may hear a simple money claim not exceeding ₱5,000 per employee when no reinstatement is sought. Labor standards inspection and enforcement authority may apply in other ongoing-employment cases, while Labor Arbiters generally handle termination disputes and employment money claims exceeding that statutory threshold. SEnA personnel can route the dispute, but complex jurisdictional questions may require counsel.

Money claims such as unpaid overtime, holiday pay and night differential generally must be filed within three years from each amount’s accrual under Article 306 of the Labor Code. Each payroll shortfall can have its own deadline. Do not wait for employment to end or rely solely on informal verbal follow-ups.

When help is urgent

Seek immediate assistance from DOLE, a union representative, the Public Attorney’s Office if eligible, or a Philippine labor lawyer when:

Any part of the claim is approaching the three-year deadline.
Time records are being destroyed, altered or withheld.
You are being forced to sign blank payroll sheets, false time records or an unexplained quitclaim.
The dispute involves dismissal, suspension, threats, demotion or reduced pay after you complained.
The employer has closed, is transferring assets or appears likely to disappear.
Several workers have the same payroll problem.
The case involves a contractor, agency, foreign employer, seafarer contract or uncertainty about the true employer.
A settlement requires you to waive broad claims without a clear itemized computation and actual payment.

Article 118 of the Labor Code prohibits an employer from refusing or reducing wages or benefits, dismissing or otherwise discriminating against an employee because the employee filed a wage complaint or testified in a proceeding.

Frequently asked questions

Does overtime begin after eight hours a day or after 40 hours a week?

For most covered employees, the general rule is based on work beyond eight hours in a day. Working fewer than 40 hours in the rest of the week does not automatically cancel overtime already earned on a particular day. Special rules may apply to covered hospital and clinic personnel and valid alternative work arrangements.

Can an employer require overtime?

Only in the emergency and exceptional situations specified by law may an employee generally be compelled to work beyond eight hours against their will. These include declared emergencies, imminent danger, urgent equipment work, protection of perishable goods and completion of work necessary to prevent serious obstruction or prejudice to operations. Required overtime must still be paid.

Am I entitled if I worked overtime from home?

Potentially, yes. Remote work is compensable when it is required, permitted or knowingly allowed and the hours can be proven. Preserve assignments, messages, access logs, submissions and meeting records.

Does a monthly salary eliminate holiday pay?

No. Coverage remains unless a legal exclusion applies. Pay for an unworked regular holiday may already be built into a properly computed monthly salary, but work performed on that holiday still requires the applicable additional compensation.

Do probationary and project employees receive these benefits?

Generally yes, if they are employees covered by the hours-of-work provisions. Their employment classification alone is not an exemption.

Can I claim after resigning?

Yes, resignation does not erase accrued statutory pay. The ordinary three-year limitation still applies to each unpaid amount.

Are these payments taxable?

For a statutory minimum wage earner, the statutory minimum wage and qualifying holiday pay, overtime pay and night shift differential are exempt from income tax under Republic Act No. 9504, as retained under subsequent tax rules. Compensation of employees who are not minimum wage earners is generally subject to the ordinary tax rules.

Can a company provide more than these rates?

Yes. A CBA, contract, policy or deliberate and consistent company practice may grant higher rates. A legally protected benefit cannot be reduced merely because the Labor Code prescribes a lower minimum.

Official references

This article provides general Philippine legal information, not legal advice. Coverage and computation can change based on actual duties, payroll documents, workplace policies, wage orders, CBAs, sector-specific rules and later issuances. Sources and procedures were checked as of July 30, 2026.