November Jurisdictional Update – Philippines

Overtime Pay of Airport Personnel is not Chargeable to Private Airlines and Private Entities, ruled the high court in the Philippines.

In the case of Bureau of Customs Employees Association vs. Hon. Rozzano Rufino B. Biazon (in his capacity as Commissioner, Bureau of Customs) et. al. (2022), two issues were put before the Court.

First, with regard to the payment of overtime pay for airport personnel, the high court held that, in accordance with the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, the overtime pay for airport personnel should be charged to the Philippine national government and not to airline companies and other private entities.

Second, as to Customs Administrative Order No. 7-2011, which provides a shifting schedule of three 8-hour shifts for continuous 24-hour service to limit overtime work, the Court found that the policy was a valid exercise of the President’s ordinance-making power and thus should be upheld.

“In the exercise of executive control, the President has the inherent power to adopt rules and regulations and delegate this power to subordinate executive officials … Hence, We find the instructions to limit overtime work through a shifting schedule to be valid, reasonable, and not violative of any legal provision,” held the high court.