Labor Code: Book II — Human Resources Development; Title II — Training and Employment of Special Workers; Chapter I — Apprentices (September 12, 2023)

Book II — Human Resources Development

Title II — Training and Employment of Special Workers 

Chapter I — Apprentices

Q: For what kind of jobs may an employer hire apprentices?

Q: What are the rights of an apprentice?

Q: Is an apprentice covered by the SSS?

Art. 57. Statement of objectives. 

This Title aims: 

1. To help meet the demand of the economy for trained manpower;
2. To establish a national apprenticeship program through the participation of employers, workers and government and non-government agencies; and
3. To establish apprenticeship standards for the protection of apprentices.

Art. 58. Definition of Terms. 

As used in this Title:

“Apprenticeship” means practical training on the job supplemented by related theoretical instruction.
 
An “apprentice” is a worker who is covered by a written apprenticeship agreement with an individual employer or any of the entities recognized under this Chapter.
 
An “apprenticeable occupation” means any trade, form of employment or occupation which requires more than three (3) months of practical training on the job supplemented by related theoretical instruction.
 
“Apprenticeship agreement” is an employment contract wherein the employer binds himself to train the apprentice and the apprentice in turn accepts the terms of training.

Art. 59. Qualifications of apprentice. 

To qualify as an apprentice, a person shall:

1. Be at least fourteen (14) years of age;
2. Possess vocational aptitude and capacity for appropriate tests; and
3. Possess the ability to comprehend and follow oral and written instructions.

Trade and industry associations may recommend to the Secretary of Labor appropriate educational requirements for different occupations.

Art. 60. Employment of apprentices. 

Only employers in the highly technical industries may employ apprentices and only in apprenticeable occupations approved by the Secretary of Labor and Employment. (As amended by Section 1, Executive Order No. 111, December 24, 1986)

Art. 61. Contents of apprenticeship agreements.

Apprenticeship agreements, including the wage rates of apprentices, shall conform to the rules issued by the Secretary of Labor and Employment. The period of apprenticeship shall not exceed six months. 

Apprenticeship agreements providing for wage rates below the legal minimum wage, which in no case shall start below 75 percent of the applicable minimum wage, may be entered into only in accordance with apprenticeship programs duly approved by the Secretary of Labor and Employment. The Department shall develop standard model programs of apprenticeship. (As amended by Section 1, Executive Order No. 111, December 24, 1986)

Notes:

An apprenticeship program needs prior approval by the Department of Labor and Employment. 

If employed without a pre-approved apprenticeship program, the "apprentice" is not an apprentice but a regular employee. 

Nitto Enterprises v. NLRC (September 29, 1995)

• Nitto Enterprises hired Roberto Capili as an apprentice machinist, molder, and core maker in May 1990, with an apprenticeship agreement for six months.
• On August 2, 1990, Capili accidentally injured an office secretary while working with glass. Later that day, he operated a machine without authorization and injured his thumb.
• The company covered Capili's medical expenses and asked him to resign on the same day.
• Capili executed a Quitclaim and Release in favor of the company in exchange for a sum of money.
• Capili filed a complaint for illegal dismissal and other monetary benefits three days later.

WoN Capili was an apprentice. NO.

It is mandated that apprenticeship agreements entered into by the employer and apprentice shall be entered only in accordance with the apprenticeship program duly approved by the Minister of Labor and Employment. Prior approval by the Department of Labor and Employment of the proposed apprenticeship program is, therefore, a condition sine quo non before an apprenticeship agreement can be validly entered into.

Hence, since the apprenticeship agreement between petitioner and private respondent has no force and effect in the absence of a valid apprenticeship program duly approved by the DOLE, private respondent's assertion that he was hired not as an apprentice but as a delivery boy ("kargador" or "pahinante") deserves credence. He should rightly be considered as a regular employee of petitioner.

Art. 62. Signing of apprenticeship agreement. 

Every apprenticeship agreement shall be signed by the employer or his agent, or by an authorized representative of any of the recognized organizations, associations or groups and by the apprentice.

An apprenticeship agreement with a minor shall be signed in his behalf by his parent or guardian, if the latter is not available, by an authorized representative of the Department of Labor, and the same shall be binding during its lifetime.

Every apprenticeship agreement entered into under this Title shall be ratified by the appropriate apprenticeship committees, if any, and a copy thereof shall be furnished both the employer and the apprentice.

Art. 63. Venue of apprenticeship programs.

Any firm, employer, group or association, industry organization or civic group wishing to organize an apprenticeship program may choose from any of the following apprenticeship schemes as the training venue for apprentice:

1. Apprenticeship conducted entirely by and within the sponsoring firm, establishment or entity;
2. Apprenticeship entirely within a Department of Labor and Employment training center or other public training institution; or
3. Initial training in trade fundamentals in a training center or other institution with subsequent actual work participation within the sponsoring firm or entity during the final stage of training.

Art. 64. Sponsoring of apprenticeship program. 

Any of the apprenticeship schemes recognized herein may be undertaken or sponsored by a single employer or firm or by a group or association thereof or by a civic organization. Actual training of apprentices may be undertaken:

1. In the premises of the sponsoring employer in the case of individual apprenticeship programs;
2. In the premises of one or several designated firms in the case of programs sponsored by a group or association of employers or by a civic organization; or
3. In a Department of Labor and Employment training center or other public training institution.

Art. 65. Investigation of violation of apprenticeship agreement.

Upon complaint of any interested person or upon its own initiative, the appropriate agency of the Department of Labor and Employment or its authorized representative shall investigate any violation of an apprenticeship agreement pursuant to such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of Labor and Employment.

Art. 66. Appeal to the Secretary of Labor and Employment. 

The decision of the authorized agency of the Department of Labor and Employment may be appealed by any aggrieved person to the Secretary of Labor and Employment within five (5) days from receipt of the decision. The decision of the Secretary of Labor and Employment shall be final and executory.

Art. 67. Exhaustion of administrative remedies. 

No person shall institute any action for the enforcement of any apprenticeship agreement or damages for breach of any such agreement, unless he has exhausted all available administrative remedies.

Art. 68. Aptitude testing of applicants. 

Consonant with the minimum qualifications of apprentice-applicants required under this Chapter, employers or entities with duly recognized apprenticeship programs shall have primary responsibility for providing appropriate aptitude tests in the selection of apprentices. If they do not have adequate facilities for the purpose, the Department of Labor and Employment shall perform the service free of charge.

Art. 69. Responsibility for theoretical instruction. 

Supplementary theoretical instruction to apprentices in cases where the program is undertaken in the plant may be done by the employer. If the latter is not prepared to assume the responsibility, the same may be delegated to an appropriate government agency.

Art. 70. Voluntary organization of apprenticeship programs; exemptions.

1. The organization of apprenticeship program shall be primarily a voluntary undertaking by employers;
2. When national security or particular requirements of economic development so demand, the President of the Philippines may require compulsory training of apprentices in certain trades, occupations, jobs or employment levels where shortage of trained manpower is deemed critical as determined by the Secretary of Labor and Employment. Appropriate rules in this connection shall be promulgated by the Secretary of Labor and Employment as the need arises; and
3. Where services of foreign technicians are utilized by private companies in apprenticeable trades, said companies are required to set up appropriate apprenticeship programs.

Art. 71. Deductibility of training costs.

An additional deduction from taxable income of one-half (1/2) of the value of labor training expenses incurred for developing the productivity and efficiency of apprentices shall be granted to the person or enterprise organizing an apprenticeship program: 

Provided, That such program is duly recognized by the Department of Labor and Employment: 

Provided, further, That such deduction shall not exceed ten (10%) percent of direct labor wage: and 

Provided, finally, That the person or enterprise who wishes to avail himself or itself of this incentive should pay his apprentices the minimum wage.

Art. 72. Apprentices without compensation. 

The Secretary of Labor and Employment may authorize the hiring of apprentices without compensation whose training on the job is required by the school or training program curriculum or as requisite for graduation or board examination.

Notes:

Implementing Rules of Book III, Rule X, Sec. 14:

Sec. 14. Working scholars.— There is no employer-employee relationship between students on the one hand, and schools, colleges or universities on the other, where students work for the latter in exchange for the privilege to study free of charge; provided the students are given real opportunity, including such facilities as may be reasonable, necessary to finish their chosen court under such arrangement. 

• If the student referred to in Art. 72, in the course of doing a task in behalf of the school, causes injury to a third person, the school can be held liable.
• The implementing Rules provision that there is no employer-employee relation between the school and the student pertain to observance of labor regulations, such as payrolls to be kept, working conditions, or rest periods. 
• It is not the decisive law in a civil suit for damages instituted by an injured third person. The applicable law is Art. 2180 of the Civil Code.

Civil Code, Art. 2180:

Art. 2180. — The obligation imposed by Article 2176 is demandable not only for one's own acts or omissions, but also for those of persons for whom one is responsible.

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Lastly, teachers or heads of establishments of arts and trades shall be liable for damages caused by their pupils and students or apprentices, so long as they remain in their custody.

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The responsibility treated of in this article shall cease when the persons herein mentioned prove that they observed all the diligence of a good father of a family to prevent damage. 

Filamer Christian Institute v. IAC (August 17, 1992)

• Potenciano Kapunan, was hit and injured by a jeep owned by Filamer Christian Institute and driven by its alleged employee, Funtecha. 
• Funtecha was a working student and part-time janitor at the Filamer Christian Institute.
• Funtecha had permission to drive the school vehicle from the driver, Allan Masa, who was also the school president's son.

WoN FCI is liable for the damages caused by Funtecha. YES.

Section 14, Rule X, Book III of the Rules is not the decisive law in a civil suit for damages instituted by an injured person during a vehicular accident against a working student of a school and against the school itself.

The present case does not deal with a labor dispute on conditions of employment between an alleged employee and an alleged employer. It invokes a claim brought by one for damages for injury caused by the patently negligent acts of a person, against both doer-employee and his employer. An implementing rule on labor cannot be used by an employer as a shield to avoid liability under the substantive provisions of the Civil Code.

Funtecha is an employee of petitioner Filamer. He need not have an official appointment for a driver's position in order that the petitioner may be held responsible for his grossly negligent act, it being sufficient that the act of driving at the time of the incident was for the benefit of the petitioner.

The petitioner, thus, has an obligation to pay damages for injury arising from the unskilled manner by which Funtecha drove the vehicle. In the absence of evidence that the petitioner had exercised the diligence of a good father of a family in the supervision of its employees, the law imposes upon it the vicarious liability for acts or omissions of its employees.