Philippines (the): Operating a Business

Legal Forms of Companies

The Corporation is a joint-stock company.: Number of partners: Minimum 5 shareholders, at least 3 shareholders must be Philippine.
Capital (max/min): PHP 5,000.
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Shareholders and liability: Liability is limited to the amount contributed.
Sole Partnership is a single-member company: Number of partners: Only 1 person
Capital (max/min): No minimum capital.
Shareholders and liability: Liability is unlimited.
General Partnership: Number of partners: Minimum 2 partners
Capital (max/min): PHP 3,000.
Shareholders and liability: Liability is unlimited.
Limited Partnership: Number of partners: Minimum 2 partners
Capital (max/min): PHP 3,000.
Shareholders and liability: Liability is limited to the amount contributed.

Setting Up a Company	Philippines (the)	East Asia & Pacific
Procedures (number)	13.00	7.25
Time (days)	33.00	29.73

Source: The World Bank - Doing Business, Latest data available.

The Competent Organisation: The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
For Further Information: Consult Doing Business Website, to know about procedures to start a Business in Philippines.
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI

Dun & Bradstreet - Worldwide directory with financial information on businesses

Principle: The recovery of companies in difficulty allows them to maintain their activities and return to a viable situation. The Securities Regulation Code specifies that regular tribunals are competent.
Minimum Debt-to-Capital Ratio Triggering Liquidation: No legal minimum.
Bankruptcy Laws: Legislation on bankruptcy includes the Insolvency Law and many regulations and decrees, which make up an out of date and sometimes incoherent framework. In July 2010, the Philippine Congress passed a new bankruptcy and insolvency law that provides a more predictable framework for the rehabilitation and liquidation of distressed companies.
Reorganization and Rehabilitation Laws: The Rules on Corporate Rehabilitation define the conditions for restructuring.

	2023	2024	2025
Labour Force	48,097,209	0	0

Working Rest Day: One day of rest every seven consecutive days worked.
Paid Annual Vacation: 5 days of paid vacation a year after one year's work.
Retirement Age: Compulsory retirement is 65 years, while the minimum age for optional retirement is set at 60 years.
Child Labour and Minimum Age For Employment: Work is forbidden under 15 years of age, unless it is carried out in the family and does not interfere with school activities.

Minimum Wage: There is no single national rate; instead, the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards (RTWPB) set regional floors, such as PHP 695 (approx. USD 11.80) per day in the National Capital Region (NCR).
Average Wage: The most recent data comes from a survey by the Philippine Statistics Authority, which places the average wage at 18,423 Philippine pesos-roughly 339 USD.
Other Forms of Pay
Pay For Overtime: Overtime is paid 125% of the normal hourly rate.
Pay For Rest Days Worked: Work on a public holiday is paid 130% of the normal remuneration, or 150% if this holiday was supposed to be a rest day.
Pay For Night Hours: Hours of night work (between 10 pm and 6 am) must be paid at least 10% more than the normal rate.
Pay For Overtime at Night: Overtime at night is paid 110% of the hourly overtime rate.

The Areas Covered: Sickness, disability, maternity, retirement, death and funerals.
Contributions: Contributions Paid By the Employer: Employers’ maximum contribution for each employee is PHP 2,155 per month for Social Security System (SSS), varying according to the income class of the employee.
For Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF) and Philippine Health Corporation (PHIC), the maximum monthly deductions are PHP 100 and PHP 900, respectively.
Contributions Paid By the Employee: Employees are required to make monthly contributions to the Social Security System (SSS) based on their salary bracket, ranging from PHP 135 to PHP 1,125.

They are also required to make monthly contributions to Philippine Health Corporation (PHIC) and Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF) based on their salary bracket, ranging from PHP 150 to PHP 900 for PHIC and PHP 100 (where monthly compensation is at least PHP 5,000) for HDM.
Competent Organization: Philippine Social Security System
Philippine Health Insurance Corporation

Recruitment Agencies: A list of recruitment agencies is available on PhilRecruit Online.
Recruitment Websites: Better Team

Type of Contract: Employment contracts are regulated by legal clauses and to a lesser degree by collective agreements and individual negotiations.
The terms of employment contracts are extremely rigid.

Labour Laws: Consult Doing Business Website, to obtain a summary of the labor regulations that apply to local entreprises.

Procedure: The parties can have recourse to mediation, conciliation or arbitration provided for in the Labor Code, or submit a written request for intervention (AIDA) to the office of the Secretary of Labor and Employment.

Legal Framework: The Constitution (en anglais) and the Philippine Labor Code.
Competent Legal Body: The National Labor Relations Commission, attached to the Ministry of Labor

Social Dialogue and Involvement of Social Partners: The two main groups of trade unions are TUCP and FFW. They are affiliated to the international Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and to the Worldwide Confederation of Labor ( WCL).
In 2012, there were 135 registered labor federations and 16,647 private sector unions. The 1.38 million union members represented approximately 3.4 percent of the total workforce of 40.4 million. Mainstream union federations typically enjoy good working relationships with employers.
Unionisation Rate: 3,4 % of workers are unionized.
Labour Unions: Federation of Free Workers
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