Last year, the “Batas Kasambahay Act” or RA 10361 came into effect. The new law provides for additional significant rights and benefits to the kasambahay. Among these are the provisions for 13th month pay and in addition to the mandatory SSS and Philhealth coverage, the Employer must also enroll his/her Kasambahay with the Pag-Ibig (HMDF) fund and provide the Kasambahay with additional pay for work beyond the agreed hours of work, not to mention the provisions which categorically declare as unlawful a number of prohibited acts.
What are the obligations an Employer must comply under RA 10361?
This was taken from the post in http://opinion.inquirer.net/56453/questions-about-kasambahay-law which contained the obligations of an Employer —
To treat the kasambahay with dignity, not subject him/her to any kind of abuse or inflict any form of physical violence or harassment;
To provide the basic necessities of the kasambahay—at least three adequate meals a day and humane sleeping arrangements that ensure safety;
To provide appropriate rest and assistance in case of illness and injuries sustained during the service without loss of benefits.
To respect the privacy of the kasambahay—extends to all forms of communication and personal effects;
To grant the kasambahay access to outside communication during free time, or even during work time in case of an emergency;
To afford the kasambahay the opportunity to finish basic education and to allow access to higher education or training;
To register all the kasambahay in the Registry of Domestic Workers in the barangay where the employer resides;
To comply with the terms and conditions of employment, such as:
- Health and safety
- Daily rest period
- Weekly rest period
- Minimum wage (P2,500 in Metro Manila; P2,000 in chartered cities and 1st class towns; and P1,500 in other towns)
- 13th month pay
- Leave benefits
- Social and other benefits
Sec. 30 of RA 10361 provides that the kasambahay who has rendered at least one month of service shall be covered by the SSS, PhilHealth and Pag-Ibig and shall be entitled to all the benefits in accordance with law. This means that the employer has to register both himself and the kasambahay in these three agencies.
—-
In what appeared to be a very opportune time, we hired our kasambahay when this law was in its initial stages of implementation. As mandated by law, we prepared a simple, easy to read contract for our kasambahay to sign, which contract was written in a language known to her and containing the essential provisions that the law required. With the signing of the contract, we required our kasambahay to provide us with a copy of her government issued ID or in its stead, her birth certificate.
Upon her submission of the proper identification document (other proofs of identity you can use are: valid passports, postal IDs, baptismal certificates, voters ID) we proceeded to the three different offices (SSS, Philhealth and Pag-Ibig) to enroll as an employer and register our kasambahay and pay the respective contributions.
The monthly contributions are based on the monthly salaries of the Kasambahay and are to be shouldered by the Employer in full if the Kasambahay’s salary does note exceed P5,000.00. For our Kasambahay, the computation for her Philhealth monthly contributions have been pegged at Php 200.00/mo., SSS required Php 275.00/mo. and the Pag-Ibig contributions (also computed based on salary rate) fixed at Php 100.00/mo. These offices accept quarterly, semi-annual or annual payments of these contributions, by the way, if the Employer wishes to be spared from the hassle of going to the office every month to pay. What is mandatory, however, is the submission of the monthly reports. (aaarrggghhh!!)
Registration forms are available at their offices but the same may also be downloaded online. Here are the links:
1. Philhealth – http://www.philhealth.gov.ph/downloads/
the forms we downloaded were the following:
a. Membership Form : http://www.philhealth.gov.ph/downloads/membership/pmrf_revised.pdf
b. Employer Data Record Form: http://www.philhealth.gov.ph/downloads/employer/er1.pdf
c. Employer Remittance Form: http://www.philhealth.gov.ph/downloads/employer/er2.pdf
But the more recent forms that Philhealth posted specifically applicable to the Kasambahay Act (and which are applicable for the other agencies) are as follows:
d. http://www.philhealth.gov.ph/downloads/kasambahay/Household_Employer_Unified_Registration_Form.pdf
e. http://www.philhealth.gov.ph/downloads/kasambahay/Household_Employment_Unified_Report_Form.pdf
f. http://www.philhealth.gov.ph/downloads/kasambahay/Kasambahay_Unified_Registration_Form.pdf
2. SSS –
a. Personal Record Form (for the Employer) – https://www.sss.gov.ph/sss/uploaded_images/forms/normal/e1.pdf
b. Specimen Signature Card (for the Employer) – https://www.sss.gov.ph/sss/uploaded_images/forms/normal/specsign.pdf
c. Employer Registration – https://www.sss.gov.ph/sss/uploaded_images/forms/normal/r1_new.pdf
But, the SSS also posted this other form for Employer Registration: https://www.sss.gov.ph/sss/uploaded_images/forms/normal/PPS_HEUR1%20Form.pdf]
d. Kasambahay Registration Form: https://www.sss.gov.ph/sss/uploaded_images/forms/normal/PPS_KURForm.pdf
e. To report employment of Kasambahay, you can use: https://www.sss.gov.ph/sss/uploaded_images/forms/normal/r1a_new.pdf or
https://www.sss.gov.ph/sss/uploaded_images/forms/normal/PPS_HEUR2Form.pdf
f. contribution collection list: https://www.sss.gov.ph/sss/uploaded_images/forms/normal/r3.pdf
g. for SSS contribution payments: https://www.sss.gov.ph/sss/uploaded_images/forms/normal/Employer_Contributions_Payment_Form_(R-5).pdf
3. Pag-Ibig (HMDF) Fund
Registration and Forms with the Pag-Ibig have been uploaded to their website. See: https://www.pagibigfundservices.com/ and click on “employer registration” and “membership registration”. once the steps and forms have been filled out, these can be printed and submitted to the nearest Pag Ibig Office for verification as well for the payment of the monthly contributions.
duriancitygal 