Dagdag benepisyo: Yamsuan pushes measure expanding workers’ annual paid leave from 5 to 10 days

Parañaque 2nd District Representative Brian Yamsuan has urged Congress to pass his proposed measure that aims to increase the minimum annual paid leave benefit of employees from five to 10 days.

Yamsuan said his proposed legislation under House Bill (HB) 6602 is favorable not only for employees to help reduce work-related stress and burnout, but also for employers through increased workers’ productivity and higher retention rates.

“Our proposed measure reaffirms our commitment to fostering humane working conditions and supporting our labor force. Ang nakatalaga sa ilalim ng kasalukuyang batas na 5 days paid leave ay hindi na angkop sa working conditions natin ngayon,” said Yamsuan, a member of the House Committee on Labor and Employment.

(The 5-day paid leave mandated under the present law is no longer suitable for today’s working conditions.)

“We urge our colleagues to swiftly act on our measure and similar other bills when Congress resumes session on Monday, as a belated but fitting gift for our workers this coming Labor Day,” Yamsuan added.

Besides pushing for the increase in the annual paid leave benefit of employees, Yamsuan was also among the principal authors of House Resolution 426, adopted in November 2025, urging the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards (RTWPBs) to immediately review and act upon pending petitions for wage increases in the regions.

A total of 16 wage orders have been issued by the RTWPBs during the 2025-2026 review cycle, benefiting 4.69 million minimum wage earners across the country, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

Yamsuan noted that the 5-day annual paid leave or Service Incentive Leave (SIL) mandated under the Labor Code was put into effect more than 50 years ago, making it outdated and inadequate for modern work-life balance needs. Under the law, the SIL is convertible to cash if left unused.

While many large corporations already offer more than five days of SIL in the form of vacation and sick leaves, workers in companies without strong collective bargaining agreements have been left behind, making do with only the mandatory 5-day leave to be able to rest or attend to personal concerns, he said.

“The Philippines already lags behind other Southeast Asian countries in terms of the number of paid annual leave days. Other countries have long recognized that increasing paid leave benefits reduces absenteeism, improves employee retention and ensures safe and healthy workplaces, ” Yamsuan said.

According to a UK-based global study, Brunei, Malaysia, Myanmar Singapore and Thailand provide workers with paid annual leave credits of 6 to 10 days, while Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos and Vietnam give their employees more than 10 days. In Japan, employers are required to provide between 10 to 20 working days of paid leave annually, depending on the worker’s length of service.

Under HB 6602, which seeks to amend Article 95 of the Labor Code, every employee who has rendered at least one year of service shall be entitled to a yearly SIL of 10 days with pay.

Employees already enjoying vacation leave with pay of at least 10 days, and those employed in enterprises with less than 10 workers, or in any establishment exempted from the grant of the benefit by the Secretary of Labor and Employment after considering the firm’s “viability or financial condition” are not covered under HB 6602.

The bill also ensures that leave benefits granted to workers in excess of that provided under the measure “shall not be made subject of any arbitration or any court or administrative action.” ###