Batas Kasambahay: Rights, Wages, Benefits, and Contracts

The Batas Kasambahay, or Republic Act No. 10361, is the Philippine law that gives household workers enforceable rights to a minimum wage, social security coverage, a written contract, weekly rest, 13th-month pay, and protection from abuse and debt bondage. It applies to yayas, cooks, gardeners, laundry workers, and general househelp, whether they live in or live out. Employers who fail to register their kasambahay or remit contributions face fines and possible criminal liability.¹

Who the Law Covers

A kasambahay is any person engaged in domestic work under an employment relationship. The statute names common roles — general househelp, yaya, cook, gardener, laundry person — as examples rather than a closed list. If someone regularly performs household work for a family in exchange for pay, the law almost certainly applies.¹

Three groups are outside its coverage. Family drivers fall under the general Labor Code instead. Children in foster care who do light chores as part of the arrangement are not kasambahay. Neither are people who help around the house only occasionally, on a non-occupational basis.²

No one under 15 may be hired. Workers aged 15 to 17 can be employed but with stricter protections, including limits on working hours and a ban on hazardous tasks.¹

Minimum Wage

The original statutory floors were ₱2,500 per month in the National Capital Region, ₱2,000 in chartered cities and first-class municipalities, and ₱1,500 elsewhere.³ Those numbers are now a baseline only. The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards issue wage orders that revise the minimum, and the current rates are much higher in most regions.

In the NCR, the monthly minimum is ₱7,800, effective February 7, 2026 under Wage Order No. NCR-DW-06.⁴ Outside NCR, rates differ. Region II sets ₱4,000 per month, while MIMAROPA moved to ₱7,000 effective January 1, 2026.⁵ Check the wage order for your region before setting pay.

Wages must be paid in cash at least once a month. The employer cannot make unauthorized deductions, force the worker to buy goods from the employer’s store, or otherwise interfere with how the worker uses their pay.¹

Mandatory Benefits

13th-Month Pay

A kasambahay who has worked at least one month is entitled to 13th-month pay equal to one-twelfth of the total basic salary earned during the calendar year. It must be paid no later than December 24, or on separation if the worker leaves earlier.²

SSS, PhilHealth, and Pag-IBIG

After one month of service, the employer must register the kasambahay with the Social Security System, PhilHealth, and the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG). Who pays the premiums depends on the monthly wage:¹

Below ₱5,000 per month: the employer pays the entire premium for all three programs.
₱5,000 or above: the worker pays a proportionate share and the employer pays the rest, following each program’s contribution schedule.

Failing to register a kasambahay or remit contributions carries fines from ₱10,000 for a first offense up to ₱40,000 for a fourth or subsequent offense. Violations against working children draw the maximum fine, and the worker can pursue a separate criminal action.⁶

Service Incentive Leave

After one year of continuous service, a kasambahay earns five days of paid leave per year. Unused days do not carry over and are not convertible to cash.¹

The Written Contract and Barangay Registration

A written employment contract is required before work begins. It must be in a language both parties understand and must cover duties, compensation, rest day, and duration. Three copies are prepared: one each for the employer, the worker, and the barangay where the employer lives.²

The standard template is DOLE Form BK-1. It is free to download from DOLE and available in hard copy at barangay halls and Public Employment Service Offices (PESOs).²

Barangay registration is not optional. The employer must register the kasambahay with the Punong Barangay where the employer resides, and the barangay keeps a registry of all kasambahay in its jurisdiction. A Kasambahay Desk at the barangay hall handles these registrations. When the contract is renewed, the new contract must be registered again.⁶

Working Conditions

Rest, Meals, and Sleeping Arrangements

A kasambahay is entitled to at least eight hours of daily rest and 24 consecutive hours of weekly rest. The weekly rest day should be set in writing, and if the worker’s preference is based on religious grounds the employer must respect it.³ The parties can also agree to offset a missed rest day, exchange it for a day’s pay, or accumulate up to five rest days.

Employers must provide at least three adequate meals a day and humane sleeping arrangements. Meals and sleeping quarters cannot be withdrawn as punishment.¹

Privacy and Outside Communication

During rest periods the kasambahay has the right to communicate with people outside the household. The employer cannot interfere with personal correspondence or restrict the worker’s movement on time off. The worker’s belongings and living space are entitled to privacy.

Access to Education

Employers must give the kasambahay the opportunity to finish basic education and, as far as practicable, to access higher education or vocational training. That includes adjusting the schedule so the worker can attend classes or alternative learning programs. TESDA also runs skills training and certification for domestic workers.³

What Employers Cannot Do

The law prohibits several employer practices outright. Any of them can trigger fines and potential criminal liability:

Physical violence, harassment, or acts that degrade the worker’s dignity.
Debt bondage. An employer cannot lend money to the worker and use the debt to force continued service.
Requiring cash deposits to cover possible damage to household items.
Charging the worker any share of a recruitment or finder’s fee.
Withholding wages, forcing the worker to surrender part of their pay, or requiring purchases from the employer.
Cutting off meals or sleeping arrangements as discipline.

Ending the Employment

Just Causes

An employer may terminate a kasambahay for misconduct or willful disobedience of a lawful order, gross neglect of duties, fraud or breach of trust, a crime against the employer or a household member, violation of the contract, or a disease that endangers the household.¹

A kasambahay may resign for verbal or emotional abuse, physical violence, a crime committed against them by the employer or a household member, violation of the contract, or a disease that threatens either party’s health. Both lists include analogous causes, so the categories are not rigid.¹

Notice

When the contract has no fixed end date and no just cause is being invoked, the party initiating the separation must give five days’ written notice before the termination date. Both sides continue their duties during that period.⁶ A fixed-term contract may be ended early by mutual agreement with notice.

Final Pay and Certificate of Employment

When employment ends, the employer must settle all unpaid wages and benefits. Within five days of the worker’s request, the employer must also issue a certificate of employment on DOLE Form BK-3 stating the nature and duration of service and describing the work performed.⁶

Filing a Complaint

Wage disputes and other violations go through DOLE’s Single Entry Approach (SEnA), a mandatory 30-day conciliation process. The kasambahay files at the nearest DOLE field, provincial, or regional office.⁷ If conciliation fails, the dispute can move to formal proceedings. In cases of abuse or exploitation, the municipal or city social welfare officer can initiate a rescue with the barangay and the DSWD.¹

1
Lawphil. Republic Act No. 10361
2
Philippine Commission on Women. Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA 10361
3
Labor Law Philippines. Republic Act No. 10361 – Domestic Workers Act (Batas Kasambahay)
4
National Wages and Productivity Commission. Kasambahays in NCR to Receive P800 Monthly Minimum Wage Increase
5
National Wages and Productivity Commission. RTWPB-MIMAROPA Increases Minimum Wage, Simplifies Wage Structure
6
Philippine Commission on Women. Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA 10361
7
National Wages and Productivity Commission. Rules and Regulations Implementing Wage Order No. RTWPB-II-DW-03