Photo from Unsplash | Fredrick F.
The following post does not create a lawyer-client relationship between Alburo Alburo and Associates Law Offices (or any of its lawyers) and the reader. It is still best for you to engage the services of a lawyer or you may directly contact and consult Alburo Alburo and Associates Law Offices to address your specific legal concerns, if there is any.
Also, the matters contained in the following were written in accordance with the law, rules, and jurisprudence prevailing at the time of writing and posting, and do not include any future developments on the subject matter under discussion.
AT A GLANCE:
Jurisprudence establishes the proper standard for determining whether seafarers are entitled to overtime pay. The correct criterion in determining whether or not sailors are entitled to overtime pay is not, therefore, whether they were on board and cannot leave ship beyond the regular eight working hours a day, but whether they actually rendered service in excess of said number of hours.
In Cagampan v. National Labor Relations Commission (G.R. Nos. 85122-24, March 22, 1991), the Supreme Court held that seamen are required to stay on board their vessels by the very nature of their duties, and it is for this reason that, in addition to their regular compensation, they are given free living quarters and subsistence allowances when required to be on board. It could not have been the purpose of our law to require their employers to pay them overtime even when they are not actually working; otherwise, every sailor on board a vessel would be entitled to overtime for sixteen hours each day, even if he spent all those hours resting or sleeping in his bunk, after his regular tour of duty. The correct criterion in determining whether or not sailors are entitled to overtime pay is not, therefore, whether they were on board and cannot leave ship beyond the regular eight working hours a day, but whether they actually rendered service in excess of said number of hours.
Realistically speaking, a seaman, by the very nature of his job, stays on board a ship or vessel beyond the regular eight-hour work schedule. For the employer to give him overtime pay for the extra hours when he might be sleeping or attending to his personal chores or even just lulling away his time would be extremely unfair and unreasonable.
The rendition of overtime work and the submission of sufficient proof that said work was actually performed are conditions to be satisfied before a seafarer could be entitled to overtime pay. (Loadstar International Shipping, Inc. v. Bernardino, G.R. No. 221227, February 19, 2020)
A seafarer has a guaranteed right to overtime pay but the entitlement to benefit must first be established. Thus, for a seafarer to be entitled to overtime pay, he must present proof that he actually performed overtime work while onboard.
Click here to subscribe to our newsletter
Alburo Alburo and Associates Law Offices specializes in business law and labor law consulting. For inquiries regarding legal services, you may reach us at info@alburolaw.com, or dial us at (02)7745-4391/ 0917-5772207/ 09778050020.
All rights reserved.
