For applicants / TRAB.PH GUIDE
Contractual vs regular employment
Endo, fixed-term and agency work — what each label means for your pay and security.
By trab.ph editorial · · 2 min read
The labels in plain terms
Regular employment has no built-in end date and full security of tenure. Contractual (or fixed-term) work is hired for a specific project or period; agency work is deployed by a contractor to a client company. All are legal — what is not legal is cycling workers through repeated short contracts to dodge regularisation ("endo").
What stays the same
Contractual and agency workers earn the same statutory minimums: minimum wage, overtime, holiday pay, night differential, SSS/PhilHealth/Pag-IBIG and prorated 13th month. A lower "contractual rate" below the floor is a red flag — the label changes tenure, never the minimums.
What to check before signing
Ask who your legal employer is (the agency or the client), how long the contract runs, whether it is renewable, and what happens at the end — conversion to regular is common in good companies. Get the terms in writing; a verbal "we regularise after six months" is not enforceable.
Post the company, location, work, and monthly salary range.
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