TRAB.PH / PLAIN-LANGUAGE REFERENCE
Philippine employment terms, in plain language.
Twenty words you will meet in listings, contracts and payslips — what each one actually means for your pay and your rights.
- 13th-month pay
- A statutory benefit equal to at least one-twelfth of your basic salary earned in a calendar year, payable on or before December 24 under PD 851. Read the guide →
- Endo
- Short for "end of contract" — the practice of cycling workers through repeated short contracts to avoid regularisation. The label is legal; the cycling is not. Read the guide →
- Regularisation
- Becoming a regular employee — full security of tenure, normally after at most six months of probationary work or continuous service beyond it. Read the guide →
- Job order (JO)
- Government-side contractual engagement paid per day of work — no employer-employee relationship, so statutory benefits like the 13th month do not apply.
- Agency / contractor
- A company that employs you but deploys you to work at a client site. Your legal employer is the agency, not the client.
- Direct hire
- Employment offered by the company you will actually work for — no agency or contractor in between.
- SSS
- Social Security System — the mandatory private-sector insurance fund covering sickness, maternity, disability, retirement and death benefits.
- PhilHealth
- The national health insurance program — hospitalisation coverage funded by shared employer/employee contributions.
- Pag-IBIG (HDMF)
- The Home Development Mutual Fund — mandatory savings fund best known for its housing loans and multi-purpose short-term loans.
- Probationary employment
- A trial period of at most six months. Standards for regularisation must be made known on engagement; after six months you become regular by law. Read the guide →
- Night differential (ND)
- At least 10% extra per hour for work performed between 10pm and 6am — stacks with overtime premiums. Read the guide →
- Overtime (OT)
- Work beyond eight hours a day — paid +25% on ordinary days and +30% on rest days and holidays. Read the guide →
- Service incentive leave (SIL)
- Five days of paid leave per year after one year of service — the statutory floor; many employers offer more.
- DOLE
- Department of Labor and Employment — the agency that sets and enforces labour standards, including wage orders and the 13th-month rules.
- BIR Form 2316
- The certificate of compensation payment and tax withheld your employer issues each year — needed for tax filing and by your next employer for proper withholding.
- Certificate of Employment (COE)
- A document from a previous employer confirming your role and tenure — commonly requested during applications and onboarding. Read the guide →
- NBI clearance
- A national police-background certificate frequently required by employers during pre-employment checks.
- Board / lodging
- Room and board arrangements — for live-in or live-near roles, clarify whether lodging is free, deducted from pay, or simply nearby.
- Day rate
- Pay computed per day worked rather than a fixed monthly salary — check what the implied monthly figure is before comparing offers. Read the guide →
- Piece rate
- Pay per unit of output (per item sewn, per delivery) instead of per hour — legal, but total earnings must still meet the minimum wage for time worked. Read the guide →