the Philippines
Make employment in the Philippines easy. Let us handle payroll, benefits, taxes, compliance, and even stock options for your team in the Philippines, all in one easy-to-use platform.
- Capital City
Manila
- Currency
Philippine peso (₱, PHP)
- Languages
Filipino and English
- Population size
106,651,394
Facts & Stats
- Capital City
Manila
- Currency
Philippine peso (₱, PHP)
- Languages
Filipino and English
- Population size
106,651,394
- Ease of doing business
Easy
- Cost of living index
40.65 (89 of 139 nations)
- Payroll frequency
Monthly
- VAT - standard rate
5% on goods, 6% on services
- GDP - real growth rate
6.0% (2019)
The Philippines is a southeast Asian nation composed of over 7,000 islands. It is located between the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean. With 108 million residents, it’s the thirteenth most populous country on Earth. As an archipelago, the Philippines is home to beautiful beaches and a wide variety of flora and fauna.
The economy has a strong agricultural presence, but other sectors are growing. The Philippines is one of the leading suppliers of nurses worldwide. A very low cost of living makes the Philippines very attractive for workers.
Grow your team in Philippines with Remote
Looking to employ workers in Philippines? Companies hiring in Philippines must either own a legal entity in the country or work with a global employment solutions provider, usually one that provides employer of record services.
Remote can employ your team in Philippines on your behalf through our local legal entity in the country and handle payroll, benefits, taxes, and compliance for your Philippines team. You can also pay contractors now in Philippines with Remote.
Risks of misclassification
Philippines, like many other countries, treats self-employed individuals or contractors and full-time employees differently. Misclassification of contractors in Philippines may lead to fines and penalties for the offending company.
Employing in Philippines
Minimum Wage
Minimum wage in the Phillipines varies by region and ranges from PHP 306 to 610.
The work day is a maximum of eight hours. Employees working at night are paid a 10% differential.
Employees working overtime are paid a 25% differential.
Employees working on holidays are paid a 30% differential.
Payroll Cycle
For customers of Remote, all employee payments will be made in equal monthly instalments on or before the last working day of each calendar month, payable in arrears.
In the Philippines, the 13th-month salary is a mandatory statutory benefit equivalent to an extra month's salary, paid out at the end of November each year for Remote Philippines. If the employee leaves the employment before the end of November, eligible employees are entitled to receive the pro-rated 13th-month salary with the final pay.
All rank-and-file employees who have worked for at least one month within the current calendar year are eligible, and it is calculated as one-twelfth of their total annual basic salary. Employees who quit, were fired, or were separated from their individual firms are still entitled to their 13th-month salary, as long as they worked for at least a month.
The 13th-month pay is generally not taxable, except for amounts exceeding PHP 90,000, which are subject to tax.
Onboarding Time
We can help you get a new employee started in the Philippines fast. The minimum onboarding time we need is only 3 working days.
Our team ensures your employees are onboarded and paid as quickly as possible while keeping your business compliant with all local employment legislation. The minimum onboarding time begins after the employee submits all required information onto the Remote platform. The onboarding timeline is also dependent upon registration with local authorities.
For all non-nationals of the country of employment, the Right to Work assessment (if applicable) will add three extra days to the total time to onboard. There may be extra time required if we need to follow-up on the right to work assessment.
Please note, payroll cut-off dates can impact the actual first day of employment. Remote has a payroll cut-off date of the 10th of the month unless otherwise specified.
18 Public holidays
Competitive benefits package in the Philippines
At Remote, we’re obsessed with helping you craft the best possible employee experience for your team. We are leading the way in practising “fair equity,” which means making sure employees everywhere have access to both the required and supplemental benefits they need to thrive (and that will allow you to attract the best local talent).
Our benefits packages in Philippines are tailored to fulfil the local needs of your employees. Typically, our packages contain some or all of the following benefits:
Health Insurance
Dental Insurance
Vision Insurance
Mental Health Support
Pension or 401(K)
Life and Disability Insurance
Taxes in Philippines
Learn how employment taxes and statutory fees affect your payroll and your employees’ paychecks in Philippines.
| Social Security: a monthly SSS (Social Security System) payment at the contribution rate of 8.5% of the employee salary is required | |
| Mandatory Provident Fund: All employees covered by the SSS with earnings above PHP 20,000 per month are automatically enrolled in the MPF. Contributions are calculated at the same rate as the SSS. The employer’s contributions will range from PHP 42.50 up to PHP 425 per month | |
| Home Development Mutual Fund: 2% MSC employer contribution | |
| PhilHealth: 5% split equally between employee and employer |
Types of leave
Full time employees are paid for public holidays.
Employment termination
Termination process
Employees may be terminated for justified causes or for authorised causes. According to the law, just causes include serious misconduct, willful disobedience, gross and habitual neglect of duties, fraud, willful breach of trust, commission of a crime, and other analogous causes. Employers must give employees written notice of termination. Employees must then have the opportunity to appeal the decision at a hearing. The employer will then render a final decision on termination. Authorised causes include illness, installation of labour-saving devices, redundancy, and other economic reasons.
Workers who are pregnant or on maternity leave cannot be terminated.
Notice period
Employers must give one month notice for most authorised reasons.
Severance pay
Severance pay is not required for termination for a just cause. For authorised causes, severance pay of one months pay or one half month’s pay for every year of service, whichever is greater.
Probation periods
Probationary periods of up to six months are allowed in the Philippines.
Fair Pricing in the Philippines
Employer of Record
Hire and pay your global team
Starting at $599/month
for annual plans
Top features
Satisfaction guaranteed
No deposits or hidden fees
Zero onboarding or offboarding fees
Compliant equity incentives support including withholding and reporting
Built-in security and compliance
Fast onboarding (average 2-3 days)
Flexible, localised benefits
Top features
Only pay for contractors you actively work with
Work with contractors in 200+ countries
Create, edit, and sign tailored, localised contracts
Approve contractor invoices with one click or auto-pay
Transparent payments with complete visibility
Global Payroll
Consolidate your multi-country payroll
$50
per employee/month
Top features
Reduce costs by centralising payroll management
Ensure local compliance for every country
Direct support from in-house local payroll experts
Accurate, on-time, compliant payroll to level-up your employee experience
Tax and labour authority reporting handled for you
Top features
Guided onboarding and offboarding
Employee profile and document management
Time and attendance (time off and tracking)
Expense management and reimbursement
Employee self-serve on the platform and mobile app