Dear Atty. Vlad,

In August this year, I stayed in the office to render two to three extra hours a day which I logged as overtime work in my attendance record. I did this to finish my assigned work for the month. When I received my payslip, I was surprised that I only received my usual basic pay without overtime pay for the extra hours I rendered to finish my assigned work. Discussing this with our Manager, he said that the overtime pay was disallowed because there was no record that he gave me prior approval to render the overtime work. Please give me advice because I think I am entitled to additional pay for the extra hours that I rendered.

Ronald

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Dear Ronald,

Under Article 87 of the Labor Code, work may be performed beyond eight hours per day, provided that the employee is paid for the overtime work and additional compensation equivalent to at least 25 percent thereof. Thus, as a general rule, if you work more than eight hours in a day, you should be paid for the additional hour/s of work and overtime premium.

However, overtime pay can only be claimed if an employee has an authorized or approved overtime schedule and daily time record (Intertranz Container Lines Inc., et al. vs Bautista, G.R. 187693, 13 July 2010). There should be proof that you were allowed or required to render overtime work by your manager. In the absence of your manager's prior approval of your overtime hours, even if these were spent on doing your assigned work, you do not have a factual and legal basis to be granted overtime pay. In this case, your manager was correct.

I hope that I was able to enlighten you based on the facts you shared.

Atty. Vlad del Rosario