Dear Atty. Vlad,

I worked in one of the manufacturing plants in Rosario, Cavite as an office staff. Our work schedule is from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. After my co-workers have left the office, I continued to stay until 8 p.m., even if I have already finished my work/tasks before 5:30 p.m. My intention in rendering additional hours was to be paid overtime pay and overtime pay premium. However, when pay day came, I noticed in my payslip that I was not paid for the additional hours I rendered by way of overtime work. When I asked my employer, he told me that only authorized overtime work will be paid. Is he correct?

Rayza

***

Dear Rayza,

From what you narrated, you have voluntarily rendered overtime work. However, in rendering overtime work, it would appear that the same is without any authorization or directive from your superior/s.

In the case of Robina Farms Cebu/Universal Robina Corporation vs. Elizabeth Villa, Jr., 18 April 2016, G.R. No. 175869, the Court stated, to wit:

“x x x, secondly, the NLRC’s reliance on the daily time records (DTRs) showing that Villa had stayed in the company’s premises beyond eight hours was misplaced. The DTRs did not substantially prove the actual performance of overtime work.” The petitioner correctly points out that any employee could render overtime work only when there was a prior authorization therefor by the management. Without the prior authorization, therefore, Villa could not validly claim having performed work beyond the normal hours of work. Moreover, Section 4(c), Rule I, Book III of the Omnibus Rules Implementing the Labor Code relevantly states as follows:

Section 4. Principles in determining hours worked. — The following general principles shall govern in determining whether the time spent by an employee is considered hours worked for purposes of this Rule:

(a) x x x.

(b) x x x.

(c) If the work performed was necessary, or it benefited the employer, or the employee could not abandon his work at the end of his normal working hours because he had no replacement, all time spent for such work shall be considered as hours worked, if the work was with the knowledge of his employer or immediate supervisor. (bold emphasis supplied)”

Since your overtime work was not authorized and beneficial to your employer, even if you stayed in the office after 5:30 p.m., you are still not entitled to overtime pay and overtime pay premium. According to you, you have already finished work even before 5:30 p.m. As such, you could have already gone home but you opted to stay in the office on your own free will. However, since this did not benefit your employer at all, the amount of time that you spent in the office will not be compensated with overtime pay and overtime pay premium.

I hope that I was able to help you with your concern.

Atty. Vlad del Rosario