Employer of Record in the Philippines

How hiring through an employer of record works in the Philippines

The Labor Code governs employment, while regional wage orders and the worker's classification set minimum pay and benefits. Before anyone signs, settle the employing entity, the work location, the role, the salary and the employment type. Most roles are regular employment; project, seasonal or fixed-term arrangements need their own legal footing, and labor-only contracting is prohibited.

Registration comes first. The employee must be enrolled with SSS, PhilHealth and Pag-IBIG before the first payroll, and DOLE enforces compliance, including routine inspections of minimum wage, 13th-month pay and contributions. Security of tenure is strong for regular employees, which shapes how you plan exits.

What the employer pays on top of salary in the Philippines

Plan for gross salary, the three contributions, required benefits and the service fee. SSS takes 15% of the monthly salary credit (the January 2025 schedule), and the employer's share is 10%; the credit is capped at PHP 35,000. A small employer-only Employees' Compensation charge of PHP 10 or PHP 30 follows the salary band.

PhilHealth's 2026 premium stays at 5%, split evenly, within a PHP 10,000 floor and a PHP 100,000 ceiling. Pag-IBIG asks the employer for 2% of fund salary, capped at PHP 10,000. Stack all four at their ceilings and the employer's monthly bill is PHP 6,230, with 13th-month pay, premiums, benefits, retirement liabilities and fees still to add. Withholding tax on the employee's pay goes to the BIR and is separate.

Mandatory pay and benefits in the Philippines

• 13th-month pay: covered rank-and-file employees with a month or more of work receive one twelfth of the basic salary they earned in the year, prorated, by December 24.
• Overtime and night work: for covered employees an ordinary-day overtime hour pays 125%, and the 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. window adds a 10% differential. Rest days and holidays carry their own premiums.
• Service Incentive Leave: five days after a year of service for covered employees, cashable if unused. There is no separate sick-leave bank that every employer must fund.
• Family leave: maternity leave usually runs 105 days (more for qualifying solo mothers), with the employer generally funding the difference between full pay and the SSS benefit. Eligible married fathers can take seven paid paternity days.
• Retirement pay: someone retiring at 60 to 65 with five years of service generally earns at least 22.5 days of pay per credited year, unless a more generous scheme exists.
• Hours: normal work for covered employees stays within eight hours a day, so check coverage and the schedule before you agree pay for overnight support roles.

Probation and ending employment in the Philippines

Probation generally stops at six months, and the standards for becoming a regular employee have to be shared at the start. After that period the person is a regular employee, and dismissal needs a just cause or an authorized cause plus due process.

• Authorized causes: both the employee and DOLE need at least 30 days of notice.
• Redundancy or labor-saving devices: separation pay is generally whichever is larger, one month's pay or one month per year served.
• Retrenchment and similar causes: generally whichever is larger, one month or half a month per year served, subject to each cause's own rules.
• Just cause: the employee receives two written notices, one of the intent to dismiss and one of the dismissal, and a chance to respond.

Getting paid in stablecoins, USDC, USDT, tokens and crypto in the Philippines

Short answer: No. Article 102 of the Labor Code requires wages in legal tender, and the implementing rules bar tokens, vouchers and similar substitutes even when the employee asks, so a USDC payout cannot replace peso wages.

What the law says about the form of pay

Article 102 of the Labor Code requires wages to be paid in legal tender and bars promissory notes, vouchers, tokens and any other object, even when expressly requested by the employee. The central bank says virtual assets do not have legal tender status, which in the Philippines leaves pesos as the form of pay.

What it means for employee salary

Toku's country explorer adds that SSS, PhilHealth and Pag-IBIG contributions are worked out on the peso value and paid in pesos, and that payslips and BIR reports show peso amounts. A Philippine salary therefore stays in pesos, and any stablecoin option is confirmed during onboarding.

How Toku handles it

Employee salary in the Philippines stays in local currency. Toku’s stablecoin payroll and its USDC or USDT payouts through contractor management are separate arrangements from employee salary, and token grants are administered through token grant administration. What applies to a specific hire in the Philippines is confirmed before an offer.

Reviewed November 7, 2026 against the official sources listed below. General information, not legal or tax advice. Tax on crypto or tokens received depends on local rules and where the person is resident, so confirm it with a local adviser.

How hiring through Toku works in the Philippines

1. Share the role, location, salary and start date.
2. Toku confirms coverage, the contract type and the right to work.
3. The local employer issues the contract and onboards the person.
4. Payroll, contributions and filings run each cycle.

For the Philippines Toku documents a lead time of 7 to 10 business days once a case is complete, depending on country approval and payroll cutoffs, and suggests starting two weeks early. Collect identity documents, the TIN, bank details, existing SSS, PhilHealth and Pag-IBIG numbers, proof of work authorization and the signed contract. Permits and visas for foreign workers take weeks to months on their own.

What an employer of record costs in the Philippines

Where Toku supports the hire, its employer of record service starts at $599 per employee per month, with salary, employer contributions and benefit premiums itemized in your quote. Coverage in the Philippines is confirmed before an offer. See the published pricing.

More on hiring in the Philippines

• Payroll and hiring in Philippines
• Philippines full-time hiring compliance guide
• Employer of Record Philippines: hiring and payroll guide
• Employer of record coverage in 100+ countries