Project Employment Contract (Philippines)
PROJECT EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT
Article 295, Labor Code of the Philippines (PD 442) / DOLE D.O. 19-93
This Project Employment Contract ("Contract") is entered into this [Contract Date] by and between:
EMPLOYER: [Employer Name], with principal office at [Employer Address] ("Employer"); AND
EMPLOYEE: [Employee Name], residing at [Employee Address] ("Employee").
1. NATURE AND DURATION OF EMPLOYMENT
1.1 The Employer hereby engages the Employee as [Job Title] for the following specific project:
Project Name: [Project Name]
Project Description: [Project Description]
Project Location: [Project Location]
1.2 This employment shall commence on [Start Date] and shall continue until the completion of the project, estimated on or about [Estimated End Date], or upon the earlier termination of the project for any reason.
1.3 This is a project employment under Article 295 of the Labor Code (PD 442). The Employee's services are engaged specifically for the above-described project or undertaking, the completion or termination of which has been determined at the time of engagement. The Employee does not acquire regular employment status by virtue of this Contract.
1.4 Pursuant to DOLE Department Order No. 19-93, the Employer shall report the engagement of project employees to the nearest DOLE Regional Office within 30 days of engagement.
2. COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS
2.1 Rate: [Basic Salary], payable [Payment Schedule].
2.2 Regular working hours: [Work Hours], subject to Article 83, Labor Code.
2.3 Mandatory Benefits: The Employee is entitled to 13th Month Pay (PD 851, prorated), SSS (RA 11199), PhilHealth (RA 7875/11223), Pag-IBIG (RA 9679), overtime pay (Article 87), night differential (Article 86), and holiday pay (Article 94).
3. TERMINATION
3.1 This Contract terminates upon completion of the project. Under Maraguinot, Jr. v. NLRC (G.R. No. 120969, January 22, 1998), a project employee who is repeatedly rehired for many projects over a long period may acquire regular employee status. Accordingly, the Employer shall not engage the Employee in successive projects in a manner that effectively converts project employment to regular employment.
3.2 Early termination for just cause (Article 297, Labor Code) is subject to the twin-notice rule.
4. GOVERNING LAW
4.1 This Contract is governed by the Labor Code of the Philippines (PD 442) and DOLE D.O. 19-93. Disputes shall be submitted to the DOLE or the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC).
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have signed this Project Employment Contract on the date first above written.
[Employer Name]
Employer (Authorized Representative)
[Employee Name]
Employee
Employer (Authorized Representative)
________________
Signature
Employee
________________
Signature
What Is a Project Employment Contract (Philippines)?
A Project Employment Contract in the Philippines establishes the rights and obligations of employer and employee, from pay and benefits to confidentiality and the end of the engagement.
The distinguishing feature of project employment under Article 295 is that the employee is hired for a specific project or undertaking whose scope, duration, and completion have been communicated to the employee at the time of engagement. Unlike regular employment, project employment ends upon the completion of the project or the phase of work for which the employee was hired — without the need for a Notice of Termination, separation pay, or the twin-notice procedure, because the project completion is the natural and agreed-upon conclusion of the employment relationship.
DOLE Department Order No. 19-93 applies specifically to the construction industry and provides detailed guidelines on project employment, reporting requirements (the employer must submit a report to the DOLE Regional Office upon every project employment termination), and the circumstances that distinguish project employment from regular employment in construction. Outside the construction industry, the Supreme Court has applied Article 295 to project employment in film production, information technology systems integration, mining, and event management.
The Supreme Court of the Philippines, in Caramol v. NLRC (G.R. No. 102973, August 24, 1993), established the two-part test for project employment validity: (1) the employee was assigned to carry out a specific project or undertaking; and (2) the duration and scope of the project were specified at the time of engagement. In Maraguinot, Jr. v. NLRC (G.R. No. 120969, January 22, 1998), the Court held that film workers repeatedly hired for several films over several years had become regular employees, applying the repeated engagement doctrine.
The legal framework governing the Project Employment Contract (Philippines) in Philippines draws on several key statutes and regulatory bodies. Under Philippine law, the Civil Code of the Philippines (Republic Act No. 386) governs contractual obligations. The Revised Corporation Code (Republic Act No. 11232) regulates corporate entities through the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Labor Code of the Philippines (Presidential Decree No. 442) and Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) govern employment matters. The Data Privacy Act of 2012 (Republic Act No. 10173) and the National Privacy Commission (NPC) protect personal data. The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) administers tax obligations under the National Internal Revenue Code. Parties executing a Project Employment Contract (Philippines) in Philippines should confirm the document reflects current law, including any amendments enacted since the original drafting date. The Labor Code of the Philippines (PD 442) sets the foundational requirements.
When Do You Need a Project Employment Contract (Philippines)?
A Project Employment Contract in the Philippines is appropriate when the employer's need for labor is genuinely tied to the existence and completion of a specific, defined project.
A Project Employment Contract is required in the construction industry for workers engaged to build a specific infrastructure project — a building, road, bridge, or housing development — where employment begins at the project start and ends upon the project's completion under DOLE Department Order No. 19-93. The employer must report project employment terminations to the DOLE Regional Office within 30 days.
A Project Employment Contract is needed for information technology workers hired to develop, implement, or migrate a specific software system — for example, an ERP implementation, website development, or mobile application project — where the scope of work and target completion date are defined in the project brief before engagement.
A Project Employment Contract is required for workers engaged in the film and television production industry for a specific production — a feature film, teleserye season, commercial shoot, or documentary — where the employment is defined by the production schedule and completion of the specific program.
A Project Employment Contract is needed for event management workers, stage crew, technical support, and logistics personnel hired for a specific concert, trade fair, corporate event, or sports tournament, where the employment period is defined by the event dates.
A Project Employment Contract is required for mining and extraction workers engaged for the duration of a specific mining phase or exploration project under a DENR-issued mining permit, where the project's scope and estimated completion are defined at the time of the worker's engagement.
Parties in Philippines should prepare a Project Employment Contract (Philippines) proactively rather than waiting for a dispute to arise. Courts interpret agreements based on the written terms rather than oral representations. Under Philippine law, the Civil Code of the Philippines (Republic Act No. 386) governs contractual obligations. The Revised Corporation Code (Republic Act No. 11232) regulates corporate entities through the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Labor Code of the Philippines (Presidential Decree No. 442) and Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) govern employment matters. The Data Privacy Act of 2012 (Republic Act No. 10173) and the National Privacy Commission (NPC) protect personal data. The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) administers tax obligations under the National Internal Revenue Code. Where the transaction involves regulated activities, prior approval from the relevant authority may be required before execution.
What to Include in Your Project Employment Contract (Philippines)
A valid Philippines Project Employment Contract must contain the following essential elements to satisfy Article 295 of the Labor Code and withstand NLRC scrutiny.
Project Description and Scope: A specific, detailed description of the project or undertaking for which the employee is hired — including the project name, client (if applicable), location, and the specific phase or component of the project assigned to the employee. Vague descriptions such as "various projects" or "as needed" defeat the purpose of project employment and may cause the NLRC to treat the employment as regular.
Project Duration: The expected duration of the project and the estimated completion date — or, for projects without a fixed end date, a description of the completion milestone that will trigger end of employment (e.g., "turnover of the completed building to the client" or "go-live deployment of the software system"). The duration must be communicated clearly at the time of engagement under the Caramol v. NLRC test (G.R. No. 102973, August 24, 1993).
Employee's Specific Role: The specific position, duties, and skills the employee will perform in relation to the defined project. This role should be directly connected to the project's purpose — a bookkeeper hired for a construction project must be tied to the financial management of that specific project, not general accounting for the employer's operations.
Salary, Benefits, and Work Schedule: The daily or monthly salary in PHP ₱ (not below minimum wage per the applicable RTWPB wage order), mandatory benefits (13th month pay prorated for partial year under PD 851, SSS contributions under RA 11199, PhilHealth at 5% under RA 7875, Pag-IBIG under RA 9679), and the employee's work schedule and site location.
Project Completion and DOLE Reporting: A provision stating that the employment terminates upon completion of the project or the assigned phase, and that the employer will file the required project employment completion report with the DOLE Regional Office within 30 days of project completion under DOLE D.O. 19-93 (for construction) or applicable DOLE guidelines.
Additional compliance elements for a Project Employment Contract (Philippines) used in Philippines include: Under Philippine law, the Civil Code of the Philippines (Republic Act No. 386) governs contractual obligations. The Revised Corporation Code (Republic Act No. 11232) regulates corporate entities through the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Labor Code of the Philippines (Presidential Decree No. 442) and Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) govern employment matters. The Data Privacy Act of 2012 (Republic Act No. 10173) and the National Privacy Commission (NPC) protect personal data. The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) administers tax obligations under the National Internal Revenue Code. Forms-legal.com provides this template as a starting point for Philippines-compliant documentation.
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year = {2026},
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note = {Free legal document template. Based on Labor Code of the Philippines (PD 442)}
}Frequently Asked Questions
A project employee in the Philippines can become a regular employee if the project employment arrangement is found by the NLRC or courts to have been used as a device to circumvent security of tenure. The Supreme Court in Maraguinot, Jr. v. NLRC (G.R. No. 120969, January 22, 1998) held that film workers who had been repeatedly hired in the same position for numerous productions over several years had effectively become regular employees, because their work was necessary and desirable to the employer's main business. The regularity test under Article 295 of the Labor Code has two components: (1) the nature of the work must be usual and necessary to the employer's business; AND (2) the employment must be genuinely project-specific. A worker hired repeatedly for successive projects in the same role with the same employer — with little or no gap between projects — is at risk of being regularized by the NLRC. Employers in the construction industry must comply with DOLE D.O. 19-93's reporting requirements for each project employment engagement and termination to maintain the project employment classification.
Project employees in the Philippines are generally not entitled to separation pay when their employment ends upon completion of the specific project for which they were hired. Under Article 295 of the Labor Code, project employees who are terminated because the project is completed are not entitled to separation pay, because the end of project is the agreed completion of employment — not a dismissal. The Supreme Court confirmed this in Leyte Geothermal Power Progressive Employees Union v. Philippine National Oil Co.-Energy Development Corporation (G.R. No. 170351, March 30, 2011). However, if the employer terminates a project employee before the project is completed without just cause, the employee is entitled to: (1) payment of wages for the remaining project period; (2) damages for the wrongful termination under the Civil Code; and (3) if the NLRC finds the project employment invalid and treats the employee as regular, full backwages and separation pay. Under DOLE D.O. 19-93, construction employers must report project completions and employment terminations to the DOLE Regional Office, and failure to report may be taken as evidence that the employment was not genuinely project-based.
The key distinction between project employment and regular employment in the Philippines under Article 295 of the Labor Code is that project employment ends naturally and automatically when the specific project for which the employee was hired is completed, while regular employment carries full security of tenure and can be terminated only for just cause or authorized cause with due process. Regular employment arises when an employee performs work that is usually necessary or desirable in the usual business or trade of the employer, or when the employee has rendered at least one year of service (continuous or broken) in a casual capacity. Project employment requires that: (1) the employee was engaged to perform work on a specific project; and (2) the beginning and end of the project, or the phase of work, were communicated at the time of engagement. The practical difference matters most at termination: a project employee needs no notice or separation pay when the project ends; a regular employee requires the twin-notice procedure (King of Kings Transport v. Mamac, G.R. No. 166208) and separation pay for authorized cause dismissals.
For employers in the construction industry, DOLE Department Order No. 19-93 (Guidelines Governing the Employment of Workers in the Construction Industry) requires that the employer submit a report to the DOLE Regional Office within 30 days of the project employment's completion. This report lists all workers whose project employment ended upon the project's completion and serves as official documentation that the employment terminations resulted from legitimate project completion rather than illegal dismissal. Failure to file this report within the prescribed period is evidence that the employer used project employment as a device to deny workers their security of tenure rights, and the NLRC and courts may treat the affected workers as regular employees. For non-construction industries, DOLE D.O. 147-15 (2015) and the general NLRC Rules of Procedure govern project employment, and while there is no universally mandated report form for all industries, maintaining records of project completion and employment termination is critical for the employer to defend against NLRC illegal dismissal complaints.
Repeatedly hiring the same employee on successive project employment contracts in the Philippines carries significant risk of the employee being deemed a regular employee under the totality of circumstances doctrine. The Supreme Court in Maraguinot, Jr. v. NLRC (G.R. No. 120969, January 22, 1998) established that project employees who are: (1) continuously and repeatedly rehired by the same employer; (2) for the same function; and (3) for work that is necessary and desirable to the employer's main business — may be considered regular employees regardless of the contract labels used. The Court applied this doctrine specifically to production workers in the film industry who were rehired for every production. The key factors the NLRC and courts examine are: the frequency and continuity of re-engagement (gaps between projects of less than a month are suspicious), whether the employee performs the same core function in each project, and whether the employer's main business requires that type of work continuously. Construction employers are less at risk of regularization claims for repeat project workers because DOLE D.O. 19-93 explicitly recognizes the project-based nature of construction employment, provided reporting requirements are met.
This template is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change over time. Consult a qualified attorney for advice specific to your situation.Full disclaimer
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