Nelda worked as a chambermaid in Hotel Neverland with a basic wage of PhP560.00 for an eight-hour workday. On Good Friday, she worked for one (1) hour from 10:00 PM to 11:00 PM. Her employer paid her only PhP480.00 for each 8-hour workday, and PhP70.00 for the work done on Good Friday. She sued for underpayment of wages and non-payment of holiday pay and night shift differential pay for working on a Good Friday. Hotel Neverland denied the alleged underpayment, arguing that based on long-standing unwritten tradition, food and lodging costs were partially shouldered by the employer and partially paid for by the employee through salary deduction. According to the employer, such valid deduction caused the payment of Nelda’s wage to be below the prescribed minimum. The hotel also claimed that she was not entitled to holiday pay and night shift differential pay because hotel workers have to work on holidays and may be assigned to work at night.
(a) Does the hotel have valid legal grounds to deduct food and lodging costs from Nelda’s basic salary? (2.5%)
(b) Applying labor standards law, how much should Nelda be paid for work done on Good Friday? Show the computation in your test booklet and encircle your final answer. (2.5%)
Suggested answer only. Not an official answer and not legal advice.
(a) **No**, the hotel has no legal grounds to deduct food/lodging costs. (b) Nelda should be paid a total of **PhP637.00** for her work on Good Friday.
Under Art. 97(f) of the Labor Code and *Mabeza v. NLRC*, facilities like lodging are deductible only if voluntarily accepted in writing; otherwise, they are non-deductible supplements. Under Arts. 86 and 94, working 1 hour on a regular holiday entitles an employee to 100% unworked holiday pay, 100% hourly rate for work done, and 10% night shift differential (NSD).
In (a), deductions are illegal because the hotel failed to obtain Nelda's written consent. In (b), Nelda's pay is computed as PhP560.00 (holiday pay) + PhP70.00 (1 hr work at PhP560/8) + PhP7.00 (10% NSD on PhP70), equaling **PhP637.00**.
Therefore, the deductions are illegal, and Nelda must be paid PhP637.00 for Good Friday work.
This is not an official scoring system and carries no weight with the Supreme Court or any bar review provider. It measures how much of the suggested answer's wording your response covers, not whether your reasoning is correct. For practice only.
Quick check
Under Article 97(f) of the Labor Code and Mabeza v. NLRC, when are lodging costs deductible from an employee's wage?
Under Article 97(f) of the Labor Code, facilities are deductible only if voluntarily accepted in writing by the employee and charged at fair value.
What is the statutory classification of food and lodging provided primarily for the employer's convenience?
Board and lodging provided primarily for the employer's benefit or convenience are non-deductible supplements.
How much compensation is an employee entitled to for working on a regular holiday like Good Friday under Article 94?
Under Article 94 of the Labor Code, work performed on a regular holiday is compensated at two hundred percent of the regular daily wage.
Under Article 86 of the Labor Code, what hours cover the statutory night shift differential period?
Article 86 defines the night shift differential period as work performed between 10:00 PM and 6:00 AM.
What is the total Good Friday pay for an employee with a PhP560 daily rate who worked 1 hour from 10:00 PM to 11:00 PM?
Total pay is PhP637.00, comprising PhP560 unworked holiday pay, PhP70 for 1 hour worked (PhP560/8), and PhP7 night differential (10% of PhP70).
Learn more about these topics
1. Facilities vs Supplements
Under Article 97(f) of the Labor Code and Mabeza v. NLRC, facilities such as board and lodging are deductible from an employee's wage only if customarily furnished, voluntarily accepted in writing by the employee, and charged at fair valuation. Where food and lodging are provided primarily for the employer's convenience or benefit, as in hotel operations, they constitute non-deductible supplements rather than deductible facilities. An unwritten custom or tradition of salary deduction without voluntary written authorization from the worker violates statutory wage protection laws.
2. Regular Holiday Pay
Under Article 94 of the Labor Code, an employee who performs work on a regular holiday, such as Good Friday, is entitled to double rate or two hundred percent of the regular daily wage. Even if the employee renders work for only one hour, the worker remains entitled to one hundred percent of the basic daily wage for the unworked regular holiday plus the regular hourly rate for the actual hour worked. Hotel employees are not exempt from regular holiday pay benefits regardless of continuous shift requirements.
3. Night Shift Differential
Under Article 86 of the Labor Code, every employee is entitled to a night shift differential of not less than ten percent of the regular wage for each hour of work performed between ten o'clock in the evening and six o'clock in the morning. Work rendered during a regular holiday within the night shift differential period requires adding the ten percent differential to the holiday hourly rate. Hotel workers assigned to night shifts are legally entitled to this premium compensation.