(REPEALED BY PRESIDENTIAL DECREE
NO. 442)
Section 1. This Act shall be known as the "National
Apprenticeship Act of 1957."
Sec. 2. In order to meet adequately the
progressively increasing demand for a skilled-labor force necessary to
the industrialization of the Philippines and to increase productivity,
it is hereby declared to be the policy of the Government: (1) to
establish a national apprenticeship system through the voluntary
cooperation of employers and workers and interested governmental and
non-governmental agencies; and (2) to provide for the establishment and
furtherance of apprenticeship standards to safeguard and promote the
welfare of apprentices.cralaw
Sec. 3. The Department of Labor shall, in addition
to its duties and functions, perform the following:
(a) To
implement the policy on apprenticeship training as now or may hereafter
be declared by Congress;
(b) To organize and develop an apprenticeship
training program by which the requirements for trained labor may be
met;
(c) To secure the cooperation of government agencies
and private organizations and institutions, including those providing
vocational guidance and training, in effecting coordination in the
development of apprenticeship training;
(d) To recommend appropriate measures for the
promotion of apprenticeship training;
(e) To assist and cooperate in determining the number
of apprentices and skilled workers needed for each trade and
occupation, and in promoting the proper distribution of manpower to
meet the needs of the national economy and the labor requirements of
employers so as to achieve the fullest and most effective utilization
of manpower resources;
(f) To enable workers to advance their opportunities
or steady employment and to make full use of their natural talents and
abilities;
(g) To establish minimum standards of training in
apprenticeable trades and occupations;
(h) To formulate and adopt standards for effecting
the employment of apprentices under different conditions, by setting
out their qualifications for employment, number of apprentices,
required education, age limitations, aptitudes, terms of
apprenticeship, wages, working hours, overtime, vacation with pay, and
other matters;
(i) To lay down minimum standards and procedures for
the examination of apprentices, the execution and registration of
apprentices and apprenticeship agreements, the methods of supervision
and the duration of the apprentices' work on the job and at school, and
the methods of examination of apprentices at the end of their
training;
(j) To approve, disapprove, suspend or revoke plant
apprenticeship programs and agreements, issue certificates of
apprentices, required education, age limitations, apti-occupations in
accordance with the rules, regulations and standards promulgated under
this Act;
(k) To promulgate such rules and regulations as may
be necessary to carry out the interests and purposes of this Act,
including the denial of apprentices to any employer that has violated
any provision of this Act, rule or regulation promulgated thereunder,
or of any apprentice agreement; and
(l) To make and submit, not later than February first
of each year, a report through the Secretary of Labor of its
activities, accomplishments and findings to the President and to the
Congress of the Philippines.
Sec. 4. The Department of Labor shall:
(a) Develop and
supervise standards in apprenticeship that may be formulated by it and
to carry out the apprenticeship program envisioned by this Act;
(b) Assist and cooperate in the development and
formulation of policies, rules, regulations, standards, and plans;
(c) Promote the purposes of this Act by bringing
employers and workers together and assisting them in working out
appropriate apprenticeship programs;
(d) Conduct research in matters affecting
apprenticeship and compile and disseminate such research currently;
(e) Provide technical and advisory services to the
several apprenticeship committee, employers, associations of employers,
employees, associations of employees, and other interested parties, in
the development, maintenance and operation of apprenticeship programs;
(f) Provide services for the review and appraisal of
proposed apprenticeship programs and apprenticeship
agreements;
(g) Maintain a register of apprentices,
apprenticeship agreements, and apprenticeship programs;
(h) Maintain currently a record of all apprenticeship
committees and management-labor committees and all employers operating
under approved apprenticeship programs;
(i) Approve, disapprove, suspend, revoke or terminate
plant apprenticeship programs and apprenticeship agreements, and issue
certificates of apprenticeship;
(j) Act as a clearing house for the operation of
apprenticeship programs in different areas, industries, and
occupations;
(k) Disseminate such information regarding
apprenticeship as may be necessary to bring about a better
understanding of the purposes of the apprenticeship programs provided
by this Act and to arouse public interest in such programs; and
(l) Protect and promote the welfare of apprentices.
Sec. 5. Any employer may enter into an
apprenticeship agreement with a qualified apprentice. Each
apprenticeship agreement shall contain:
(a) The full
names of the contracting parties;
(b) The date of birth of the apprentice;
(c) A statement of the trade, craft, or business in
which apprenticeship is sought, and the date on which the
apprenticeship will begin and end;
(d) A statement showing the number of hours to be
spent by the apprentice in work and the number of hours to be spent in
related and supplemental instruction, the total of which hours shall,
in no case, be less than those established by the Department of Labor
pursuant to this Act: Provided, That the combined weekly hours of work
and of the required related and supplemental instruction of the
apprentice shall not exceed the maximum number of hours of work
prescribed by law for a worker of the age and sex of the apprentice;
(e) A statement setting forth a schedule of the
processes in the trade or industry in which the apprentice is to be
taught and the approximate time to be spent in instruction in each
process;
(f) A statement of the graduated scale of wages to be
paid the apprentice, the provisions of Republic Act Numbered Six
hundred two to the contrary notwithstanding, and whether or not the
required school time shall be compensated;
(g) A statement fixing a period of probation of not
more than five hundred hours of employment and of instruction extending
not more than four months, during which time the apprenticeship
agreement may, at the request of either party in writing, be terminated
upon approval of the Department of Labor for good and sufficient cause;
(h) A provision that an employer who is unable to
fulfill his obligation under an apprenticeship agreement may, with the
approval of the Department of Labor, transfer such contract to any
other employer, if the apprentice consents and such other employer
agrees to assume the obligation of said apprenticeship agreement;
(i) Such additional terms and conditions not
inconsistent with this Act, which the Department of Labor determines
are necessary and proper to effectuate the purposes of this Act; and
(j) A clause stating that a copy of the
apprenticeship agreement shall be issued without cost to the
apprentice.
Sec. 6. Every apprenticeship agreement shall be
signed by the employer or his agent, or by an authorized representative
of an association or group of employers or employees, or by an
apprenticeship committee, and by the apprentice; and, if the apprentice
is a minor, by the minor's parent or guardian. Where a minor enters
into apprenticeship agreement under this Act for a period of training
which shall extend into his majority, the apprenticeship agreement
shall likewise be binding for such a period as may be covered during
the apprentice's majority.cralaw
Every apprenticeship agreement
entered under this Act shall be approved by the parties to the
appropriate existing collective bargaining agreement. Each such
apprenticeship agreement shall also be approved by the appropriate
apprenticeship committee. Where there is no appropriate apprenticeship
committee or no collective bargaining agreement, each such
apprenticeship agreement shall be approved by the Secretary of Labor,
and a copy of each such agreement shall be filed with the Department of
Labor.
Sec. 7. Upon the complaint of any interested
person or upon his own initiative, the Secretary of Labor or his
representatives shall investigate any violation of the terms of an
apprenticeship agreement made under this Act, and for such purpose he
shall hold hearings, inquiries, and other proceedings necessary to such
investigations and determinations and issue subpoena and subpoena duces
tecum. The parties to such agreement shall, upon reasonable notice
thereof, be given a fair impartial hearing. All such hearings,
investigations and determinations shall be made pursuant to such rules
and procedures as may be prescribed by the Department of Labor.cralaw
Sec. 8. Any party to an apprenticeship agreement
aggrieved by an order or decision of the Secretary of Labor may bring
the appropriate proceedings in the courts. The decision of the
Secretary of Labor shall be conclusive and final, if action thereon is
not filed in court within thirty days after the date of notice of such
order or decision.cralaw
No person shall institute any action for the enforcement of any
apprenticeship agreement, or damages for the breach of any such
agreement, made under this Act unless he shall first have exhausted all
administrative remedies provided by this Act.
Sec. 9. To ensure the effective implementation of
the policy laid down in section two hereof;
(A) The
National Employment Service shall develop and prepare economic analysis
with respect to the several apprenticeship occupations and with respect
to the industries involved, and provide appropriate aptitude tests in
the selection of apprentices.cralaw
(B) The Department of Education shall:
(a) Provide related and supplemental instruction for
apprentices, secure and furnish facilities, instructional materials,
and supplies necessary for such instruction;
(b) Develop and prepare courses of instruction for
apprentices, correlate such instruction with job experience and
administer and supervise such instructions;
(c) Enroll apprentices in schools and keep individual
attendance and progress records of such apprentices;
(d) Employ or otherwise obtain and train apprentice
instructors and coordinators;
(e) Advise and
assist the Secretary of Labor and apprenticeship committees regarding
training programs;
(f) Designate, when so required, members of
educational advisory committees to the Department of Labor and
apprenticeship committees; and
(g) Assist in the selection of apprentices by the
development of appropriate aptitude tests or by providing
pre-apprenticeship courses, or both.cralaw
The Department of Education, with the approval of the Department of
Labor, may delegate all or any of the foregoing duties to an
appropriate public or private agency: Provided, That the Department of
Education shall have a continuing responsibility for the effective
performance of such delegated duties.
Section 10. As used in this Act. —
(a) The term
"apprentice" means a worker at least sixteen years of age who is
covered by a written apprenticeship agreement with an employer, an
association of employers, an organization of workers, or an
apprenticeship committee registered with the Apprenticeship Division,
which contract provides for not less than two thousand hours of
reasonably continuous employment for such worker and for his
participation in an approved schedule of work experience through
employment and supplemented by related classroom
instruction.
No person shall work or be engaged as apprentice unless he is at least
sixteen years of age; has completed the high school course or such
course or courses as the Secretary of Labor may prescribe; and shows
his fitness for the employment by means of a certificate of his school
attendance, demonstration of his capacities and aptitudes, and
presentation of a certificate of his physical fitness by a medical
officer of the Bureau of Labor Standards or Bureau of Health.cralaw
(b) The term "apprenticeship" means a system of
trained systematically in an apprenticeable occupation for contract to
employ a worker and to train him or have him trained systematically in
an apprenticeable occupation for a certain period, the duration of
which has been fixed in advance and in the course of which the
apprentice is bound to work in the service of such employer or
employers.cralaw
(c) The term "apprenticeable occupation" means an
occupation which: (1) is customarily learned in a practical way through
training on the job; (2) is clearly identified and commonly recognized
throughout the industry as a skilled trade or craft; (3) requires two
thousand or more hours of work experience to learn; (4) requires
related instruction to supplement the work experience; (5) is not a
part of a more extensive occupation recognized as apprenticeable by the
Department of Labor; (6) involves the development of skills and the use
of tools and equipment sufficiently broad to be applicable in like
occupations throughout an industry rather than of restricted
application to the products of one or more employees in such industry;
and (7) is not concerned with selling or distribution of goods; or with
managerial, clerical, professional and semiprofessional activities, or
with agriculture as defined by Republic Act Numbered Six hundred two,
as amended.cralaw
(d) The term "employ" includes to suffer or permit to
work;
(e) The term "employee" includes any person acting
directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an
employee.cralaw
(f) The term "industry" includes a trade, business,
industry, or branch thereof, or group of industries, in which
individuals are gainfully employed.cralaw
(g) The term "person" includes an individual,
partnership, association, corporation, business trust, legal
representatives, or any organized group of persons.
Section 11. This Act shall not apply to
seamen.
Section 12. If any provision of this Act or the
application of such provision to any person or circumstance shall be
held invalid, the remainder of this Act, or the application of any
provision thereof to other persons or circumstances shall not be
affected thereby.cralaw
Section 13. The sum of one hundred fifty thousand
pesos or so much thereof as may be necessary is hereby appropriated out
of any funds in the National Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to
carry out the purposes of this Act and as a special scholarship fund
for the expenditure of apprentices for the fiscal year nineteen hundred
fifty-seven to nineteen hundred fifty-eight. Nothing in this Act shall,
however, be construed to prevent the acceptance by the Department of
Labor of voluntary contributions for the support of apprenticeship and
labor-management committees.cralaw
Section 14. All Acts or part of Acts inconsistent
with any provision of this Act are hereby repealed.cralaw
Section 15. This Act shall take effect upon its
approval.cralaw
Approved: June 22, 1957
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