Question & AnswerQ&A (MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. MSSD-15-09)
Students eligible for employment must be at least fifteen (15) years old but not more than twenty-five (25) years old.
Any person or entity employing at least ten (10) persons may employ students under the SPES.
Students must be paid a salary or wage not lower than the minimum wage for private employers and the applicable hiring rate for national and local government agencies.
Secondary level students may only be employed during summer and/or Christmas vacations.
Employment period shall be from twenty (20) to fifty-two (52) working days, except during Christmas vacation, when it shall be from ten (10) to fifteen (15) days.
Their parents' combined income, together with their own if any, must not exceed the annual regional poverty threshold level for a family of six (6) as determined by NEDA for the preceding year.
Sixty percent (60%) of the salary or wage shall be paid by the employer in cash, and forty percent (40%) shall be paid by the government in the form of education vouchers for tuition and books.
Yes, LGUs may assume responsibility for paying the student's salary or wages in full.
They shall be punished with imprisonment of not less than six (6) months and not more than one (1) year and a fine of not less than Ten thousand pesos (P10,000.00). Managing partners, general managers, or CEOs of corporations may also be held criminally liable.
The Secretary of Labor and Employment, Secretary of Education, Chairman of the Commission on Higher Education, Secretary of Budget and Management, Secretary of Social Welfare and Development, and Secretary of Finance, with the Secretary of Labor and Employment as Program Chairman.
Education vouchers are not transferable except when the payee dies or stops duties for justifiable cause, in which case they may be transferred to the brothers or sisters, heirs, or payee himself accordingly.
PESO facilitates employment services for applicants and coordinates with participating employers to inform SPES employees of their rights, benefits, and privileges.
Yes, students employed in activities related to their course may earn equivalent academic credits as determined by appropriate government agencies.
The necessary funding shall be appropriated in the General Appropriations Act starting from 1992 and subsequent years, with an annual increase of at least twenty percent (20%).
The remainder of the Act or its application to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected by such declaration.