QuestionsQuestions (Republic Act No. 9547)
RA 9547 aims to strengthen and expand the coverage of the Special Program for Employment of Students (SPES). It amends RA 7323, the original SPES law.
Students 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 participate in SPES.
The student 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.
Tertiary, vocational, or technical students may be employed at any time of the year.
Employment is from twenty (20) to fifty-two (52) working days only.
During Christmas vacation, employment shall be from ten (10) to fifteen (15) days, and these days may be counted as part of the students’ probationary period if they apply in the same company or agency after graduation.
Those whose parents’ combined income, together with their own if any, does not exceed the annual regional poverty threshold level for a family of six (6) for the preceding year, as determined by NEDA.
Employment facilitation services for applicants to the program shall be done by the PESO.
Sixty percent (60%) of the salary or wage shall be paid by the employer in cash, and forty percent (40%) by the government in the form of a voucher.
The vouchers are applicable for payment for tuition fees and books in any educational institution for secondary, tertiary, vocational, or technical education.
Yes. LGUs may assume responsibility for paying in full the student’s salary or wages.
The amount of the education vouchers shall be paid by the government to the educational institutions within thirty (30) days from presentation to the officer or agency designated by the Secretary of Finance.
Vouchers are not transferable except when the payee dies or for a justifiable cause stops in his duties, in which case it can be transferred to the payee’s brothers or sisters; if none, it shall be paid to the heirs or to the payee himself, as the case may be.
Upon conviction, the offender faces imprisonment of not less than six (6) months and not more than one (1) year, and a fine of not less than ₱10,000.00, without prejudice to prosecution for other offenses under the Revised Penal Code or other penal statutes.