Short answer. Only in narrow situations. The general rule is that no child below fifteen may be employed. The Labor Code allows an exception where the child works directly under the sole responsibility of a parent or guardian and schooling is not affected, and later legislation tightened that exception further.
What the law says
No child below fifteen (15) years of age shall be employed, except when he works directly under the sole responsibility of his parents or guardian, and his employment does not in any way interfere with his schooling.
Labor Code, Article 139 — Minimum Employable Age. Read the full provision →
The starting point is a prohibition, not a permission
The Labor Code sets a floor: children below fifteen are simply outside the labour market. The exception is written narrowly and both of its conditions must hold at once. The child must work directly under the sole responsibility of his parents or guardian - not for a shop, a contractor, or a family friend, and not under a supervisor the parent merely trusts. And the work must not in any way interfere with his schooling, which is a stricter test than asking whether the child still manages to attend. An employer who takes on an under-fifteen child outside that exception is in breach regardless of how willing the child or the parents were.
The current position: RA 9231 narrowed it further
Do not read the Labor Code text alone. Republic Act No. 9231 (2003), which amended Republic Act No. 7610, now carries the operative child-labour rules and is stricter. Under that statute a child below fifteen may work only where the undertaking employs the child's own family members and the work does not endanger life, safety, health or morals or impair normal development, or where the child takes part in public entertainment or information under a written contract. Both routes require a work permit from the Department of Labor and Employment, cap the child's working hours, and require that schooling continue. So the correct answer to a parent asking today is governed by RA 9231, not by the older text standing on its own.
Fifteen to eighteen, and the hazardous-work ban
For young workers already fifteen, employment is lawful, but not on adult terms: a person between fifteen and eighteen may be employed only for such number of hours and such periods of the day as determined by the Secretary of Labor and Employment in appropriate regulations. Separately, and with no exception at all, the Labor Code provides that its rules shall in no case allow the employment of a person below eighteen (18) years of age in an undertaking which is hazardous or deleterious in nature as the Secretary determines. Parental consent cannot waive that ban, and neither can the minor. It binds the employer, who cannot shelter behind a signed contract or a claim that the minor looked older.
What happens when the rule is broken
Illegal child employment is not a private matter between the family and the employer. It exposes the employer to penal and administrative liability under the child-protection legislation, and the child's wages and benefits are still owed for work actually performed - the illegality of the arrangement does not become the child's loss. Families under financial pressure sometimes accept work that the law forbids, and consent does not cure it. If you are considering engaging a minor, or you believe a minor is being worked in breach of these limits, keep the schedules, payslips and any permit, and get the specific arrangement assessed. This is general legal information rather than advice on your situation.