Short answer. Yes. A solo parent has the right to a flexible work schedule. Section 6 of RA 8972 provides that the employer shall provide for a flexible working schedule for solo parents, subject to productivity and a possible DOLE exemption, and RA 11861 has since broadened solo-parent benefits.
What the law says
The employer shall provide for a flexible working schedule for solo parents
RA 8972, Section 6 — Flexible Working Schedule Required. Read the full provision →
The employer must provide flexibility
Section 6 of Republic Act No. 8972, the Solo Parents' Welfare Act, phrases the right as a duty on the employer: the employer shall provide for a flexible working schedule for solo parents. The word shall makes it an obligation, not a favour the employer may grant or withhold at whim. A flexible schedule lets a solo parent adjust arrival and departure times so that raising a child single-handed does not collide impossibly with a fixed working day. The entitlement recognises that a parent carrying the whole load of parenthood needs some give in the daily timetable to meet a child's needs.
The two conditions attached
The right is real but not unlimited. Section 6 carries two provisos. First, the flexible schedule shall not affect individual and company productivity — the accommodation must not undermine the work itself. Second, an employer may request exemption from the requirement from the Department of Labor and Employment on meritorious grounds. So the duty can bend where a business genuinely cannot absorb it, but only through a proper request to the DOLE, not by the employer simply declaring the arrangement inconvenient. The default remains that flexibility is owed.
What flexibility means and does not mean
A flexible schedule generally means the right to vary when the workday begins and ends, without reducing the core hours the employer sets. It is not a licence to work fewer hours, to skip work, or to ignore output expectations. The benefit is about timing, allowing a solo parent to fit school runs, medical appointments, and a child's routine around the job. It sits alongside the other protections the Solo Parents' Welfare Act extends, and it binds employers generally, not just large ones, so long as the worker qualifies as a solo parent under the law.
The benefit has since been widened
The floor set by RA 8972 is no longer the ceiling. Republic Act No. 11861 (2022), the Expanded Solo Parents Welfare Act, broadened who counts as a solo parent, eased the service requirement tied to solo-parent leave, and added benefits such as a discount and VAT exemption that the older text does not contain. A solo parent asking about a flexible schedule today should read the RA 8972 entitlement as the baseline and check RA 11861 for the current, wider terms. Qualifying usually involves securing a Solo Parent Identification Card to claim these rights.