Short answer. Yes, and on two separate footings. Republic Act No. 10361 (2013), the Batas Kasambahay, now governs domestic employment and forbids abuse, and hitting anyone is a crime under the general penal law regardless of who employs whom. The old Labor Code article was repealed.
What the law says
The employer shall treat the househelper in a just and humane manner. In no case shall physical violence be used upon the househelper.
Labor Code, Article 147 — Treatment Of Househelpers. Read the full provision →
The rule, and where it now lives
Article 147 of the Labor Code put it in two sentences: The employer shall treat the househelper in a just and humane manner. In no case shall physical violence be used upon the househelper. That article was expressly repealed by Republic Act No. 10361 (2013), the Batas Kasambahay, whose repealing clause struck out the entire Labor Code chapter on the employment of househelpers. The prohibition itself did not go anywhere — the current Act governs the treatment of domestic workers and forbids abuse — but a kasambahay's protection today is drawn from that Act, not from the words above.
Criminal law applies on its own terms
This is the part that matters most and is most often missed. Striking a person is a crime whether or not there is an employment relationship, and the criminal law on physical injuries does not have an exception for households. An employer who hits a kasambahay is not merely in breach of a labour standard; the assault is an offence in its own right, and it can be reported to the police like any other. Being employed in the house, being fed and housed there, or owing money to the household changes none of that.
Abuse is not only what leaves a mark
Households sometimes reason that nothing serious happened because there was no injury. That is the wrong test. The duty is humane treatment, and the current Act addresses the mistreatment of domestic workers more broadly than a single blow — including conduct that keeps a worker under control by fear. Withholding wages, confiscating identification documents or a phone, and preventing a worker from leaving the house are serious matters in their own right, and where a worker is confined or exploited, laws well beyond the labour framework come into play.
If it is happening now
Immediate safety comes first: if someone is in danger, that is a police matter and it can be reported straight away, by the worker or by anyone who knows. Afterwards, get any injury examined and documented, keep messages and photographs, and note dates. Those records support both a criminal complaint and any claim for unpaid wages under Republic Act No. 10361, which are separate and can both be pursued. This page is general legal information rather than advice on a particular situation, and it cannot promise any result.