File a Request for Assistance at the DOLE Single Entry Approach (SEnA) desk nearest your workplace — this is free and does not require a lawyer — and if the 30-day conciliation period does not resolve the unpaid overtime, the case is referred for formal adjudication, usually to the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC). You have three years from the date each overtime payment became due to file, so do not wait.
Overtime pay is not optional. Under the Labor Code, work rendered beyond eight hours in a day must be paid an additional twenty-five percent (25%) of the employee’s hourly rate on ordinary days, with higher premiums when the overtime falls on a rest day, special day, or regular holiday. When an employer simply does not pay it — through a “no overtime pay” policy, unrecorded hours, or disputed computations — the employee has a clear, low-cost path to recover what is owed. Here is that process, step by step.
Step 1: Build Your Case Before You File
Before going to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), gather everything that proves you worked beyond eight hours and were not paid for it:
- Payslips or payroll records covering the period in question
- Daily time records, biometric logs, or manual logbooks showing time in and time out
- Your employment contract or appointment letter, showing your basic pay and shift schedule
- Company memos, schedules, or messages instructing or acknowledging the extra hours
- Your own computation of the unpaid amount, broken down pay period by pay period
You do not need a lawyer to prepare this, but a clear, itemized computation makes every later stage faster, from conciliation to a formal hearing.
Step 2: File a Request for Assistance Under SEnA
Every labor money claim in the Philippines, including unpaid overtime, must first go through the Single Entry Approach (SEnA) — a mandatory, free conciliation-mediation service. You file a Request for Assistance (RFA) at the DOLE Regional or Field Office with jurisdiction over your workplace, or through DOLE’s online SEnA portal where available. The RFA form asks for your name and address, your employer’s name and address, and a description of the issue — here, non-payment of overtime pay — with the amount you believe is owed.
There is no filing fee for an RFA. Once filed, DOLE assigns a Single Entry Approach Desk Officer (SEADO), who notifies your employer and schedules a conciliation-mediation conference.
Step 3: Attend the Conciliation-Mediation Conference
SEnA gives both sides thirty (30) calendar days from the filing of the RFA to reach a voluntary settlement, with the SEADO acting as a neutral facilitator. Many overtime disputes settle at this stage, especially where the computation is straightforward and the employer simply miscalculated or overlooked the amount due. A settlement reached here is reduced to writing and becomes enforceable.
If no settlement is reached within the 30-day period — or your employer does not appear or refuses to pay — the SEADO issues a referral so the claim can proceed to formal adjudication.
Step 4: Where the Formal Case Goes
Where your claim goes next depends mainly on its size and whether other issues, like illegal dismissal, are involved:
- DOLE Regional Director: Simple money claims not exceeding ₱5,000 per employee, with no claim for reinstatement, may be resolved directly by the DOLE Regional Director under the Labor Code’s summary procedure. Most overtime claims covering several pay periods exceed this threshold.
- National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC): Overtime claims above that threshold, or coupled with issues such as illegal dismissal, are filed as a formal complaint with the NLRC Regional Arbitration Branch that has jurisdiction over your workplace or residence.
To start the NLRC case, you file a complaint form, available at any NLRC Regional Arbitration Branch, stating your cause of action — non-payment of overtime pay — together with your supporting documents. As with SEnA, employees generally are not required to pay filing or docket fees to bring a straightforward money claim.
Step 5: Position Papers and the Labor Arbiter
Once the complaint is docketed, the Labor Arbiter sets the case for mandatory conciliation and, if it remains unresolved, requires both parties to submit position papers — written statements of facts, arguments, and evidence, including your detailed overtime computation. NLRC proceedings are largely paper-based; full trials with witnesses are the exception, which keeps the process faster than ordinary court litigation. The Labor Arbiter then decides based on the position papers, supporting documents, and any clarificatory hearings held.
Step 6: Appeal, If Necessary
Either party who disagrees with the Labor Arbiter’s decision may appeal to the NLRC Commission proper within ten (10) calendar days from receipt of the decision. If the employer appeals a monetary award, it must post a cash or surety bond equivalent to the award before the appeal is given due course — a safeguard against using an appeal simply to delay payment.
What Happens After the Decision Becomes Final
If neither party appeals within the ten-day period, or if the NLRC Commission affirms the Labor Arbiter’s award on appeal, the decision becomes final and executory. At that point, the employee may ask the Labor Arbiter to issue a writ of execution, which authorizes the sheriff to enforce the award against the employer’s assets if the employer still refuses to pay voluntarily. In practice, many employers pay once a decision becomes final, since execution proceedings add further cost and can extend to garnishing bank accounts or levying on company property. Keeping track of the finality date, and following up promptly if payment is not made, helps avoid unnecessary delay at this final stage.
Throughout every stage of this process, the documents you gathered in Step 1 remain the backbone of your case. A Labor Arbiter deciding a paper-based case relies heavily on whichever side submits clearer, more complete records, so updating your computation as new pay periods pass, and keeping a running log of any new instances of unpaid overtime, strengthens your position at each stage rather than only at the start.
Do Not Wait: The Three-Year Deadline
Money claims arising from an employer-employee relationship, including unpaid overtime pay, must be filed within three (3) years from the day each cause of action accrued. Because overtime is normally computed and payable per pay period, each unpaid pay period effectively has its own three-year clock. If you wait too long, you may still recover more recent unpaid overtime but lose the right to claim overtime from further back. File as soon as you recognize a pattern of non-payment, rather than waiting until you resign or are terminated.
Filing While Still Employed
You are not required to resign before filing a complaint for unpaid overtime. The law protects employees from retaliation for asserting a labor claim; an employer who dismisses, demotes, or otherwise disadvantages an employee specifically because that employee filed or intends to file a labor complaint exposes itself to a separate and additional cause of action.
When an Employer Disputes the Computation
Employers sometimes contest an overtime claim not by denying that work was performed, but by disputing the hourly rate, the classification of certain hours as overtime rather than regular time, or whether a particular day qualified as a rest day, special day, or regular holiday. When this happens, the conciliator or Labor Arbiter will typically ask both sides to reconcile their figures line by line, comparing the employee’s records against the employer’s payroll and time-keeping system. This is another reason a detailed, pay-period-by-pay-period computation is more persuasive than a single lump-sum estimate: it lets the other side, and eventually the Labor Arbiter, see exactly how each peso was calculated and where the disagreement actually lies.
Employees who are uncertain whether a particular task or on-call period counts as compensable overtime should still file a Request for Assistance rather than assume the claim is too weak to pursue; the SEnA process is designed precisely to sort out these borderline questions early, before the dispute escalates into a formal case.
Practical Tips for a Stronger Claim
- Keep your own copies of payslips, schedules, and time records — do not rely solely on records the employer controls.
- Compute overtime pay correctly: the base premium is 25% of the hourly rate for overtime on an ordinary working day, with higher premiums when overtime falls on a rest day, special non-working day, or regular holiday.
- If coworkers share the same unpaid overtime issue, consider whether a joint complaint makes sense — DOLE and the NLRC can process claims from similarly situated employees together.
- Bring identification and a simple written narrative of dates and hours worked to your first SEnA conference; it speeds up the conciliator’s understanding of your claim.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a lawyer to file a complaint for unpaid overtime? No. Both the SEnA conciliation stage and the initial NLRC complaint can be filed by the employee personally, without a lawyer, though counsel becomes more useful once the case reaches position papers or an appeal.
How long does the whole process take? SEnA conciliation runs for up to 30 calendar days; if it is not resolved there, an NLRC case can take several months to more than a year, depending on the arbitration branch’s caseload and whether either side appeals.
Can I still file if I already resigned or was terminated? Yes, as long as you file within three years from the date each unpaid overtime amount became due; resignation or termination does not erase a money claim that has not yet prescribed.
Will filing a complaint cost me anything? Filing a Request for Assistance under SEnA is free, and employees generally do not pay filing or docket fees to bring a straightforward money claim before the NLRC.
This commentary is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For guidance specific to your situation, please consult a licensed attorney.
A well-documented overtime claim, filed promptly, is usually resolved far faster than most employees expect — many are settled at the SEnA stage without ever reaching a formal hearing.