Hi,
I moved to the Philippines last April from the UK and am currently a freelance graphic artist.Eveything has been great until today
Recentley, my girlfriend and i have had a baby girl, wo it was only natrual that my girlfriend is to take leave from her BPO. The issue arrouse when the kept delaying half of the payment. But to my understanding a full sum must be payed by the company with in 30 days of of filling the leave and sss will repay the company over a course of two payments we recived the first half which was fine then they just kept delaying the second half .. we wouldnt of been botherd except our daughter fell sick with whooping cough and pneumonia and so we needed the money so i arranged to pick it up then then said we can get it my girlfriend needs to sign which is fine, my problem is she was constantly trying to belittle me with the way she spoke to me telling me we need to follow procedure and that its mandatory and she kept "fyi" so i "fyi" the law to her which she imedeitaly got defensive about and said she will contact a lawyer and show him the messages. She then rang my girlfriend a said they are considering getting me deported. PLEASE CAN I HAVE SOME HELP me and my girldfriend are stressed enough this is pushing us over the edge. Which need a bit of comfort about this

Just tell them that you may wish to make this official with DOLE, unless your gf wishes to return to work for them. Then tell them after DOLE t will go the NCL which is the legal arbitration process. That way if they threaten you with deportation they would be in deep trouble as their reason would be exposed as fraudulent as you are not working for them.

I am surprised that a BPO would act in this way which suggests that there may be more to this?

You are on a tourist visa and your work is on line only for overseas companies or for local companies?

I agree it is so childish of them, I work freelance online based for a man who lives in Texas. My girlfriend is planning to leave as shes had so many issues as well as her team mates. It all comes the fact that the client in America looks after them he has paid for private service to work he pays for their trips send s the gift and bonuses and the company doesnt like that in short its run by clowns who gang up on people to get what they want. Theyve had previous people fired just because they dont like them without any kind of written warning.



also what is NCL and how do i contact them ive tried searching but cant find anything? THANKYOU!!!

Sorry it is NLRC

https://www.dole.gov.ph/pages/view/30

Employers carp themselves when dealing with this lot as a Judge presides over the case. Not just a ruling can be given but exemplary damages as well.

As your partner is pregnant whilst undergoing such harrassment then a breach of law can be cited

https://pcw.gov.ph/law/republic-act-9262

mental anguish for having you threatened and her child's security threatened. Establish work place bullying as an ongoing feature of employment with facts.

Do not tell the employer just file the case and they will be notified within three weeks copy to you.

First hearing, be strong prove you are here legally and that the child is yours so have birth certs etc so that threats made against you are shown not to have legal validity. Tell the arbiter that you are willing to settle for a sum plus damages, make that figure double the loss of earnings that can be proven.

The company now on the radar of this body will do their utmost to settle. they will not like the exposure. They will want this to go away fast with an agreed settlement.

Should they try to fight it. The next stage is for you to present a position paper to the arbiter with a copy sent to the employer. DO NOT send the copy to the employer until the final date stated by the arbiter, send by Registered post as the receipt is proof of delivery under law. You do not want the employer to have time to see your copy and try to mess with the facts, they will still try!! They will also send you a copy of their position, do not expect to receive it until after the hearing, as that too will be sent at the last second under registered post.

I did something similar for my sister in law 4 years ago, she won the case by citing facts for unfair treatment and constructive dismissal by a typical employer who thought he could do anything he liked. It cost him three time the amount claimed as the extra was damages. She walked away with close to 138,000 pesos.

The figures you want are of course for you to claim.

I don't think you can get much more detailed than that thankyou as for the second half of the maternity payment should we still go and collect it or just open a case and leave it for now. The issue is that its needed as we have major hospital bills right now. Our daughter is our main priority as she is in hospital with pnumonia and whooping cough at the age of 1 and a half months old. Thankyou so much for all the advice

I also forgot to ask. If i am a British citizen living in the Philippines doing free lance work for someone in America. I dont have to pay taxes as long earn less than the U.K taxable amount, and i earn less than 250,000 pesos a year i should be exempt? I looked into all of this and couldn't find much on it just the below article :
https://www.cosmo.ph/lifestyle/caree...-a957-20180321

Again thankyou for your time and help.

As you need to have hospital bills paid now, then perhaps you should not delay the request for payment, if it is refused then you should make the claim including date and time of the refusal and the amount involved. If you do not do this the judge who would hear the case may decide you did not follow procedure. You need to have solid evidence that correct payments have been denied.


TAX

As long as your source of income remains off shore and is paid into an offshore account then you are not subject to Philippines taxation as you are not a citizen. see below: I believe you are covered under section D

''Greetings! Thank you for communicating with the BIR Customer Assistance Division.

In reply, please be guided by the taxation on income based on the National Internal Revenue Code:
SEC. 23. General Principles of Income Taxation in the Philippines. - Except when otherwise provided in this Code:
(A) A citizen of the Philippines residing therein is taxable on all income derived from sources within and without the Philippines;
(B) A nonresident citizen is taxable only on income derived from sources within the Philippines;
(C) An individual citizen of the Philippines who is working and deriving income from abroad as an overseas contract worker is taxable only on income derived from sources within the Philippines: Provided, That a seaman who is a citizen of the Philippines and who receives compensation for services rendered abroad as a member of the complement of a vessel engaged exclusively in international trade shall be treated as an overseas contract worker;
(D) An alien individual, whether a resident or not of the Philippines, is taxable only on income derived from sources within the Philippines;
(E) A domestic corporation is taxable on all income derived from sources within and without the Philippines; and
(F) A foreign corporation, whether engaged or not in trade or business in the Philippines, is taxable only on income derived from sources within the Philippines.


For other inquiries, you may contact us to 981-7003; 981-7020; 981-7040; 981-7046; 981-7030 or visitwww.bir.gov.ph. We appreciate your continued support.''

I have funds paid into my UK BPI account and transfer on line to here as and when needed. I do not fall under Philippine tax as I am a Resident and not a Citizen as section D above shows.

Hi mikemike
Thanks for the great advice yet again. Im not sure where i fail under the taxable i use my girlfriends paypal and the withdraw via gcash im not sure what that falls under i think i could change the country and account details to suite me better.
As for the late payment, We have been to SSS today who i formed us that the paid the company in full ages ago not only that but the company lied about reciving the SSS.They told my girlfriend and 3 other pregnant women that the only pay the maternity pay once SSS pays them which is in correct. The law states that the must pay with in 30 days of filing for leave and then SSS will reimburse the company once she confirms full payment. The thing is the made her sign a paper that says she has received it when she hadn't they told her that she had to to receive her first half. Im pretty sure that is illegal. It should be the company's obligation to tell the truth regarding the law. We have messages proving that they have lied emails and text we have proof that had already got the money and not paid my girlfriend. The money that is available for us to collect is apparently out of the pocket of the manager so its not from SSS. According to them the haven't revived it still and that they have pending forms to sign which is a lie we have asked. The have further bullied my girlfriend it shouted in her face when pregnant we have proof of that too. They had late payments continually until i made a anonymous complaint (they blamed the bank but we will look into that as well) there was also a new health care plan which my girlfriend was not informed about at the beginning of this year which everyone but my girlfriend seems to have. They need to go down they really really do not just for our sake but for everyone who has had these issues we know of about 6 people who have unfairly been terminated and bullied by the HR. I don't know if we should pick the money or not my girlfriend is more timid than i and seems the have banned me from their property i don't want them to bully her further. I mean our daughter is in ICU and they rang threatening to have me deported... this is the low life level of people im dealing with... i think they have already dug their grave as we have proof of everything they have said.


going back to the .matters of tax if it turns out i have to be paying and didnt realise is there anyway i can fix that as this company knew i have been working. As for as visas go im aloud here im a freelance graphic artist my work is always up and down depending how much work i do ...


p.s mikemike you proberly wont remember but u gave a bunch of useful advice to me about a year ago when i first wanted to come here.thankyou very much youve been a great help

You are welcome

If you take this to the tribunal and the others who have had a similar experience all put their names to the complaint. This provides witnesses as well and will make the complaint very much stronger as it shows repeated behaviours

Money received by your Gf will be taxable, suggest you get this sorted. You will not be able to claim back taxes unless your GF earnings are below the taxable threshold. This is not a fast process, the financial year is not very old so you may be able to have a refund claim for your gf, she also has an additional tax allowance for the child.
.
Stay within the immigration laws and you will not have any grounds for deportation. Indeed if you can evidence such threats there may be a counter claim under 'grave coercion.'
Win the arbitration case first. If you do that then the company will back off as there will be adverse inference on public record.

Thankyou,
So if i understand correctly i will have to.pay the taxes that are owed how do i work this out or where do i even go to correct this.
Can i not just change account details to my account and be done with it ?
Again thankyou for all the help is there anyway of direct contact with you if thats okay with you of course.

Okay so i checked i can't change the paypal details.
I am paid into my girlfriends paypal account. Im an idiot i should of thought it through. It will legally look like she is working for the company she also has a job that she is taxed on would the extra income.fall under that its not alot atall and where do i stand with doing work and being paid on her account is this okay ?
The bloke i do the work for pays his taxes on my work i think I can double check that
are we going to get in trouble.

Open a pay pal account in your name

if the BIR do not know your Gf is receiving funds from Paypal keep it that way just do the above for future receipts.

Do you have a contract with your client if so keep a copy with your documents to show the BIR if they ever come asking

Thanks very much but i dont think i can open an account as i cant show my history of work if the did ask what i ca do is rwmove her bank fro. The paypal and change the name this will then show as mine and there should be no issues the address will be in the philippines but that because thats where I'm staying

UPDATE : we have just received 2 messages from the company saying that the money is there and ready to be collected and it should of been done last night. I havent mentioned court or nlcr or dole to them i only mentioned what the law stated in the message that started all of this mess. I think theyre now scares in my personal opinion i have also installed a phone call recorder incase the make any more threats of my deportation or any threats against my girlfriend (they threatened to sue her before for complaining to them). We didnt reply and we wont reply as the money can't be collected without my girlfriends authorization or signature. Im not aloud on the premises and our daughter is in the icu not only that its waaaaaay past the due date for the money and my girlfriend is worried abput going there alone.

Then go with her, show the messages at the door so it is clear you are expected. Get it sorted now your daughter needs the funding that should count for more than anything