Service incentive leave, maaring mabawi sa pag-alis sa trabaho

ni PAO Chief Persida Rueda-Acosta @Magtanong Kay Attorney | May 9, 2026

Dear Chief Acosta,

Nitong Pebrero lamang ng kasalukuyang taon ay umalis ako sa pinapasukan kong kumpanya. Nagpasa ako ng paghahabol para sana sa monetisasyon ng service incentive leave ko para sa mga taong 2015 hangang sa kasalukuyan. Sinabi sa akin na ang makukuha ko lamang ay ang huling tatlong taon lamang sapagkat ang lalampas umano sa tatlong taon ay paso na o hindi na maaaring makuha pa. Tama po ba na hanggang tatlong taon lamang ang puwedeng makuha? — Euri

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Dear Euri,

Sang-ayon sa mga umiiral na batas, ang mga paghahabol sa pera (money claims) na mula sa relasyong employer at empleyado ay maaari lamang habulin sa loob ng tatlong taon mula sa panahon na nagkaroon ng karapatan hinggil dito. Ngunit iba ang panuntunan hinggil sa Service Incentive Leave (SIL), ito ang ipinaliwanag ng Kataas-taasang Hukuman sa kaso na Lourdes C. Rodriguez vs. Park N Ride, Et Al. (G.R. No. 222980, March 20, 2017, sa panulat ni Honorable Associate Justice Marvic M.V.F Leonen):

“It is essential at this point, however, to recognize that the service incentive leave is a curious animal in relation to other benefits granted by the law to every employee. In the case of service incentive leave, the employee may choose to either use his leave credits or commute it to its monetary equivalent if not exhausted at the end of the year. Furthermore, if the employee entitled to service incentive leave does not use or commute the same, he is entitled upon his resignation or separation from work to the commutation of his accrued service incentive leave.

Correspondingly, it can be conscientiously deduced that the cause of action of an entitled employee to claim his service incentive leave pay accrues from the moment the employer refuses to remunerate its monetary equivalent if the employee did not make use of said leave credits but instead chose to avail of its commutation. Accordingly, if the employee wishes to accumulate his leave credits and opts for its commutation upon his resignation or separation from employment, his cause of action to claim the whole amount of his accumulated service incentive leave shall arise when the employer fails to pay such amount at the time of his resignation or separation from employment.

Applying Article 291 of the Labor Code in light of this peculiarity of the service incentive leave, we can conclude that the three (3)-year prescriptive period commences, not at the end of the year when the employee becomes entitled to the commutation of his service incentive leave, but from the time when the employer refuses to pay its monetary equivalent after demand of commutation or upon termination of the employee's services, as the case may be.”

Maliwanag na nabanggit na ang tatlong taon na takdang panahon (prescriptive period) para sa paghahabol ng SIL ay mag-uumpisa sa panahon ng pagtanggi ng employer na ito ay bayaran o sa pagtatapos ng serbisyo ng empleyado. Sa iyong kalagayan, dahil ikaw ay naghain ng paghahabol para rito nitong nakaraang Pebrero ng kasalukuyang taon lamang, ang iyong mga SIL na naipon mula taong 2015 ay maaari pa ring bayaran sa iyo ng dati mong employer.

Sana ay nabigyan namin ng linaw ang iyong katanungan. Ang payong aming ibinigay ay base lamang sa mga impormasyon na iyong inilahad at maaaring magbago kung mababawasan o madaragdagan ang mga detalye ng iyong salaysay.

Maraming salamat sa iyong patuloy na pagtitiwala.