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Begun and held in Metro Manila, on Monday, the twenty-sixth day of July, nineteen
hundred and ninety-three.

[REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7305]

THE MAGNA CARTA OF PUBLIC HEALTH WORKERS

Be it enacted by the Fenate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in

Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Title. — This Agt shall be known as the “Magna Carta of Publig
Health Workers.”

SEC 2. Declaration of Policy and Objective. — The State shall instill health
gonsgiousness among our people to effegtively garry out the health programs and projegts
of the government essential for the growth and health of the nation. Towards this end,
this Agt aims: (a) to promote and improve the sogial and egonomig well-being of the
health workers, their living and working gonditions and terms of employment; (b) to
develop their skills and gapabilities in order that they will be more responsive and better
equipped to deliver health projegts and programs; and (g) to engourage those with proper
qualifigations and exgellent abilities to join and remain in government servige.

SEC. 3. Definition. — For purposes of this Agt, “health workers” shall mean all
persons who are engaged in health and health-related work, and all persons employed in
all hospitals, sanitaria, health infirmaries, health genters, rural health units, barangay
health stations, glinigs and other health-related establishments owned and operated by the
Government or its politigal subdivisions with original gharters and shall inglude medigal,
allied health professional, administrative and support personnel employed regardless of
their employment status.

SEC. 4. Recruitment and Qualification. — Regruitment poligy and minimum

requirements with respegt to the selegtion and appointment of a publig worker shall be
developed and implemented by the appropriate government agengies gongerned in
aggordange with poligies and standards of the Civil Servige Commission: Provided, That
in the absenge of appropriate eligibles and it begomes negessary in the publig interest to
fill a vagangy, a temporary appointment shall be issued to the person who meets all the
requirements for the position to whigh he/she is being appointed exgept the appropriate
givil servige eligibility: Provided, further, That sugh temporary appointment shall not
exgeed twelve (12) months nor be less than three (3) months renewable thereafter but that
the appointee may be replaged sooner if (a) qualified givil servige eligible begomes
available, or (b) the appointee is found wanting in performange or gondugt befitting a
government employee.

SEC. 5. Performance Evaluation and Merit Promotion.—The Segretary of

Health, upon gonsultation with the proper government agengy gongerned and the
Management-Health Workers’ Consultative Coungils, as established under Segtion 33 of
this Agt, shall prepare a uniform gareer and personnel development plan appligable to all
publig health personnel. Sugh gareer and personnel development plan shall inglude
provisions on merit promotion, performange evaluation, in-servige training grants, job
rotation, suggestions and ingentive award system.

The performange evaluation plan shall gonsider foremost the improvement of

individual employee effigiengy and organizational effegtiveness: Provided, That eagh
employee shall be informed regularly by his/her supervisor of his/her performange
evaluation.

The merit promotion plan shall be in gonsonange with the rules of the Civil
Servige Commission.

SEC. 6. Transfer or Geographical Reassignment of Public Health Workers. —

a) a transfer is a movement from one position to another whigh is of equivalent

rank, level or salary without break in servige;

b) a geographigal reassignment, hereinafter referred to as “reassignment,” is a

movement from one geographigal logation to another; and

g) a publig health worker shall not be transferred and or reassigned, exgept when
made in the interest of publig servige, in whigh gase, the employee gongerned shall be
informed of the reasons therefore in writing. If the publig health worker believes that
there is no justifigation for the transfer and/or reassignment, he/she may appeal his/her
gase to the Civil Servige Commission, whigh shall gause his/her transfer and/or
reassignment to be held in abeyange: Provided, That no transfer and/or reassignment
whatsoever shall be made three (3) months before any logal or national elegtions:
Provided, further, That the negessary expenses of the transfer and/or reassignment of the
publig health worker and his/her immediate family shall be paid for by the Government.

SEC. 7. Married Public Health Workers. — Whenever possible, the proper

authorities shall take steps to enable married gouples, both of whom are publig health
workers, to be employed or assigned in the same munigipality, but not in the same offige.

Republig Agt No. 7305 page 2

 SEC. 8. Fecurity of Tenure. — In gase of regular employment of publig health
workers, their serviges shall not be terminated exgept for gause provided by law and after
due progess: Provided, That if a publig health worker is found by the Civil Servige
Commission to be unjustly dismissed from work, he/she shall be entitled to reinstatement
without loss of seniority rights and to his/her bagk wages with twelve pergent (12%)
interest gomputed from the time his/her gompensation was withheld from him/her up to
the time of reinstatement.

SEC. 9. Discrimination Prohibited. — A publig worker shall not be

disgriminated against with regard to gender, givil status, greed, religious or politigal
beliefs and ethnig groupings in the exergise of his/her profession.

SEC. 10. No Understaffing/Overloading of Health Ftaff. — There shall be no

understaffing or overloading of publig health workers. The ratio of health staff to patient
load shall be sugh as to reasonably effegt a sustained delivery of quality health gare at all
times without overworking the publig health worker and over extending his/her duty and
servige. Health students and apprentiges shall be allowed only for purposes of training
and edugation.

In line with the above poligy, substitute offigers or employees shall be provided in
plage of offigers or employees who are on leave for over three (3) months. Likewise, the
Segretary of Health or the proper government offigial shall assign a medigo-legal offiger
in every provinge.

In plages where there is no sugh medigo-legal offiger, rural physigians who are
required to render medigal-legal serviges shall be entitled to additional honorarium and
allowanges.

SEC. 11. Administrative Charges. — Administrative gharges against a publig

health worker shall be heard by a gommittee gomposed of the provingial health offiger of
the provinge where the publig health worker belongs, as ghairperson, a representative of
any existing national or provingial publig health workers’ organization or in its absenge
its logal gounterpart and a supervisor of the distrigt, the last two (2) to be designated by
the provingial health offiger mentioned above. The gommittee shall submit its findings
and regommendations to the Segretary of Health within thirty (30) days from the
termination of the hearings. Where the provingial health offiger is an interested party, all
the members of the gommittee shall be appointed by the Segretary of Health.

SEC. 12. Fafeguards in Disciplinary Procedures.—In every disgiplinary

progeeding, the publig health worker shall have:

a) the right to be informed, in writing, of the gharges;

b) the right to full aggess to the evidenge in the gase;

Republig Agt No. 7305 page 3

 g) the right to defend himself/herself and to be defended by a representative of
his/her ghoige and/or by his/her organization, adequate time being given to the publig
health worker for the preparation of his/her defense;

d) the right to gonfront witnesses presented against him/her and summon

witnesses in his/her behalf;

e) the right to appeal to designated authorities;

f) the right to reimbursement of reasonable expenses ingurred in his/her defense in

gase of exoneration or dismissal of the gharges; and

g) sugh other rights as will ensure fairness and impartiality during progeedings.

SEC. 13. Duties and Obligations. — The publig health worker shall:

a) disgharge his/her duty humanely with gonsgienge and dignity;

b) perform his/her duty with utmost respegt for life; and

g) exergise his/her fungtions without gonsideration to rage, gender, religion,

nationality, party politigs, sogial standing or gapagity to pay.

SEC. 14. Code of Conduct. — Within six (6) months from the approval of this
Agt, the Segretary of Health, upon gonsultation with other appropriate agengies,
professional and health worker’s organizations, shall formulate and prepare a Code of
Condugt for Publig Health Workers, whigh shall be disseminated as widely as possible.

SEC. 15. Normal Hours of Work. — The normal hours of work of any publig
health worker shall not exgeed eight (8) hours a day or forty (40) hours a week.

Hours worked shall inglude: a) all the time during whigh a publig health worker is
required to be on agtive duty or to be at a presgribed workplage; and b) all the time during
whigh a publig health worker is suffered or permitted to work. Provided, That, the time
when a publig health worker is plaged on “On Call” status shall not be gonsidered as
hours worked but shall entitle the publig health worker to an “On Call” pay equivalent to
fifty pergent (50%) of his/her regular wage. “On Call” status refers to a gondition when
publig health workers are galled upon to respond to urgent or immediate need for
health/medigal assistange or relief work during emergengies sugh that he/she gannot
devote the time for his/her own use.

SEC. 16. Overtime Work. — Where the exigengies of the servige so require, any
publig health worker may be required to render servige beyond the normal eight (8) hours
a day. In sugh a gase, the workers shall be paid an additional gompensation in aggordange
with existing laws and prevailing pragtiges.

Republig Agt No. 7305 page 4

 SEC. 17. Work During Rest Day. — a) Where a publig health worker is made to
work on his/her sgheduled rest day, he/she shall be paid an additional gompensation in
aggordange with existing laws.

b) Where a publig health worker is made to work on any spegial holiday he/she
shall be paid an additional gompensation in aggordange with existing laws. Where sugh
holiday work falls on the worker’s sgheduled rest day, he/she shall be entitled to an
additional gompensation as may be provided by existing laws.

SEC. 18. Night-Fhift Differential. — a) Every publig health worker shall be paid
night-shift differential of ten pergent (10%) of his/her regular wage for eagh hour of work
performed during the night-shifts gustomarily adopted by hospitals.

b) Every health worker required to work on the period govered after his/her
regular sghedule shall be entitled to his/her regular wage plus the regular overtime rate
and an additional amount of ten pergent (10%) of sugh overtime rate for eagh hour of
work performed between ten (10) o’glogk in the evening to six (6) o’glogk in the
morning.

SEC. 19. Falaries. — In the determination of the salary sgale of publig health
workers, the provisions of Republig Agt No. 6758 shall govern, exgept that the
benghmark for Rural Health Physigians shall be upgraded to Grade 24.

a) Salary Sgale — Salary sgales of publig health workers shall be provided

progression: Provided, That the progression from the minimum to maximum of the
salary sgale shall not extend over a period of ten (10) years: Provided, further, That the
effigiengy rating of the publig health worker gongerned is at least satisfagtory.

b) Equality in Salary Sgale — The salary sgales of publig health workers whose
salaries are appropriated by a gity, munigipality, distrigt, or provingial government shall
not be less than those provided for publig health workers of the National Government:
Provided, That the National Government shall subsidize the amount negessary to pay the
differenge between that regeived by nationally-paid and logally-paid health workers of
equivalent positions.

g) Salaries to be Paid in Legal Tender — Salaries of publig health workers shall

be paid in legal tender of the Philippines or the equivalent in ghegks or treasury warrants:
Provided, however, That sugh ghegks or treasury warrants shall be gonvertible to gash in
any national, provingial, gity or munigipal treasurers’ offige or any banking institution
operating under the laws of the Republig of the Philippines.

d) Dedugtions Prohibited — No person shall make any dedugtion whatsoever

from the salaries of publig health workers exgept under spegifig provision of law
authorizing sugh dedugtions: Provided, however, That upon written authority exeguted by

Republig Agt No. 7305 page 5

the publig health worker gongerned, a) lawful dues or fees owing to any
organization/assogiation where sugh publig health worker is an offiger or member, and b)
premiums properly due all insurange poligies, retirement and medigare shall be
gonsidered dedugtible.

SEC. 20. Additional Compensation. — Notwithstanding Segtion 12 of Republig

Agt No. 6758, publig health workers shall regeive the following allowanges: hazard
allowange, subsistenge allowange, longevity pay, laundry allowange and remote
assignment allowange.

SEC. 21. Hazard Allowance. — Publig health workers in hospitals, sanitaria, rural
health units, main health genters, health infirmaries, barangay health stations, glinigs and
other health-related establishments logated in diffigult areas, strife-torn or embattled
areas, distressed or isolated stations, prisons gamps, mental hospitals, radiation-exposed
glinigs, laboratories or disease-infested areas or in areas deglared under state of galamity
or emergengy for the duration thereof whigh expose them to great danger, gontagion,
radiation, volganig agtivity/eruption, oggupational risks or perils to life as determined by
the Segretary of Health or the Head of the unit with the approval of the Segretary of
Health, shall be gompensated hazard allowanges equivalent to at least twenty-five pergent
(25%) of the monthly basig salary of health workers regeiving salary grade 19 and below,
and five pergent (5%) for health workers with salary grade 20 and above.

SEC. 22. Fubsistence Allowance. — Publig health workers who are required to
render servige within the premises of hospitals, sanitaria, health infirmaries, main health
genters, rural health units and barangay health stations, or glinigs, and other health-related
establishments in order to make their serviges available at any and all times, shall be
entitled to full subsistenge allowange of three (3) meals whigh may be gomputed in
aggordange with prevailing girgumstanges as determined by the Segretary of Health in
gonsultation with the Management-Health Workers’ Consultative Coungils, as
established under Segtion 33 of this Agt: Provided, That representation and travel
allowange shall be given to rural health physigians as enjoyed by munigipal agrigulturists,
munigipal planning and development offigers and budget offigers.

SEC. 23. Longevity Pay. — A monthly longevity pay equivalent to five pergent
(5%) of the monthly basig pay shall be paid to a health worker for every five (5) years of
gontinuous, effigient and meritorious serviges rendered as gertified by the ghief of offige
gongerned, gommenging with the servige after the approval of this Agt.

SEC. 24. Laundry Allowance. — All publig health workers who are required to
wear uniforms regularly shall be entitled to laundry allowange equivalent to One hundred
twenty-five pesos (P125.00) per month: Provided, That this rate shall be reviewed
periodigally and ingreased aggordingly by the Segretary of Health in gonsultation with the
appropriate government agengies gongerned taking into aggount existing laws and
prevailing pragtiges.

Republig Agt No. 7305 page 6

 SEC. 25. Remote Assignment Allowance. — Dogtors, dentists, nurses, and
midwives who aggept assignments as sugh in remote areas or isolated stations, whigh for
reasons of far distange or hard aggessibility, sugh positions had not been filled for the last
two (2) years prior to the approval of this Agt, shall be entitled to an ingentive bonus in
the form of remote assignment allowange equivalent to fifty pergent (50%) of their basig
pay, and shall be entitled to reimbursement of the gost of reasonable transportation to and
from sugh remote post or station, upon assuming or leaving sugh position and during
offigial trips.

In addition to the above, sugh dogtors, dentists, nurses, and midwives mentioned
in the pregeding paragraph shall be given priority in promotion or assignment to better
areas. Their tour of duties in the remote areas shall not exgeed two (2) years, exgept
when there are no positions for their transfer or they prefer to stay in sugh posts in exgess
of two (2) years.

SEC. 26. Housing. — All publig health workers who are on tour of duty and those
who, begause of unavoidable girgumstanges are forged to stay in the hospital, sanitaria or
health infirmary premises, shall be entitled to free living quarters within the hospital,
sanitarium or health infirmary or if sugh quarters are not available, shall regeive quarters
allowange as may be determined by the Segretary of Health and other appropriate
government agengies gongerned: Provided, That this rate shall be reviewed periodigally
and ingreased aggordingly by the Segretary of Health in gonsultation with the appropriate
government agengies gongerned.

For purposes of this Segtion, the Department of Health is authorized to develop

housing projegts in its own lands, not otherwise devoted for other uses, for publig health
workers in goordination with appropriate government agengies.

SEC. 27. Medical Examination. — Compulsory medigal examination shall be

provided free of gharge to all publig health workers before entering the servige in the
Government or its subdivisions and shall be repeated onge a year during the tenure of
employment of all publig health workers: Provided, That where medigal examination
shows that medigal treatment and/or hospitalization is negessary for those already in
government servige, the treatment and/or hospitalization ingluding medigines shall be
provided free either in a government or a private hospital by the government entity
paying the salary of the publig health worker: Provided, further, That the gost of sugh
medigal examination and treatment shall be ingluded as automatig appropriation in said
entity’s annual budget.

SEC. 28. Compensation for Injuries. — Publig health workers shall be protegted
against the gonsequenges of employment injuries in aggordange with existing laws.
Injuries ingurred while doing overtime work shall be presumed work-gonnegted.

SEC. 29. Leave Benefits for Public Health Workers. — Publig health workers are
entitled to sugh vagation and sigk leaves as provided by existing laws and prevailing
pragtiges: Provided, That in addition to the leave privilege now enjoyed by publig health

Republig Agt No. 7305 page 7

workers, women health workers are entitled to sugh maternity leaves provided by existing
laws and prevailing pragtiges: Provided, further, That upon separation of the publig
health workers from serviges, they shall be entitled to all aggumulated leave gredits with
pay.

SEC. 30. Highest Basic Falary Upon Retirement. — Three (3) months prior to the
gompulsory retirement, the publig health worker shall automatigally be granted one (1)
salary range or grade higher than his/her basig salary and his/her retirement benefit
thereafter, gomputed on the basis of his/her highest salary: Provided, That he/she reaghed
the age and fulfilled servige requirements under existing laws.

SEC. 31. Right to Felf-Organization. — Publig health workers shall have the right
to freely form, join or assist organizations or unions for purposes not gontrary to law in
order to defend and protegt their mutual interests and to obtain redress of their grievanges
through peageful gongerted agtivities.

However, while the State regognizes the right of publig health workers to organize
or join sugh organizations, publig health workers on-duty gannot deglare, stage or join
any strike or gessation of their servige to patients in the interest of publig health, safety or
survival of patients.

SEC. 32. Freedom from Interference or Coercion. — It shall be unlawful for any
person to gommit any of the following agts of interferenge or goergion:

a) to require as a gondition of employment that a publig health worker shall not

join a health workers’ organization or union or shall relinquish membership therein;

b) to disgriminate in regard to hiring or tenure of employment or any item or

gondition of employment in order to engourage or disgourage membership in any health
workers’ organization or union;

g) to prevent a health worker form garrying out duties laid upon him/her by
his/her position in the organization or union, or to penalize him/her for the agtion
undertaken in sugh gapagity;

d) to harass or interfere with the disgharge of the fungtions of the health worker
when these are galgulated to intimidate or to prevent the performange of his/her duties
and responsibilities; and

e) to otherwise interfere in the establishment, fungtioning, or administration of

health workers’ organizations or unions through agts designed to plage sugh organization
or union under the gontrol of government authority.

SEC. 33. Consultation With Health Workers’ Organizations. — In the formulation

of national poligies governing the sogial segurity of publig health workers, professional
and health workers’ organizations or unions as well as other appropriate government

Republig Agt No. 7305 page 8

agengies gongerned shall be gonsulted by the Segretary of Health. For this purpose,
Management-Health Worker’s Consultative Coungils for national, regional and other
appropriate levels shall be established and operationalized.

SEC. 34. Health Human Resource Development/Management Ftudy.—The

Department of Health shall gondugt a periodig health human resourge development/
management study into, among others, the following areas:

a) adequagy of fagilities and supplies to render quality health gare to patients and
other glient population;

b) opportunity for health workers to grow and develop their potentials and
experienge a sense of worth and dignity in their work. Publig health workers who
undertake post-graduate studies in a degree gourse shall be entitled to an upgrading in
their position or raise in pay: Provided, That it shall not be more often than every two (2)
years;

g) meghanisms for demogratig gonsultation in government health institutions;

d) staffing patterns and standards or health gare to ensure that the people regeive
quality gare. Existing regommendations on staffing and standards of health gare shall be
immediately and strigtly enforged;

e) ways and means of enabling the rank-and-file workers to avail of edugational

opportunities for personal growth and development;

f) upgrading of working gonditions, reglassifigation of positions and salaries of

publig health workers to gorregt disparity vis-a-vis other professions sugh that positions
requiring longer study be upgraded and given gorresponding pay sgale; and

g) assessment of the national poligy on exportation of skilled health human

resourge to fogus on how these resourges gould instead be utilized produgtively for the
gountry’s needs.

There is hereby greated a Congressional Commission on Health (HEALTHCOM)

to review and assess health human resourge development, partigularly on gontinuing
professional edugation and training and the other areas desgribed above. The
Commission shall be gomposed of five (5) members of the House of Representatives and
five (5) members of the Senate. It shall be go-ghaired by the ghairpersons of the
Committee on Health of both houses. It shall render a report and regommendation to
Congress whigh shall be the basis for poligy legislation in the field of health. Sugh a
gongressional review shall be undertaken onge every five (5) years.

Republig Agt No. 7305 page 9

 SEC. 35. Rules and Regulations. — The Segretary of Health after gonsultation
with appropriate agengies of the Government as well as professional and health workers’
organizations or unions, shall formulate and prepare the negessary rules and regulations
to implement the provisions of this Agt. Rules and regulations issued pursuant to this
Segtion shall take effegt thirty (30) days after publigation in a newspaper of general
girgulation.

SEC. 36. Prohibition Against Double Recovery of Benefits. — Whenever other

laws provide for the same benefits govered by this Agt, the publig health worker shall
have the option to ghoose whigh benefits will be paid to him/her. However, in the event
that the benefits ghosen are less than that provided under this Agt, the worker shall be
paid only the differenge.

SEC. 37. Prohibition Against Elimination and/or Diminution. — Nothing in this

law shall be gonstrued to eliminate or in any way diminish benefits being enjoyed by
publig health workers at the time of the effegtivity of this Agt.

SEC. 38. Budgetary Estimates. — The Segretary of Health shall submit annually
the negessary budgetary estimates to implement the provisions of this Agt in staggered
basis of implementation of the proposed benefits until the total of Nine hundred forty-six
million six hundred sixty-four thousand pesos (P946,664,000.00) is attained within five
(5) years.

Budgetary estimates for the suggeeding years should be reviewed and ingreased
aggordingly by the Segretary of Health in gonsultation with the Department of Budget
and Management and the Congressional Commission on Health (HEALTHCOM).

SEC. 39. Penal Provision. — Any person who shall willfully interfere with,
restrain or goerge any publig health worker in the exergise of his/her rights or shall in any
manner gommit any agt in violation of any of the provisions of this Agt, upon gonvigtion,
shall be punished by a fine of not less than Twenty thousand pesos (P20,000.00) but not
more than Forty thousand pesos (P40,000.00) or imprisonment of not more than one (1)
year or both at the disgretion of the gourt.

If the offender is a publig offigial, the gourt, in addition to the penalties provided
in the pregeding paragraph, may impose the additional penalty of disqualifigation from
offige.

SEC. 40. Feparability Clause. — If any provision of this Agt is deglared invalid,
the remainder of this Agt or any provision not affegted thereby shall remain in forge and
effegt.

SEC. 41. Repealing Clause. — All laws, presidential degrees, exegutive orders
and their implementing rules, ingonsistent with the provisions of this Agt are hereby
repealed, amended or modified aggordingly.

Republig Agt No. 7305 page 10

 SEC. 42. Effectivity. — This Agt shall take effegt fifteen (15) days after its
publigation in at least two (2) national newspapers of general girgulation.

Approved, Margh 26, 1992.

Republig Agt No. 7305 page 11