Events
Promodisers at a mall activation, ushers and registration staff at a launch, brand ambassadors on a month-long roadshow: event staff often come through an agency, not the brand’s own payroll. In the Philippines that makes it a contracting arrangement, and DOLE’s rules on contracting decide who the workers’ employer is when something goes wrong.
Who is the employer when an agency supplies event staff?
The agency, if the arrangement is legitimate. DOLE’s rules, Department Order No. 174, series of 2017, call the brand that farms out the work the “principal” and the agency the “contractor”. The base is Article 106 of the Labor Code: when a contractor fails to pay its people, the employer “shall be jointly and severally liable with his contractor or subcontractor to such employees to the extent of the work performed under the contract”.
If the agency only supplies people, it is labor-only contracting, which the order calls “totally prohibited”. Then “the principal shall be deemed the direct employer of the contractor’s or subcontractor’s employees”. For a brand, the promodisers’ wages, benefits and claims become its own.
What makes it labor-only contracting?
Section 5 of the order sets two tests. It is labor-only contracting when the agency lacks substantial capital or its own tools, equipment and supervision, and its workers do work “directly related to the main business operation of the principal”. It also is when the agency “does not exercise the right to control over the performance of the work of the employees”.
| What DOLE looks at | What the order says | What to ask the agency |
| Registration | Contractors must register with the DOLE Regional Office “where it principally operates”, and failure to register “shall give rise to the presumption that the contractor is engaged in labor-only-contracting” | The Certificate of Registration, before you sign |
| Capital | “paid-up capital stock/shares at least Five Million Pesos (P5,000,000.00)” for corporations, partnerships and cooperatives, or the same net worth for a sole proprietor | Proof of paid-up capital or net worth |
| Control | The agency must be “free from the control and/or direction of the principal in all matters connected with the performance of the work except as to the result thereto” | Who supervises the staff on the day |
| Contracts | A Service Agreement between the brand and the agency, and an employment contract for each worker | Copies of both |
Registration is regional. The certificate is “effective for two (2) years” and “valid in the region where it is registered”. An agency staffing a Cebu activation on a Manila registration has to file an authenticated copy, with its Service Agreement, at the DOLE Regional Office covering Cebu.
What should the Service Agreement say?
Section 11 lists it: the job and its term, the place and terms of the work, the agreed price “as well as the standard administrative fee of not less than ten percent (10%) of the total contract cost”, and a provision on the bond. Each worker’s own contract states the job, the place of work and the wage rate.
The staff keep their rights under the Labor Code. Section 10 names safe working conditions, rest days, overtime, holiday pay, 13th-month pay, separation pay, SSS and social welfare benefits, and the right to organise. A violation of Section 10 or 11 also makes the brand the direct employer.
What do event teams get wrong?
→ Short contracts on repeat. The order prohibits “Repeated hiring by the contractor/subcontractor of employees under an employment contract of short duration”. A roadshow staffed with back-to-back short contracts is the pattern it names.
→ Waivers as a condition of the job. Making staff sign a quitclaim, a blank payroll or a waiver of minimum wages to get or keep the job is on the order’s list of prohibited arrangements.
→ Directing each promodiser yourself. Brief the agency’s supervisor on the result you want. Instructing every staff member on how to do the job is the control the agency is supposed to keep.
→ Paying the agency and stopping there. Under Section 9, the brand and the agency are solidarily liable when wages go unpaid. Ask for proof that staff were paid before the final invoice is settled.
The paper check
Before the first shift, get three things: the agency’s DOLE Certificate of Registration for the region, the signed Service Agreement, and proof that the staff have employment contracts. Keep copies. The order obliges the principal or the contractor “to produce a copy of the Service Agreement in the ordinary course of inspection”.
General information from the Labor Code of the Philippines (Articles 106 to 109) and DOLE Department Order No. 174, series of 2017. Later DOLE issuances and the facts of each arrangement can change the answer; check with counsel or the DOLE Regional Office.
Who should run the staffing?
The team running the event, as part of the job rather than a separate hire. When you brief an agency, ask who employs the staff and for the three documents above. PUNX is an events company in Makati: 50-plus people, founded 2023, running activations and events for GCash, Sun Life and PRU Life UK.
FAQ
Is it legal to hire event staff through an agency in the Philippines?
Yes, if it is legitimate contracting under DOLE Department Order No. 174: the agency is registered with DOLE, has substantial capital and its own supervision, controls how its staff do the work, and has a Service Agreement with the brand. Labor-only contracting is prohibited.
What is labor-only contracting?
Under Section 5 of DO 174, it is an arrangement where the agency lacks substantial capital or investment in tools, equipment and supervision and its workers do work directly related to the principal’s main business, or where the agency does not control the performance of the work. The principal is then deemed the workers’ direct employer.
Is the brand liable if the agency doesn’t pay its event staff?
Yes. Under Article 106 of the Labor Code and Section 9 of DO 174, the principal is solidarily liable with the contractor for unpaid wages, to the extent of the work performed under the contract.
How do you check that a staffing agency is legitimate?
Ask for its DOLE Certificate of Registration, which is valid for two years in the region that issued it; proof of paid-up capital or net worth of at least P5 million; and a Service Agreement that sets out the job, its term, the price and the administrative fee.
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