Who Is a Domestic Worker in the Philippines? RA 10361 Coverage

Direct answer: A domestic worker in the Philippines is any person engaged in domestic work within an employment relationship, live-in or live-out. Republic Act 10361 names general househelp, nursemaid or yaya, cook, gardener, and laundry person, and the wage orders add anyone who regularly performs domestic work in one household on an occupational basis. Four groups sit outside: service providers, family drivers, children under a foster family arrangement, and anyone who does domestic work only occasionally or sporadically. If you are inside, the monthly wage floor, the written contract, the weekly rest day, and SSS, PhilHealth and Pag-IBIG attach to you by law.

Most fights about the Kasambahay Law never get as far as the wage. They stall one step earlier, on whether the law applies to this person at all. She only comes twice a week. He is the driver, not a kasambahay. She is my cousin, she just helps out. Every one of those sentences is doing work, and it is almost always doing work for the household rather than for the worker.

This guide is about that boundary and nothing else. What the rules are once you are inside, the contract, the payslip, the barangay registration, the exit terms, is covered end to end in the Kasambahay Law explainer. What follows is how to tell which side of the line you are standing on.

The definition, word for word

The statute is short here, which is why people misread it. Republic Act 10361 says domestic work "refers to work performed in or for a household or households." Then Section 4(d) defines the worker:

"Domestic worker or 'Kasambahay' refers to any person engaged in domestic work within an employment relationship such as, but not limited to, the following: general househelp, nursemaid or 'yaya', cook, gardener, or laundry person, but shall exclude any person who performs domestic work only occasionally or sporadically and not on an occupational basis."

Read "such as, but not limited to" carefully, because it is the most important phrase in the section. The five job titles are examples, not a closed list. A household cleaner, a househelp who also cooks, an all-around helper with no title at all, none of them fall out of the law because their job is not named.

The regional wage orders spell the same idea out more plainly. Wage Order No. NCR-DW-06, which took effect on 7 February 2026, applies to all domestic workers "whether on a live-in or live-out arrangement," lists the same five roles, then adds a sixth category that catches everyone else: "any person who regularly performs domestic work in one household on an occupational basis."

That sixth line is what most workers should point to. It does not care about your job title. It cares whether the work is regular and whether it is your occupation.

Two questions decide it

Everything above collapses into two tests.

1. Is the work domestic work? Cleaning, cooking, laundry, childcare, elder care, gardening, marketing, and general upkeep performed in or for a household all qualify.
2. Is there an employment relationship? RA 10361 defines the employer as "any person who engages and controls the services of a domestic worker and is party to the employment contract." Control is the word that matters. If the household sets your hours, tells you what to do and how, and pays you for your time rather than for a finished job, that is employment.

Pass both and you are a kasambahay. Fail the second and you may be running a business instead, which is a real and legitimate thing to be, with a different set of rights.

The four groups the law leaves out

Wage Order NCR-DW-06 states the exclusions in one place: service providers, family drivers, and "any other person who performs work occasionally or sporadically and not on an occupational basis." RA 10361 adds the fourth in Section 4(d), children under a foster family arrangement who are given access to education and an allowance incidental to it, meaning baon, transportation, and school projects.

Here is what each one looks like in a real house.

Service providers. A pest control crew, a company aircon technician, a booked deep-clean team that arrives with its own supervisor and equipment. They serve your household, but they work for their business, not for you. Nobody in that van is your kasambahay.

Family drivers. The exclusion surprises people every time, and it is explicit. The wage order names family drivers as not covered, so the kasambahay monthly floor is not the number that governs the job. Being outside the Batas Kasambahay is not the same as being outside employment law, though. A family driver is still hired under a contract and should have the schedule, the pay, the overtime handling, and the rest days written down. Price that role on its own footing using the family driver salary guide.

Children under a foster family arrangement. A child taken into a household, sent to school, and given baon is not staff. The moment that arrangement turns into full-time household labor instead of schooling, it stops being foster care and starts being something the law treats very differently.

Occasional or sporadic helpers. A neighbour paid ₱500 to help scrub the house before fiesta. A student who watches the kids one Saturday. One-off, unplanned, not anyone's livelihood.

A decision table for your situation

| Your situation | Covered by RA 10361? | What applies instead | | ----------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | Live-in yaya, cook, or general househelp | Yes | Full Batas Kasambahay standards | | Live-out helper, fixed days each week, same household | Yes, regular and occupational | Full Batas Kasambahay standards | | Labandera, twice a week, same house, for years | Yes on the wage order wording | Wage floor plus written terms; agree the part-time rate in writing | | Caregiver hired directly by a family, working in their home | Yes for an uncertified helper doing care work. A TESDA-certified caregiver aged 18 or over is also covered by RA 11965 | Batas Kasambahay standards, or the stronger RA 11965 terms for a certified caregiver | | Cleaner running her own business with several clients | Likely no, this is a service provider | Her own service contract and rates | | Family driver | No, named as excluded | Employment contract outside the kasambahay wage orders | | Helper deployed through a licensed agency to a household | Yes, and the agency shares liability | RA 10361 plus the wage order rule on agencies | | Kasambahay also working in the family sari-sari store | Yes, plus Section 22 | Applicable minimum wage for the enterprise work | | Neighbour paid once to help before a fiesta | No, occasional and sporadic | No kasambahay coverage | | Filipino deployed abroad for household work | No, RA 10361 is domestic | Migrant Workers Act and DMW rules |

The grey cases, answered straight

The part-time labandera. She comes Tuesdays and Fridays to the same house and has for three years. That is regular and it is her occupation, which is exactly the wage order wording. The honest complication is that the wage order sets a monthly figure and says nothing about pro-rating a two-day week, so the rate for part-time work has to be agreed and written down. Put it in the contract rather than leaving it to be argued about later.

The stay-out cleaner with three households. The Philippine text keeps saying "one household," which is where the argument starts. Judge each engagement on its own. If a household schedules her, directs her work, and pays her weekly, that household has an employment relationship. If she quotes a rate per visit, chooses her own days, brings her own supplies, and turns down jobs, she is closer to a service provider. Worth knowing that ILO Convention 189 treats workers who work for one or more employers as covered either way, and the Philippines ratified that convention.

The kasambahay who also minds the sari-sari store. Section 22 handles this directly. No domestic worker may be assigned to a commercial, industrial, or agricultural enterprise at a wage rate lower than the one for agricultural or non-agricultural workers, and in those cases the applicable minimum wage is due. Store hours are not household hours. If she is behind the counter, she is being paid at the wrong rate.

The relative who "helps around the house" for allowance. There is no relative exemption in RA 10361. The only family-adjacent exclusion is the foster child on an education allowance. An adult cousin who cooks, cleans, and minds your children on your schedule, for money, is in an employment relationship whatever you call the payment. Utang na loob is not a wage order.

The caregiver in a private home. Hired by the family, working in the family's house, caring for their lola, that is domestic work and the employment relationship is with the household. Caregiver is a job description, not a legal category that removes coverage. There is a second law to know, though. Republic Act 11965, the Caregivers Welfare Act of 2023, applies to caregivers at least 18 years old, TESDA-certified or assessed, working in private homes, and it sets a floor of not less than the regional minimum wage, a written contract, overtime, and pay at least twice a month. Neither statute mentions the other, so a certified caregiver should read both and ask DOLE which terms govern the contract. Someone employed by a facility or an agency that runs the care is a different arrangement again.

The agency-deployed helper. Two rules protect you here. RA 10361 Section 13 says that whether you were hired through a private employment agency or a third party, no share in the recruitment or finder's fees may be charged against you. And Wage Order NCR-DW-06 says the prescribed wage is borne by the agency's principals or clients, and if they fail to pay it, the agency is "jointly and severally liable with their principals or clients." An agency that wants ₱10,000 from your first salary is breaking the law, not charging a fee.

Under 18: what changes

Section 16 makes it unlawful to employ anyone below 15 years of age as a domestic worker. That is a hard floor with no household exception.

Working children between 15 and 17 are covered by RA 10361 but their employment is subject to the child protection provisions of Republic Act 7610, which limit hours and conditions. In practice a household hiring a 16-year-old carries obligations that most families never look up. If a recruiter offers you a 15-year-old, or offers to place a child you know, that is not a job placement and it should go to the barangay and DOLE.

Working abroad: household service worker is a different system

Section 3 of RA 10361 is one line and it matters: "This Act applies to all domestic workers employed and working within the country."

Domestic work abroad runs on a separate track. The Department of Migrant Workers uses the term household service worker, or HSW, and its 2026 Citizen's Charter sets out the documentation for HSWs deployed through licensed agencies or hired directly, including a verified employment contract, a Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar certificate, TESDA NC II in Domestic Work, and an Overseas Employment Certificate as exit clearance. The governing law is the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act, as amended by Republic Act 10022.

So a returning OFW who worked eight years in Hong Kong and now works for a family in Quezon City has changed legal systems, not just addresses. Inside the Philippines, she is a kasambahay under RA 10361 from day one.

What coverage actually changes on payday

If you land inside the definition, these follow automatically. Each is explained in full in the linked guide.

• [ ] A written employment contract before service begins
• [ ] The regional monthly wage floor, currently ₱5,500 in the lowest regions up to ₱7,800 in Metro Manila per the NWPC summary as of 9 July 2026, broken down in the 2026 wage guide
• [ ] Wages paid in cash at least once a month, with no deductions other than those mandated by law
• [ ] A weekly rest day and the other standards in the law explainer
• [ ] SSS, PhilHealth, and Pag-IBIG coverage after one month of service, with the mechanics in the SSS guide
• [ ] 13th month pay, computed in the 13th month guide
• [ ] Notice and indemnity rules on the way out, set out in the termination guide

None of that is negotiable downward. The wage order says plainly that no exemption is allowed.

When an employer says you are just helping

"You are not a kasambahay, you are just helping" is a sentence with a purpose. It usually arrives when someone asks for a contract, a payslip, or SSS registration. Coverage is decided by what you do and who controls it, not by what the household calls it.

Do this, in order.

1. Write down the facts. What tasks, what days, what hours, who tells you when to start and stop, how much you are paid and how often, how long this has gone on. That record is the whole case.
2. Ask for the written contract. The law requires one anyway, so asking for it is not a confrontation.
3. Keep your own documents. Nobody may hold your PSA birth certificate, your passport, or your IDs as security for a debt or to stop you leaving. Document confiscation is a control tactic, not a normal condition of work.
4. Refuse placement fees. No share of a recruitment or finder's fee may be charged to you, ever.
5. Bring it to DOLE. Section 37 sends labor disputes to the DOLE regional office with jurisdiction over the workplace, which must exhaust conciliation and mediation before deciding. Penalties under the Act run from ₱10,000 to ₱40,000.

If there is abuse rather than a payroll disagreement, that is a different route. Section 31 provides for rescue by a city or municipal social welfare officer or the DSWD, working with barangay officials. Go to the barangay, not back to the argument.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is considered a domestic worker in the Philippines?

Republic Act 10361 defines a domestic worker or kasambahay as any person engaged in domestic work within an employment relationship, naming general househelp, nursemaid or yaya, cook, gardener, and laundry person. Wage Order No. NCR-DW-06 adds any person who regularly performs domestic work in one household on an occupational basis. Live-in and live-out both count. The title on your contract does not decide it; the work and the employment relationship do.

Is a family driver covered by the Kasambahay Law?

No. Wage Order No. NCR-DW-06 lists family drivers among those not covered, alongside service providers and occasional workers. That means the kasambahay monthly wage floor and the Batas Kasambahay standards are not the instrument that governs the job. Being outside the kasambahay rules is not the same as being outside employment law, so a family driver still works under a contract and should have the pay, hours, and rest days written down.

Is a part-time labandera or a stay-out cleaner a kasambahay?

A labandera who comes to the same house every week on a regular, occupational basis fits the wage order wording of a person who regularly performs domestic work in one household. A cleaner who runs her own business, sets her own rates, takes several clients, and works free of any one household's control looks closer to the service provider exclusion. The test is regularity and control, not the number of hours.

What is the difference between a kasambahay and a household service worker?

Kasambahay is the RA 10361 term for domestic work inside the Philippines, and Section 3 says the Act applies to domestic workers employed and working within the country. Household service worker, or HSW, is the term the Department of Migrant Workers uses for Filipinos deployed abroad for household work. Overseas HSWs are documented under the Migrant Workers Act and DMW rules, with a verified employment contract, PDOS, and TESDA NC II in Domestic Work.

What can I do if my employer says I am not a kasambahay?

Write down what you actually do, how often, who tells you when to work, and what you are paid, because those facts decide coverage and not your employer's label. Ask for the written contract, which the law requires anyway. If the answer is still no, bring the facts to the DOLE regional office with jurisdiction over the workplace, which handles labor disputes through conciliation and mediation first.

Know which side of the line you are on

The workers who get the wage floor, the rest day, and the government contributions are usually not the ones who argued hardest. They are the ones who could say plainly what they do, how often, and for whom, on the first day. That sentence is the whole legal test, and you already know the answer to it better than anyone.

If you are looking for a household that starts from a written contract instead of a handshake, see what families are hiring for or set up your helper profile with your experience, your available days, and the rate you need. When you are ready to be matched, create a helper account. Employers who post a contract, a rest day, and a wage on the listing itself are the ones who have already read the law you just did.