Home / Glossary / Statutory contributions
Pay
Statutory contributions
Statutory contributions are the mandatory employer and employee payments into SSS, PhilHealth, and Pag-IBIG that attach to a Philippine employment relationship. They are three separate remittances, three bases, three.
Also called government contributions, SSS PhilHealth Pag-IBIG
SSS is social security (sickness, maternity, disability, unemployment, retirement, death). PhilHealth is national health insurance. Pag-IBIG is the Home Development Mutual Fund. Employees’ compensation (EC) rides with SSS and is employer-only. Income tax withholding is a fourth cash flow. It is tax, not a contribution to a benefit fund.
How it is measured
SSS uses a monthly salary credit, not exact gross. RA 11199 phased the combined rate to 15% of MSC by 2025, split 10% employer and 5% employee, with a maximum MSC of ₱35,000. At the cap the combined SSS line is ₱5,250 plus a small EC amount the employer pays alone.
PhilHealth in the 2026 practitioner tables is 5% of monthly basic salary, split 2.5% / 2.5%, with a ₱10,000 floor and a ₱100,000 ceiling. Below the floor you still pay as if the salary were ₱10,000. Above the ceiling you stop.
Pag-IBIG is typically 2% employee and 2% employer on fund salary, capped at a ₱10,000 maximum fund salary, so ₱200 + ₱200 for most remote professional hires.
Example: ₱50,000 basic. SSS employer share sits on the ₱35,000 MSC cap (₱3,500 plus EC). PhilHealth employer share is 2.5% of ₱50,000 = ₱1,250. Pag-IBIG employer share is ₱200. Monthly employer statutory cash is about ₱4,950 before 13th month. Annualize 13th month at 1/12 of basic and the “salary plus law” number is no longer ₱50,000. Teams that quote only the peso headline hide this.
How it differs
13th-month pay is a wage mandate under PD 851, not a remittance to an agency. Loaded cost is the sum a buyer actually spends: basic, contributions, 13th month, tools, fees, replacement risk. De minimis benefits are tax rules. They do not replace SSS. A contractor who “pays their own government” is a classification claim, not a contribution scheme you can verify on an employer file.
Common errors
Adding the three headline percentages together on gross. The bases disagree, so the sum is a lie. Starting remittances “after probation.” Coverage starts with employment. Skipping EC because it is small. Filing as a voluntary member and calling the company compliant.