The Department of Education (DepEd) has released DO No. 26, s. 2025 – Guidelines on the Payment of Overtime Services of Teachers, pursuant to Republic Act No. 4670, or the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers and the Civil Service Commission (CSC) and Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Joint Circular No. 02, s. 2015. These guidelines aim to provide clear mechanisms, procedures and standards for compensating public school teachers who render services beyond their regular duties.
Highlights: DO No. 26, s. 2025 – Guidelines on the Payment of Overtime Services of Teachers
Strengthening Teachers’ Rights under the Magna Carta
For years, public school teachers have been entitled to additional pay for work beyond six hours of daily classroom teaching. With this order, DepEd operationalizes these provisions by setting clearer standards for claiming overtime, ensuring teachers are compensated fairly and transparently.
Scope and Coverage of the Guidelines
Applies to all DepEd-employed full-time teachers, including ALS teachers, under permanent, provisional, or substitute appointments in public schools and Community Learning Centers (CLCs).
However, only teaching-related assignments performed within school premises qualify for overtime. This balances inclusivity with accountability, though it limits compensation for offsite or ancillary tasks.
Teaching-Related Assignments: Includes roles such as school coordinators, trainers/advisers (e.g., sports, school paper, learner government), and chairmanships of grade level or learning areas.
Authorization, Accountability and Documentation
Overtime services must be pre-approved by school heads using official forms and reports (Annexes A–C). This strengthens transparency and prevents abuse, but it also introduces heavier documentation requirements for both teachers and administrators.
Documentation, validation and payroll processing will be handled at the school and Schools Division Office (SDO) levels, following standard accounting and auditing rules.
Overtime Pay vs. Vacation Service Credits
See Computation of DepEd Overtime Pay Here:
Teachers are entitled to 125% of their hourly rate on weekdays and 150% on weekends and holidays. However, if funds are lacking, overtime is converted into Vacation Service Credits (VSC). This ensures recognition of work but raises concerns over inequity between well-funded and resource-constrained schools.
Minimum Hours: At least two (2) hours of authorized overtime are required to qualify for monetary compensation. Less than two hours will be compensated with Vacation Service Credits (VSC).
Safeguards and Limitations
- Overtime capped at four hours per day on weekends/holidays.
- Only teachers who complete 30 classroom hours per week are eligible.
- Teachers on travel status or performing ancillary tasks are excluded.
These provisions safeguard fairness but may inadvertently exclude teachers with flexible or irregular schedules, such as mobile ALS educators.
Strengths, Weaknesses and Opportunities
Strengths: Legal clarity, equity in compensation, alignment with previous orders and stronger accountability.
Weaknesses: Reliance on fund availability, increased administrative load and exclusion of certain offsite tasks.
Opportunities: Boosting teacher morale, generating data for budget planning, and reinforcing teaching as a professional labor sector.Implications for Teachers and Schools
Teachers gain stronger grounds to claim compensation for legitimate overtime, but they must comply with strict approval processes. School heads carry greater responsibility for validation, while DepEd faces the challenge of ensuring equitable funding across divisions.
SOURCE:
READ FULL TEXT HERE:
DO No. 26, s. 2025 –
GUIDELINES ON THE PAYMENT OF OVERTIME SERVICES OF TEACHERS
B. Computation of Overtime Pay
VII. Limitations on Overtime Pay
- Overtime services shall not be used to offset undertime incurred by the teacher.
- Overtime services shall only be rendered within the official school premises (the teacher’s official station) and Community Learning Centers (CLCs), whichever applicable.
- Ancillary tasks, as defined herein or by other DepEd issuances, performed within the school premises shall not qualify for overtime compensation.
- Teachers on travel status are not authorized to claim overtime pay.
- Only teachers who have completed at least six (6) hours of actual classroom teaching per day and a minimum of thirty (30) hours per week shall be eligible for paid overtime work, in accordance with Republic Act No. 4670 or the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers.
- Overtime pay for teaching-related assignments rendered during weekends and holidays shall be limited to a maximum of four (4) hours per day. Services rendered in excess of this shall be converted into Vacation Service Credits (VSC), subject to existing DepEd and Civil Service Commission (CSC) guidelines.
- Teachers funded by the Local School Board (LSB) 1 are not eligible to receive overtime pay through DepEd funds. However, their statutory rights shall still be protected through this DepEd Order by ensuring they are given a fair and equitable distribution of teaching workload.
SOURCE:
Downloadable Forms: Overtime Pay for Teachers :
- ANNEX A:
- ANNEX B
- Download Form: REPORT ON AUTHORIZED OVERTIME SERVICES RENDERED
- ANNEX C
- Download Form: Individual Accomplishment Report
- ANNEX D
Read More: DepEd Latest News