Republic Act No. 1374

Any provision of law, executive order, rule or regulation to the contrary notwithstanding, public works engineers may execute public works projects or parts thereof on piece work or "takay" basis.

Any public works engineer, before executing any public works project or a part thereof on piece work or "takay" basis, shall first determine the volume of work which an average laborer can perform in eight hours, and, on the basis of the minimum wage rate prescribed by law, fix the unit measure of work and the payment therefor.

Laborers who work on piece work or "takay" basis shall be paid through payroll, which shall contain the names of the laborers, the total volume of work performed by each laborer or by a group of laborers in terms of the number of unit measures as fixed in accordance with the preceding section, and the total amount of the payment therefor: Provided, However, That when piece work is undertaken by several laborers as a group, the payment shall be divided equally among them unless they all authorize in writing one among themselves to collect payment on their behalf, which authorization shall be noted on the payroll and attached thereto. The payroll shall also contain a certificate by the public works engineer or his authorized representative in charge of the work that the statements appearing thereon are of his own knowledge true and correct and that no fraud or collusion has been committed in connection with the work covered by such payroll.

The Secretary of Public Works and Communications shall issue such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.

This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved: June 18, 1955.