How to File a DOLE Complaint (SEnA Request for Assistance, Step by Step)

How to file a DOLE complaint, step by step

Most people who search “how to file a complaint in DOLE” have one of a handful of problems: final pay not released, salary or 13th month pay unpaid, a certificate of employment refused, SSS or PhilHealth contributions deducted but not remitted, or a sudden dismissal. For all of these the first door is the same. Here is the complete process, in order.

1. 1

   Write down what is owed and since when

   List each unpaid item with an amount and a date: last salary, unused leave, pro-rated 13th month, separation pay if any. Use the final pay calculator or the 13th month pay calculator so your figures are defensible. Note your start date, last day and monthly salary.

2. 2

   Send your employer a written demand first

   This step is not legally required before SEnA, but it often settles the matter and it proves you asked. A polite one-page demand letter for final pay giving 5 to 10 days to pay is enough. Keep the receiving copy, the registry receipt or the sent email.

3. 3

   Gather your documents

   Prepare a valid ID, proof of employment (ID, contract, payslips, COE, company emails), proof of what is unpaid, your demand letter and the employer's exact name and address. Make two photocopies of everything.

4. 4

   Prepare your Request for Assistance

   Fill in the details DOLE will ask for: your details, the employer's details, your employment details, the issues (nature of request), the amounts and a short narration. Our free SEnA request for assistance form puts these in the same order so the desk officer can encode them quickly.

5. 5

   File the request at DOLE, online or in person

   File online through DOLE ARMS (arms.dole.gov.ph), or walk in at the Single-Entry Assistance Desk of the DOLE field or regional office nearest your home. You can also call 1349 for guidance. Filing is free. Ask for your reference number and the schedule of the first conference.

6. 6

   Attend the conciliation-mediation conference

   The SEnA desk officer (SEADO) invites you and your employer to a conference, in person or online. Explain your claim, show your computation and listen to the employer's side. The officer helps both sides find a settlement within 30 calendar days. Attend every scheduled conference.

7. 7

   Sign a settlement, or get a referral

   If you agree, a written settlement is signed and payment is made, often on the spot or on a set date. If you do not agree, ask for the referral so you can file a formal complaint at the proper office: usually the NLRC or the DOLE Regional Office. Do not let the claim go stale: money claims prescribe in 3 years.

Everything above can be done without a lawyer, and SEnA is designed that way. If your case involves dismissal, large amounts or a quitclaim you are unsure about, it is still worth a short consultation with the Public Attorney's Office (PAO), a union, or a lawyer before you sign anything. sulat.ph is not a law firm; this guide explains the process, not your specific case.

What is SEnA, the Single Entry Approach at DOLE?

SEnA is the 30-day mandatory conciliation-mediation step that sits in front of nearly every labor case in the Philippines. Instead of going straight into a formal case with pleadings, hearings and position papers, both sides first sit down with a neutral SEnA desk officer whose only job is to help them agree. It became part of the Labor Code through Republic Act No. 10396 in 2013.

The current rules are DOLE Department Order No. 249, series of 2025, the Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations of SEnA, signed on February 7, 2025. They replaced the old rules under Department Order No. 151, series of 2016. The 2025 rules lean heavily on technology: requests can be filed online through DOLE ARMS, by email or other online channels, and conferences can be held online. They also expressly cover non-standard workers such as contractor and subcontractor workers and platform (gig) workers.

What a SEnA request can cover (and what it cannot)

SEnA is meant for “all issues arising from labor and employment”. In practice, these are the requests SEnA desks handle every day, and what a realistic outcome looks like.

Both workers and employers can file. So can groups of workers, unions, kasambahay, and overseas Filipino workers. If you are abroad or unable to attend, an immediate family member with a special power of attorney may file for you; if the worker has died, the legal heirs may file.

Where to file a DOLE complaint: online, in person or via hotline 1349

Under the 2025 rules you may file at any DOLE office near where you live. You do not need to go to the office covering your former workplace, which matters if you moved home to the province after resigning from a Makati job. Requests can also be filed with NCMB, NLRC and DMW SEnA desks.

Walk-in tip: go early in the morning, bring a pen and your photocopies, and have your computation written on one page. Desk officers handle many requests a day. A clean, printed summary from our SEnA form lets them encode your request in minutes rather than drawing the story out of you question by question.

What to bring when you file a DOLE complaint

You do not need every document to file. Many workers have no contract and were paid in cash. Your own testimony, bank deposits, GCash transfers and messages from your supervisor are evidence too. File with what you have and keep looking for more.

What happens at the SEnA conference

The first conference

After your request is encoded, the desk officer issues a notice to both sides with the date and venue (or the online link) of the first conference. At the conference the officer explains that the process is voluntary and confidential, asks you to state your claim, and asks the employer for its side. Often the employer's representative is an HR officer with authority to settle up to a limit.

Keep it factual: what you are owed, how you computed it, and since when. Avoid arguing about personalities. The officer may meet each side separately to explore what each can accept. It is normal to be asked whether you would take a lower amount paid immediately; you may say no.

If your employer does not appear

Employers sometimes skip the first notice. The desk officer usually resets the conference and sends another notice. If the employer still ignores the process, the officer can end the conciliation and refer you to the proper office to file your formal complaint. A no-show employer does not hurt your case; it shortens your path to a formal hearing. If you are the one who misses a conference without explanation, your request may be closed, so tell the desk officer in advance if you cannot attend.

The 30-day period

SEnA conciliation runs for up to 30 calendar days. Under the current rules the period is counted from the first conference attended by both parties, not from the day you filed. Both sides can agree to extend it when a settlement is close, for instance while an employer arranges a cheque or a payment schedule; how long the extension may run should be confirmed with the desk officer verify.

Settlement agreement and quitclaim: read before you sign

If you reach a deal, the desk officer writes a settlement agreement stating the amount, how and when it is paid, and what each side gives up. When payment is complete you usually sign a quitclaim or release saying you have no further claims. Under the SEnA rules a settlement reached this way is final and binding and can be enforced if the employer does not comply.

If there is no settlement: NLRC or DOLE Regional Office?

When conciliation fails, the desk officer issues a referral to the office with jurisdiction over your kind of claim. You then file a formal complaint there. Which office depends mainly on two things: whether you are asking to be reinstated (or are questioning a dismissal), and how much money is involved.

The three-year clock is the one most workers forget. If your final pay was due on November 30, 2026, the claim must be filed by November 30, 2029. Illegal dismissal complaints follow a different, longer period under jurisprudence verify, but do not wait: evidence disappears and witnesses move on. Whether a SEnA request pauses the prescriptive period should be confirmed with the desk officer verify; the safe course is to file well within three years.

Worked example: a final pay complaint from start to finish

Note how the computation drove the outcome. Maria's 13th month figure is ₱25,000 × 8 months ÷ 12 = ₱16,666.67, and her leave conversion uses the common 261-day factor for a 5-day week: ₱25,000 × 12 ÷ 261 = ₱1,149.43 a day, times 4 days. When the employer saw a line-by-line breakdown, the conversation shifted from “whether” to “when”. Run your own numbers in the final pay calculator.

DOLE regional offices: which one handles your area

You can file at the office nearest your home, but if you are referred to a DOLE Regional Office for a formal case, the office will generally be the one covering the workplace. For hotline help from anywhere, call 1349.

Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental and Siquijor now form the Negros Island Region; check with 1349 which DOLE office currently serves your city there verify. Each regional office has field offices in provincial capitals and major cities, and most have a SEnA desk.

Kasambahay, OFWs and other special cases

DOLE complaint statistics: how often SEnA settles

SEnA moves real money. According to our SEnA statistics tracker, SEnA desks facilitated about ₱2.9 billion in monetary benefits for 58,212 workers in 2024. That works out to roughly ₱50,000 per worker on average, though individual amounts range from a few thousand pesos for a missing 13th month to large separation pay settlements.

The practical lesson is that most employers would rather settle at SEnA than defend a formal case. Requests with a clear computation and documents settle faster; vague requests (“I want my rights”) tend to drag and end in referrals.

Received a notice to explain instead? Answer it first

If your problem is that HR has given you a notice to explain (NTE) for an alleged offence, you are at an earlier stage. Philippine law requires the employer to follow the twin-notice rule before dismissing for a just cause: a first written notice stating the charges, a real chance to explain (in writing and, where needed, at a hearing or conference), then a second written notice of the decision. The Supreme Court spelled out these requirements in King of Kings Transport v. Mamac (2007) verify.

Answer the NTE on time, in writing, and keep a receiving copy. A DOLE complaint comes later, if you are dismissed without the proper notices or without a valid cause. See notice to explain basics on the employment hub.

Eight mistakes that weaken a DOLE complaint

Other names people search for

Related reading on the employment hub: the full list of employment documents, your rights at work and how to spot fake job offers, and the resignation law at a glance. For non-employment money disputes, see demand letters, small claims and the barangay complaint guide.