Can employers and employees legally stipulate overtime rates completely different from the law?

Under the binding stipulations related to Article 87 of the Labor Code of the Philippines, measured flexibility in overtime rates is legally permitted under certain conditions. Employees and their employers may legally and formally stipulate in their collective agreement the payment of overtime work at specialized, distinct rates. However, the absolute and undeniable legal requirement is that these stipulated rates must be unquestionably higher than the minimums provided by the baseline law. This strongly ensures that any contractual deviation strictly and permanently favors the economic enhancement of the worker.