Can he legally stop me from working?
Last updated: 2026-08-10 · Educational content; not legal advice.
Short answer
Generally, no — but the law carries one specific exception. RA 9262 §3(D)(1) names preventing you from engaging in a legitimate profession, occupation, business, or activity as economic abuse, except where your spouse or partner objects on valid, serious, and moral grounds as defined in Article 73 of the Family Code. Outside that narrow, defined exception, stopping you from working is economic abuse under §3(D).
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Frequently asked
What counts as a 'valid, serious, and moral ground' under Article 73?
RA 9262 §3(D)(1) points to Article 73 of the Family Code for that standard rather than defining it itself. This register doesn't independently verify what the Family Code requires to meet it — treat a bare personal preference ("he just doesn't like my job") as very unlikely to qualify without confirming Article 73's own text.
Does this exception also cover him taking my paycheck once I've already earned it?
No — the Article 73 exception in §3(D)(1) applies specifically to preventing you from working. Controlling money you've already earned falls under a separate limb, §3(D)(4), which has no such exception.
What if he doesn't say I can't work, but makes it impossible in practice?
§3(D)(1) covers "preventing" you from working, which on its plain wording isn't limited to a direct verbal ban. The statute doesn't further define what counts as prevention in practice.
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Whether what's happening even counts as abuse under RA 9262 — psychological violence without a hand ever being raised, economic control, threats, and the reach of the law beyond marriage and beyond your front door.