Spectra Labor Relations Sy 2013 2014

Labor Relations
Compilation
Based on the outline by: Atty. Jefferson Marquez
Compiled by: Tatak Spectra
Updated as of SY 2013-2014
Societas Spectra Legis
Labor Relations Compilation
Table of Contents
TOPIC 1: THE APPLICABLE LAWS ............................................................................................................................................ 7
LAW: PD 442 AS AMENDED BY RA 6715 APPROVED ON MARCH 21, 1989.....................................................................................................................7
CONCEPT OF LABOR .......................................................................................................................................................................................................7
FOUR SYSTEMS OF LABOR ..............................................................................................................................................................................................7
THREE FIELDS OF LABOR LAW (S-R-S) .............................................................................................................................................................................8
OMNIBUS RULES AS AMENDED ......................................................................................................................................................................................9
SUPREME COURT DECISIONS..........................................................................................................................................................................................9
BASIS OF ENACTING LABOR LAWS (P-S-P-D)...................................................................................................................................................................9
LIMITATIONS IN THE ENACTMENT OF LABOR LAWS (P-E-N-D-O) .................................................................................................................................10
SOURCES OF LABOR LAWS - LABOR STANDARDS (R-O-L-J) ...........................................................................................................................................10
SOURCES OF LABOR LAWS (LABOR RELATIONS)...........................................................................................................................................................11
PROVISIONS ON THE EFFECTIVITY OF LABOR LAWS .....................................................................................................................................................11
RULES ON THE IMPLEMENTATION AND INTERPRETATION OF LABOR LAWS................................................................................................................11
PARTIES TO EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT ........................................................................................................................................................................12
TRIPARTISM ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................12
TOPIC 2: BASIC PRINCIPLES .................................................................................................................................................. 14

CONSTITUTIONAL AND STATUTORY RIGHTS OF WORKERS IN GENERAL ......................................................................................................................14
SPECIFIC RIGHTS OF WORKERS IN RELATION TO LABOR STANDARDS ..........................................................................................................................14
SPECIFIC RIGHTS OF WORKERS IN RELATION TO LABOR RELATIONS ............................................................................................................................15
CONCEPT OF EMPLOYER-EMPLOYEE (LABOR STANDARDS)..........................................................................................................................................15
CONCEPT OF EMPLOYER-EMPLOYEE (LABOR RELATIONS) ...........................................................................................................................................15
CONCEPT OF EMPLOYER-EMPLOYEE RELATIONSHIP ....................................................................................................................................................16
FOUR-FOLD TEST ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................16
ECONOMIC REALITY TEST .............................................................................................................................................................................................18
EMPLOYER-EMPLOYEE VS. PRINCIPAL-AGENT..............................................................................................................................................................19
PRINCIPAL-AGENT RELATIONSHIP ................................................................................................................................................................................19
EMPLOYER-EMPLOYEE VS. PRINCIPAL-CONTRACTOR (DO NO. 9) ...............................................................................................................................19
PRINCIPAL-INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR RELATIONSHIP .............................................................................................................................................19
CHIEF CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EMPLOYEE .................................................................................................................................................................20
TOPIC 3: RIGHT TO SECURITY OF TENURE ........................................................................................................................... 21

CONSTITUTIONAL BASIS (Art. 13, Sec. 3, 1987 Constitution)........................................................................................................................................21
CLASSIFICATION OF EMPLOYMENT AND KINDS OF EMPLOYEES ..................................................................................................................................21
REGULAR EMPLOYMENT ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 21
PROBATIONARY EMPLOYMENT ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 22
CASUAL EMPLOYMENT ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 24
OTHER CLASSIFICATION (SPECIAL LAWS)......................................................................................................................................................................25

CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY ................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 25
IN PRIVATE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 26
IN HOSPITALS ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 27
EXCEPTIONS TO REGULAR EMPLOYMENT ....................................................................................................................................................................27

PROJECT EMPLOYMENT........................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 27
SEASONAL EMPLOYMENT ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 29
FIXED TERM EMPLOYMENT .................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 30
MEMBERS OF WORK POOL...........................................................................................................................................................................................31
TOPIC 4: MANAGEMENT PREROGATIVE .............................................................................................................................. 33

CONCEPT ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................33
University of San Carlos School of Law and Governance | Based on the Outline by Atty. Jefferson Marquez
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SCOPE ...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................33
LIMITATIONS ................................................................................................................................................................................................................33
HIRING ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................33
PROMOTION.................................................................................................................................................................................................................34
DEMOTION ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................34
TRANSFER .....................................................................................................................................................................................................................35
DISMISSAL ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................36
OTHERS.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................36
REORGANIZATION AND ABOLITION OF POSITIONS ............................................................................................................................................................................... 36
EARLY RETIREMENT PROGRAM ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 36
EMPLOYMENT POLICIES AND STIPULATIONS ...............................................................................................................................................................37

BONA FIDE OCCUPATIONAL QUALIFICATION RULE ......................................................................................................................................................37
RESTRICTIVE COVENANT CLAUSES (RIVERA VS. SOLIDBANK) .......................................................................................................................................37
TOPIC 5: TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT ......................................................................................................................... 40

EMPLOYEES RIGHT TO DISCIPLINE; NATURE OF RIGHT ...............................................................................................................................................40
ACTUAL AND CONSTRUCTIVE DISMISSAL .....................................................................................................................................................................40
GROUNDS FOR TERMINATION .....................................................................................................................................................................................40
JUST CAUSES (LABOR CODE) ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 40
JUST CAUSES FOR ACADEMIC PERSONNEL IN THE TERTIARY LEVEL ...................................................................................................................................................... 49
JUST CAUSES FOR ACADEMIC PERSONNEL IN BASIC EDUCATION ......................................................................................................................................................... 50
AUTHORIZED CAUSES ...................................................................................................................................................................................................50

INSTALLATION OF LABOR SAVING DEVICE ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 51
REDUNDANCY ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 52
RETRENCHMENT TO PREVENT LOSSES.................................................................................................................................................................................................. 53
CLOSURE OF BUSINESS ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 55
ANALOGOUS AUTHORIZED CAUSES .............................................................................................................................................................................56

REQUISITES FOR VALID TERMINATION .........................................................................................................................................................................56
PREVENTIVE SUSPENSION ............................................................................................................................................................................................56
STATUTORY DUE PROCESS VS. CONSTITUTIONAL DUE PROCESS .................................................................................................................................57
PRIOR NOTICE AND HEARING RULE ..............................................................................................................................................................................59
PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENT FOR JUST CAUSES .................................................................................................................................................................................. 60
CONSEQUENCES OF COMPLIANCE AND NON COMPLIANCE WITH JUST CAUSE AND PRIOR NOTICE REQUIREMENT TABLE ................................................................. 61
DISCUSSION ON WITH JC BUT WITHOUT PN:........................................................................................................................................................................................ 61
PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENT FOR AUTHORIZED CAUSES ..................................................................................................................................................................... 62
EFFECT OR CONSEQUENCE OF A VALID DISMISSAL ......................................................................................................................................................62

JUST CAUSE .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 63
AUTHORIZED CAUSE ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 63
EFFECT OR CONSEQUENCE OF AN INVALID DISMISSAL ................................................................................................................................................63

RELIEFS AVAILABLE TO UNJUSTLY DISMISSED EMPLOYEE ............................................................................................................................................63
BACKWAGES ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 63
REINSTATEMENT OR SEPARATION PAY IN CASE REINSTATEMENT IS NO LONGER FEASIBLE ................................................................................................................. 64
DISMISSAL FOR FALSE OR NON-EXISTENT CAUSE ................................................................................................................................................................................. 65
CORPORATE OFFICERS..................................................................................................................................................................................................65
DOCTRINES ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................67
DOCTRINE OF STRAINED RELATIONSHIP ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 67
TOTALITY OF INFRACTIONS DOCTRINE ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 67
HOBSON DOCTRINE .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 67
TOTALITY OF CONDUCT DOCTRINE ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 67
PAST/PREVIOUS INFRACTION RULE ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 67
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WENPHIL DOCTRINE ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 67

BONA FIDE OCCUPATIONAL QUALIFICATION ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 67
SUCCESSION EMPLOYER DOCTRINE ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 68
TOPIC 6: SUSPENSION OF BUSINESS OPERATIONS .............................................................................................................. 69

BASIS AND MAXIMUM PERIOD.....................................................................................................................................................................................69
REQUISITES OF A VALID/BONA FIDE SUSPENSION OF OPERATIONS: .................................................................................................................................................... 69
EFFECT ON EMPLOYMENT STATUS ...............................................................................................................................................................................69

COMPENSATION OF EMPLOYEES DURING THE SIX-MONTH SUSPENSION ............................................................................................................................................ 69
EFFECT OF SUSPENSION OF WORK EXCEEDING 6 MONTHS .................................................................................................................................................................. 69
EFFECT OF EMPLOYMENT OF THE EMPLOYEE IN OTHER ESTABLISHMENTS DURING 6-MONTH PERIOD .............................................................................................. 70
FULFILLMENT OF MILITARY OR CIVIC DUTY .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 70
ANALOGOUS SITUATION ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 70
DISTINGUISH FROM STOPPAGE OF WORK OR SUSPENSION OF OPERATION ...............................................................................................................71

TEMPORARY OR PERIODIC SHUTDOWN AND TEMPORARY CESSATION OF WORK ......................................................................................................71
TOPIC 7: DISEASE AS GROUND FOR TERMINATION............................................................................................................. 72

REQUIREMENTS TO TERMINATE EMPLOYMENT ..........................................................................................................................................................72
HIV-STATUS AND AIDS ..................................................................................................................................................................................................72
SEVERE ACUTE RESPIRATORY SYNDROME....................................................................................................................................................................72
DISABILITY UNDER MAGNA CARTA FOR DISABLES PERSON (RA 7277) .........................................................................................................................73
HEPATITIS B STATUS .....................................................................................................................................................................................................73
HEALTH CERTIFICATE REQUIREMENT ...........................................................................................................................................................................73
TOPIC 8: OTHER CAUSES OF SEVERANCE OF EMPLOYMENT RELATION .............................................................................. 75

RESIGNATION ...............................................................................................................................................................................................................75
DEFINITION ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 75
BASIS .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 75
TYPES OF RESIGNATION ...............................................................................................................................................................................................75

VOLUNTARY RESIGNATION ................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 75
INVOLUNTARY RESIGNATION ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 77
EXPRESS RESIGNATION ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 78
IMPLIED RESIGNATION ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 78
ISSUANCE OF CERTIFICATE OF EMPLOYMENT ..............................................................................................................................................................78

RETIREMENT.................................................................................................................................................................................................................78
DEFINITION ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 78
BASIS .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 78
TYPES OF RETIREMENT ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 79
RETIREMENT AGE AND PAY .................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 79
EXEMPTION FROM RETIREMENT LAW .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 81
RETROACTIVE EFFECT ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 81
TOPIC 9: PRESCRIPTION OF CLAIMS .................................................................................................................................... 82

ILLEGAL DISMISSAL .......................................................................................................................................................................................................82
MONEY CLAIMS ............................................................................................................................................................................................................82
UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICE .............................................................................................................................................................................................83
SUMMARY OF PRESCRIPTIVE PERIODS: ........................................................................................................................................................................83
RULE ON COUNTING AND INTERRUPTION OF PRESCRIPTIVE PERIOD ..........................................................................................................................83
TOPIC 12: JURISDICTION OF THE LABOR ARBITER ............................................................................................................... 84

ORIGINAL AND EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION.....................................................................................................................................................................84
LABOR CODE ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 84
MIGRANT WORKERS AND OVERSEAS FILIPINO ACT (RA 8042, as amended)......................................................................................................................................... 84
RULE V, 2011 NLRC RULES OF PROCEDURE........................................................................................................................................................................................... 84
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REASONABLE CAUSAL CONNECTION RULE ...................................................................................................................................................................85

CONCURRENT JURISDICTION OF OTHER AGENCIES ......................................................................................................................................................85
DOLE REGIONAL DIRECTORS ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 85
VOLUNTARY ARBITRATORS ................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 85
DOLE SECRETARY .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 85
LABOR DISPUTES ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................86

CIVIL DISPUTES .............................................................................................................................................................................................................86
INTRA-CORPORATE DISPUTES ......................................................................................................................................................................................87
INSTANCES WHERE THE LABOR ARBITER DOES NOT HAVE JURISDICTION ...................................................................................................................87
TOPIC 13: THE 2011 NLRC RULES OF PROCEDURE .............................................................................................................. 88

COMPULSORY ARBITRATION AND VOLUNTARY ARBITRATION ....................................................................................................................................88
AGENCIES OF GOVERNMENT EXERCISING COMPULSORY ARBITRATION......................................................................................................................88
DOLE REGIONAL OFFICES ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 89
DOLE SECRETARY .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 89
BUREAU OF LABOR RELATIONS............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 90
NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS COMMISSION ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 90
LABOR ARBITERS .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 91
GUIDELINES ON THE SINGLE-ENTRY APPROACH PRESCRIBING A 30 DAY MANDATORY CONCIILIATION-MEDIATION SERVICES FOR ALL LABOR AND
EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES (DOLE Department Order No, 107-10, Series of 2010) ........................................................................................................91
DOLE RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE SINGLE ENTRY APPROACH (February 25, 2011) .................................................................................................93
SINGLE ENTRY APPROACH FLOWCHART .......................................................................................................................................................................96
COMPLAINT; CAUSE OF ACTION/S; REAL PARTIES-IN-INTEREST; AMENDMENT OF COMPLAINT; CERTIFICATE OF NON-FORUM SHOPPING ..............97
VENUE AND JURISDICTION ...........................................................................................................................................................................................97
SERVICE OF SUMMONS; NATURAL & JURIDICAL PERSON/S; MODE OF SERVICE OF NOTICES, RESOLUTION, ORDER OF DECISION ............................98
RAFFLE AND ASSIGNMENT OF CASES ...........................................................................................................................................................................99
APPEARANCES OF LAWYERS AND NON-LAWYERS ........................................................................................................................................................99
PERMISSIBLE GROUNDS TO DISMISS COMPLAINT; PROHIBITED PLEADINGS & MOTIONS ......................................................................................... 100
MANDATORY CONCILIATION & MEDIATION CONFERENCE ........................................................................................................................................ 101
WAIVER OF RIGHT TO FILE POSITION PAPER & LIFTING OF ORDER OF WAIVER......................................................................................................... 101
COMPROMISE BEFORE REGIONAL DIRECTOR AND LABOR ARBITER........................................................................................................................... 102
SIMULTANEOUS FILING OF POSITION PAPER; CONTENTS OF POSITION PAPER; REPLY POSITION PAPER & CONTENTS ............................................ 102
QUANTUM OF EVIDENCE & BURDEN OF PROOF ........................................................................................................................................................ 103
CONDUCT OF HEARING OR CLARIFICATORY CONFERENCE......................................................................................................................................... 103
INHIBITION ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 104
CONTEMPT ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 104
APPEAL PROCEDURE................................................................................................................................................................................................... 105
FRIVOLOUS OR DILATORY APPEALS ............................................................................................................................................................................ 106
NEW SCHEDULE OF LEGAL FEES (NLRC En Banc Resolution No. 08-07, Series of 2007) ............................................................................................. 106
REQUISITES TO PERFECT APPEAL................................................................................................................................................................................ 106
PROHIBITED APPEALS, INTERLOCUTORY ORDER & FINAL ORDER .............................................................................................................................. 107
RULES ON REINSTATEMENT PENDING APPEAL........................................................................................................................................................... 108
THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS COMMISSION (NLRC) .......................................................................................................................................... 108
EO No. 204, Series of 2003 DELEGATING TO THE SECRETARY OF LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT THE POWER TO EXERCISE ADMINISTRATIVE
SUPERVISION OVER THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS COMMISSION ...................................................................................................................... 110
POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF THE NLRC .................................................................................................................................................................... 110
FINALITY OF NLRC & LABOR ARBITERS DECISION ...................................................................................................................................................... 111
2011 NLRC RULES OF PROCEDURE FLOWCHART ........................................................................................................................................................ 113
EXECUTION OF JUDGMENT ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 114
NLRC MANUAL ON EXECUTION OF JUDGMENT .................................................................................................................................................................................. 115
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PRE-EXECUTION CONFERENCE; ISSUANCE & QUASHAL OF WRIT OF EXECUTION ...................................................................................................... 118

THIRD PARTY CLAIMS ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 118
EXTRAORDINARY REMEDIES FROM ORDER OR RESOLUTION OF LABOR ARBITER ..................................................................................................... 119
APPELLATE REMEDIES ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 120
RULE 65 CERTIORARI, PROHIBITION AND MANDAMUS ................................................................................................................................................................... 120
RULE 45 APPEAL BY CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT ............................................................................................................................................................. 121
UPDATES..................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 121
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TOPIC 1: THE APPLICABLE LAWS

LAW: PD 442 AS AMENDED BY RA 6715 APPROVED ON MARCH 21, 1989
A DECREE INSTITUTING A LABOR CODE, THERBY REVISING AND CONSOLIDATING LABOR AND SOCIAL LAWS TO
AFFORD PROTECTION TO LABOR, PROMOTE EMPLOYMENT AND HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT AND ENSURE
INDUSTRIAL PEACE BASED ON SOCIAL JUSTICE.
Article 1. This Decree shall be known as the Labor Code of the Philippines
o May 1, 1974 PD 442 was signed into law
o Took effect Nov. 1, 1974
Article 2. This Code shall take effect Six months after its promulgation
RA 6715 Herrera-Veloso Law
Sen. Blas Ople Father of Labor Code
Significance: Before the effectivity of the labor code, there was no provision on the terms and conditions of employment.
Significance of RA 6715:
Computation of Backwages after RA 6715 took effect, the award of backwages from the time compensation was withheld
up to the actual reinstatement; However, Facilities should not be included in the computation of backwages for the reason
that such are given free, to be used only for official tour of duty and not for personal use.
CONCEPT OF LABOR
Ordinary Sense: is understood as the physical toil although it does not necessarily exclude the application of skill, thus,
there is skilled and unskilled labor; work; service
General Sense: it is the exertion of human being by his mental or physical effort towards production of goods or services.
Technical Sense: the working class or workingmen
Skill the familiar knowledge of any art or science, united with readiness and dexterity in the execution or performance of the
application such art or science to practical purposes.
Work it is broader than labor; covers all forms of physical or mental exertion or both combined, for the attainment of some
object other than recreation or amusement per se.
Worker broader than employee; refer to self-employed people and those working in the service and under the control of
another, regardless of rank, title, or nature of work.
Employee a salaried person working for another who controls or supervises the means, manner, or method of doing the work
NOTE: It is the workers or the working class who exerts or labors.
FOUR SYSTEMS OF LABOR
(Sla-Ser-Free-Wage; Slasher Free Wage; S-S-F-W )
1.
Slavery
Refers to the extraction of work or services from any person by means of enticement, violence, intimidation or
threat, use of force or coercion, including deprivation of freedom, abuse of authority or moral ascendancy, debt
bondage or deception. (DO 65-04 S2004)
The worker is owned by another at his free disposal
Prohibited in the Philippines
Section 18(2) of the Constitution:No involuntary servitude in any form shall exist except as a punishment for a
crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.
Article 272, Revised Penal Code:Slavery. The penalty of prision mayor and a fine of not exceeding 10,000
pesos shall be imposed upon anyone who shall purchase, sell, kidnap or detain a human being for the purpose
of enslaving him.
Section 4(a) of RA9208:Acts of Trafficking in Persons. - It shall be unlawful for any person, natural or juridical, to
commit any of the following acts: (a) To recruit, transport, transfer; harbor, provide, or receive a person by any
means, including those done under the pretext of domestic or overseas employment or training or
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apprenticeship, for the purpose of prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery,
involuntary servitude or debt bondage;
2.
Serfdom
Worker, by customary right to his Lord, owes certain service
Enforced labor of serfs on the fields of the landowners, in return for protection and the right to work on their
leased fields.
Prohibited in the Philippines
Article 274 of the RPC:Services rendered under compulsion in payment of debt. The penalty of arresto mayor
in its maximum period to prision correccional in its minimum period shall be imposed upon any person who, in
order to require or enforce the payment of a debt, shall compel the debtor to work for him, against his will, as
household servant or farm laborer.
Section 12-D, RA7610 as amended: No child shall be engaged in the worst forms of child labor. The phrase
"worst forms of child labor" shall refer to any of the following: (1) All forms of slavery, as defined under the
"Anti-trafficking in Persons Act of 2003", or practices similar to slavery such as sale and trafficking of children,
debt bondage and serfdom and forced or compulsory labor, including recruitment of children for use in armed
conflict;
3.
Free Artisan
A free person who offers his services to others subject to nobodys will
The same with modern independent contractorship wherein an independent contractor is engaged in a business
separately distinct from the principal, the performed job, work or service, and works according to his own means
and methods, free from the control and direction of the principal except as to the results thereof.
Governed by Article 1713 of the Civil Code
4.
Wage System
A person offers his services to another under an employment contract for which such service is paid by wages.
The same with modern employer-employee system where there is an employee under the control and
supervision of an employer as to the means, manner or method of which the work is to be accomplished including
the result thereof and is paid for the work done in terms of wage.
Covered by the Labor Code
NOTE: Only the Free Artisanship and Wage System of Labor are recognized in the Philippines.
Aim or justification:SOCIAL JUSTICE those who have less in life should have more in law.
Article II, sec. 10 of the constitution

The state shall promote social justice in all phases of national development.
The state affirms labor as a primary social economic force. Therefore, it shall protect the rights of workers and
promote their welfare.
THREE FIELDS OF LABOR LAW (S-R-S)
1.
Labor Standards Law

Sets out the minimum terms, conditions, and benefits of employment that employers must provide or comply with
and to which workers are entitled as a matter of legal right;
The minimum requirements prescribed by existing laws, rules and regulations and other issuances relating to wages,
hours of work, cost of living allowances and other monetary and welfare benefits, including those set by occupational
safety and health hazards. (Section 7, Rule I, Rules on the Disposition of Labor Standards Cases September 16, 1987)
Example: wages and hours of work, on safety and health of employees, employment benefits, overtime pay
2.
Labor Relations Law

Defines the status, rights, duties, as well as the institutional mechanism that govern the individual and collective
interactions between employers, employees, and their representatives
Refers to the interactions between the employers and employees or their representatives and the mechanism by
which the employment standards are negotiated, adjusted and enforced.
Marquez: process the terms, benefits and conditions to improve the same through collective bargaining or
negotiation.
Example: unionization, negotiation, dispute settlements
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Distinction: Labor standards Law is the material or substance of labor law;Labor Relations Law is the mechanism or the
processes on enforcing the substance.
3.
Labor Legislation or Social or Welfare Legislation

Law governing the employer-employee relation while the latter is not at work due to the hazard arising from
employment.
Refers to a broader category of law that protects or promotes the welfare of society or segments of it in furtherance of
social justice.
Intended to substitute income

Example: Social Security Law, Agrarian Reform Law, Law on Migrant Workers, or more recently, the New Tax Relief Law
Distinction between Labor Standards and Social Legislation: In LS, the employee is actually at work; In SL, the employee is not
at work or is unable to work.
OMNIBUS RULES AS AMENDED
Have the force and effect of laws. Provided, however, that these rules and issuances will not expand the law or strip the
law. Otherwise, under the rules on statutory construction, these will be considered void.
The DOLE is the lead agency in enforcing labor laws and it possesses rule-making power in the enforcement of the Code.
But a rule or regulation that exceeds the departments rule-making authority is void. The rule-making power is exceeded
when the implementing rule changes, wittingly or unwittingly, the content or meaning of the law which the rule aims to
implement. The implementing rule, on other words, must be subordinate to the law itself.
Example: Policy Instruction No. 54-88 (issued by former Sec. Franklin Drilon) has been declared void by the Supreme Court
because this has expanded Art. 83 of the Labor Code on Employment of Health Personnel by erroneously interpreting that
health employees are entitled to a full weekly wage for 7 days if they have completed the 40-hour/5-day workweek.
SUPREME COURT DECISIONS

A8NCC: Judicial decisions applying or interpreting the laws or the Constitution shall form a part of the legal system of the
Philippines.
NOTE: Decisions of administrative bodies like the NLRC do not form part of the legal system of the Philippines. Only SC decisions
set legal precedents.
BASIS OF ENACTING LABOR LAWS (P-S-P-D)
1.
POLICE POWER
Inherent power of the state to enact legislations that may interfere with personal liberty or property in order to
promote the general welfare of the people (General Welfare Clause)
Consists of imposition of restraint upon liberty or property and in order to foster the common good.
General welfare clause deemed written into the employment contract.
Power to regulate personal liberty or property rights.
Labor Code contains several provisions that affect life and property.
NOTE: Having a job is a property right
Example:
Article 263 LC: (g) When, in his opinion, there exists a labor dispute causing or likely to cause a strike or lockout in an industry indispensable
to the national interest, the Secretary of Labor and Employment may assume jurisdiction over the dispute and decide it or certify the same
to the Commission for compulsory arbitration
Reason: SOLE may compel the employer to admit the employees and the employees to return to their work.
2.
SOCIAL JUSTICE
The promotion of the welfare of all the people, the adoption by the government of measures calculated to insure
economic stability of all the component elements of society through the maintenance of proper economic and social
equilibrium in the interrelation of the members of the community, constitutionally through the adoption of measures
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legally justifiable, or extra-constitutionally through the exercise of powers, underlying the exercise of all governments
on the time honored principle of salus populi est suprema lex. (Dr. Jose P. Laurel)
The law is geared towards the concern of labor because our legislators realize that social and economic imbalance
between the employer and employee.
Philippines is a signatory of ILO Convention (International Labor Organization)
UN Declaration of Human Rights
All doubts in the implementation and interpretation of the provisions of this Code, including its implementing rules
and regulations shall be resolved in favor of labor
Examples: Migrant workers act, retirement law, Art. Xix, sec. 19
3.
PROTECTION TO LABOR CLAUSE

Article XIII, Section 3, 1987 Constitution. The State shall afford full protection to labor, local and overseas, organized and
unorganized, and promote full employment and equality of employment opportunities for all.
Reason: Employer stands in a higher footing than the employee because of economic dependence of the employee on the
employer and the greater supply of labor than the demand of it.
Example: Migrant Workers Act
4.
DOCTRINE OF INCORPORATION
Article II, Section 2, Constitution:The Philippines renounces war as an instrument of national policy, adopts the
generally accepted principles of international law as part of the law of the land, and adheres to the policy of peace, equality,
justice, freedom, cooperation, and amity with all nations.
Cite at least 5 International Labor Organization (ILO) Conventions:
1. C87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize to Convention (1948)
2. C99 Minimum Wage Fixing Machinery Convention (1951)
3. C105 Abolition of Forced Labor Convention (1957)
4. C17 Workmens Compensation (1925)
5. C149 Tripartite Consultation Convention (1976)
LIMITATIONS IN THE ENACTMENT OF LABOR LAWS (P-E-N-D-O)
NON-IMPAIRMENT CLAUSE
Article III, Section 10. No law impairing the obligation of contracts shall be passed.
Congress could not pass laws which would impair the obligations of the parties, however, the same can pass laws to
regulate the obligations and contracts.
May be impaired by the exercise of the state of police power.
EQUAL PROTECTION CLAUSE

Article III, Section 1. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall any person
be denied the equal protection of the laws.
Individuals similarly situated must be treated equally under the3 law.
Equality among equals
PROHIBITION AGAINST INVOLUNTARY SERVITUDE

Article III, Section 18(2). No involuntary servitude in any form shall exist except as a punishment for a crime whereof the
party shall have been duly convicted. (e.g. anti-trafficking in persons act, forced labor, slavery)
DUE PROCESS CLAUSE
Strike, but hear me first.
OTHER CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS
SOURCES OF LABOR LAWS - LABOR STANDARDS (R-O-L-J)
a)
b)
The Labor Code , PD 442 as amended

Judicial decisions
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c)
d)
Rules and regulations issued by administrative agencies

Omnibus Rules as amended by DO No. 09, Series of 1997 & DO No. 40-03, Series of 2003, as amended by DO Nos. 40-A-03,
40-B-03, 40-C-05
Rules and regulations have the force and effect of law, provided they do not expand the law or strip the law. Otherwise, under
the rules on statutory construction, these will be considered void.
SOURCES OF LABOR LAWS (LABOR RELATIONS)
PRIMARY (C-S-D)
a) Constitution
b) Statutes ( NCC, RPC, Special Laws)
c) Supreme court decisions
SECONDARY (D-R-O-R)
a) Decisions of foreign courts (where our labor statutes are based or patterned after statutes in foreign jurisdictions, decisions
in the high courts in those jurisdictions construing and interpreting should receive the careful attention of our courts in the
application of our laws)
b) Reviewers in labor laws/ textbooks
c) Opinions of labor department or agencies
d) Rules and regulations issued by DOLE ( department orders)
NOTE:
Labor laws do not only include PD 442 as amended but as well as decisions of the SC interpreting and applying the laws.
Included as well are rules and regulations issued by the appropriate government agencies (e.g. DOLE)
PROVISIONS ON THE EFFECTIVITY OF LABOR LAWS
A5LC: Rules and regulations. - The Department of Labor and other government agencies charged with the administration and
enforcement of this Code or any of its parts shall promulgate the necessary implementing rules and regulations. Such rules and
regulations shall become effective fifteen (15) days after announcement of their adoption in newspapers of general circulation.
Publication is indispensable. Rules and regulations are still valid even if no publication, however, it is unenforceable.
A2NCC:Laws shall take effect after fifteen days following the completion of their publication either in the Official Gazette, or in a
newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines, unless it is otherwise provided. (As amended by EO 200).
E.O. 292 Administrative Code of the Philippines
Sec. 18. When Laws Take Effect. - Laws shall take effect after fifteen (15) days following the completion of their publication in the Official Gazette
or in a newspaper of general circulation, unless it is otherwise provided.
Sec. 19. Prospectivity. - Laws shall have prospective effect unless the contrary is expressly provided.
Sec. 20. Interpretation of Laws and Administrative Issuances. - In the interpretation of a law or administrative issuance promulgated in all the
official languages, the English text shall control, unless otherwise specifically provided. In case of ambiguity, omission or mistake, the other texts
may be consulted.
Sec. 21. No Implied Revival of Repealed Law.- When a law which expressly repeals a prior law itself repealed, the law first repealed shall not be
thereby revived unless expressly so provided.
Sec. 22. Revival of Law Impliedly Repealed. - When a law which impliedly repeals a prior law is itself repealed, the prior law shall thereby be
revived, unless the repealing law provides otherwise.
Sec. 23. Ignorance of the Law. - Ignorance of the law excuses no one from compliance therewith.
Will not apply unless the people are informed through the required publication
RULES ON THE IMPLEMENTATION AND INTERPRETATION OF LABOR LAWS
Article 4, LC. All doubts in the implementation and interpretation of the provisions of this Code, including its implementing rules and
regulations, shall be resolved in favor of labor.
Page 11
Reason: Employer stands in a higher footing than the employees and the State affirms labor as the primary social economic
force.
The policy is to apply the code to a greater number of employees to enable them to avail of the benefits under the law, in
line with the States desire to give maximum aid and protection to labor.
It is not always correct to think that the aim of the law is always to favor labor. The mandate under Art 4 is simply to
resolve doubt, if any, in favor of labor. If there is no doubt in implementing and interpreting the law, labor will enjoy no
built-in advantage and the law will have to be applied as it is.
The law in protecting the rights of the laborer, authorizes neither oppression nor self destruction of the employer.
Court decisions adopt a liberal approach that favors the exercise of labor rights.
Article 1700,NCC. The relation between capital and labor are not merely contractual. They are so impressed with public interest that labor
contracts must yield to the common good. Therefore, such contracts are subject to the special Lawson labor unions, collective bargaining,
strikes and lockouts, closed shop, wages, working conditions, hours of labor, and similar subjects.
Labor disputes also affect the state and the public at large if employees are engaged in strike or other concerted
activities.
Employer
Employee
State
Public
PARTIES TO EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT
Article 1701, NCC. Neither capital nor labor shall act oppressively against the other, or impair the interest or convenience of the public.
(PRINCIPLE OF NON-OPPRESSION)
Article 1702, NCC. In case of doubt, all labor legislationsand all labor contracts shall be construed in favor of the safety and decent living of
the laborer.
LABOR AND CHATTEL

Labor is not a chattel nor a commodity, but human, and must be dealt with from the standpoint of human
interest.(Asufrin vs. San Miguel Corporation, G.R. No. 156658. March 10, 2004)
TRIPARTISM
Tripartism refers to the representation of workers and employers sectors in decision and policy making bodies of the
government. Through tripartism, workers and employers on the one hand, representing their respective interests, and the
government on the other hand, representing the interest of the public, help shape labor, social and economic policies and
programs of the government.
Tripartism is in place in government agencies like the the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC), Employees
Compensation Commission (ECC), National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC), Technical Education and Skill
Development Authority (TESDA), Social Security System (SSS), Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), Philippine
Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) and Pag-ibig Home
Development Funds (Pag-ibig).
Art. 275.Tripartism and tripartite conferences. (a) Tripartism in labor relations is hereby declared a State policy. Towards this end, the State
shall encourage the representation of workers and employers in policy-making bodies of the government.
(b)The Secretary of Labor or his duly authorized representatives may from time to time call a national, regional, or industrial tripartite
conference of representatives of government, workers and employers for the consideration and adoption of voluntary codes of principles
designed to promote industrial peace based on social justice or to align labor movement relations with established priorities in economic and
social development. In calling such conference, the Secretary of Labor may consult with accredited representatives of workers and employers.
Reason: Relations between capital and labor are not merely contractual. They are so impressed with public interest that
representations from employer and employee in decision and policy-making bodies of the government are necessary. This is
also in affirmation of the role of the State as the guardian of the peoples rights and the constitutional provision on protection to
labor.
Page 12
Examples:
Creation of Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) which is composed of government, employer and
employee representatives.
Composition of NLRC, chairman is government appointed, remaining 2 commissioners from employer and employee
sectors.
Amendatory decree no. 850 (1975) adopted tripartism as a state policy
Tripartism is a representation of three sectors in policy-making bodies of the government
1. public or the government
2. employees
3. workers
Such kind of representation is not ordained, not even by the Constitution. What is provided for, for the private sector is
workers participation in policy and decision-making processes directly affecting their rights, benefits, and welfare.
Page 13
TOPIC 2: BASIC PRINCIPLES

ART XIII, Section 3, par 1
CONSTITUTIONAL AND STATUTORY RIGHTS OF WORKERS IN GENERAL
The state shall afford full protection to labor, local and overseas, organized and unorganized, and promote full employment and
equality of employment opportunities for all.
IN RELATION TO LABOR STANDARDS (Just-Live-Human/H-J-L)
1. Humane conditions of work.( ART XIII, Sec 3 par 2)
2. Living wage.( ART XIII, Sec 3 par 2)
3. Just share in the fruits of production. .( ART XIII, Sec 3 par 4)
IN RELATION TO LABOR RELATIONS (SupremeCourtPSP/S-C-P-S-P)
(ART XIII, Sec 3 par 2)
1. Self-organization
2. Collective bargaining and negotiations
3. Peaceful concerted activities including the right to strike in accordance with law.
4. Security of tenure
5. Participate in policy and decision making processes affecting their rights and benefits as maybe provided by law.
SPECIFIC RIGHTS OF WORKERS IN RELATION TO LABOR STANDARDS
Hours of work
Normal working hours of eight hours a day
Meal and rest period: meal break of less than one hour shall be considered compensable working time
Wage and wage related benefits
A. Minimum Wage
B. Holiday Pay one day for every regular holiday even if unworked subject to certain conditions
C. Premium pay for work within 8 hours on:
Special Rest Day - 30% of the basic daily rate
Rest Day falling on a Special Day - plus 50%
Rest day falling on a Regular Holiday - plus 30% of the 200% of the basic daily rate
Overtime pay
Ordinary days: 25% of the basic hourly rate
Special/rest/holiday: 30% of the regular hourly rate on said days
Night shift differential pay
10% of the basic or regular rate between 10pm and 6am
Service incentive leave
5 days with pay per year after one year of service
Service charges
85 % (distribution to rank and file employees); 15% (losses, breakages, distribution to managerial employees)
Separation pay
month pay for every year of service for authorized causes of separation
th
13 month pay
1/12 of the total basic salary earned within the calendar year
Payment of wages
Shall be paid in cash, legal tender, ator near the place of work
May be made through a bank upon written petition of majority of the workers in establishments with 25or more
employees and within one kilometer radius to a bank
Shall be made direct to the employees
Shall be given not less than once every 2 weeks or twice within a month at intervals not exceeding 16 days
Labor-only contracting is prohibited and the person acting as contractor is merely an agent of the employer
Page 14
Preference of workers money claims over government and other creditors in case of bankruptcy or liquidation of
business
Safe and healthful conditions of work and welfare services

Proper illumination and ventilation, fire exits and extinguishers, occupational health personnel services, family welfare
or family planning services at the workplace)
Employment of Young Workers
Minimum employable age is 15 age
A worker below 15 should be directly under the sole responsibility of parents or guardians; work does not
interferewith childs schooling and normal development
No person below eighteen can be employed in hazardous or deleterious undertaking
Employment of Women
Nightwork prohibition unless allowed by the rules:
o Industrial undertaking from 10 pm to 6 am
o Commercial from 12 mn to 6 am
o Agricultural at nighttime unless given not less than 9 consecutive hours of rest
Welfare facilities must be provided in the workplace
Prohibition against discrimination with respect to pay, promotion, training opportunities, study, and scholarship grants
ECC benefits for work-related contingencies
medical benefits for sickness and injuries
disability benefits
rehabilitation
death and funeral
SSS Benefits
maternity
sickness
disability
retirement
death
SPECIFIC RIGHTS OF WORKERS IN RELATION TO LABOR RELATIONS
Security of tenure
Workers cannot be dismissed without just and authorized causes
Workers shall be made regular after 6 months probation unless a different period is agreed upon by the worker and
the employee
Self-organization and collective bargaining
Employees can form organizations such as union and welfare committees
An employee can join a union on the very first day of his employment
Collective Bargaining a contract between workers and employers on terms and conditions of employment which are
OVER and ABOVE those mandated by law
Labor education through seminars, dialogues, and information, education and communication materials
Peaceful concerted activities in accordance with law
Participation and policy and decision-making processes affecting their rights and benefits
Free access to the courts and quasi-judicial bodies and speedy disposition of their cases
CONCEPT OF EMPLOYER-EMPLOYEE (LABOR STANDARDS)
Art 97b. Employer includes any person directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee and shall include the
Government and all its branches, subdivision and instrumentalities, all government-owned or controlled corporations and institutions, as well as
non-profit private institutions, or organizations.(expanded definition)
Art 97c. Employee includes any individual employed by an employer.
CONCEPT OF EMPLOYER-EMPLOYEE (LABOR RELATIONS)

Page 15
Art 212e. Employer includes any person acting in the interest of an employer, directly or indirectly. The term shall not include any labor
organization or any of its officers or agents except when acting as employer.
Art 212f. Employee includes any person in the employ of the employer. The term shall not be limited to the employees of a particular
employer, unless this code so expressly states. It shall include any individual whose work has ceased as a result of or in connection with any
current labor dispute or because of any unfair labor practice if he has not obtained any other substantially equivalent and regular
employment.(expanded definition)
COMMENTS:
EMPLOYER
May be NATURAL OR JURIDICAL, a single proprietorship, a partnership or a corporation.
The Government is an employer within the meaning of the Labor Code in Labor Standards.
So, a government agency with an original charter contracts with a security agency to supply security guards, and this security
agency is unable to pay the wages of its guards.
Q: Is principal government agency considered jointly and severally liable with the security agency? Will Article 106-109, LC apply
to them? Can the guards file with the labor complaint with the nearest arbitration branch of the NLRC and sue both the security
and government agency?
A: YES, the Labor Code will govern. The government agency cannot move for the dismissal of the complaint for lack of
jurisdiction on the part of the Labor Arbiter and say that they are governed by the Civil Service Law Rules and Regulations. The
government agency contracted the services of an independent contractor, so they are considered principals. Therefore the LC
will govern regarding the monetary claims of the security guards.
A motion to dismiss filed by the government agency in the above-cited example will not prosper on the ground that the Labor
Arbiter has no jurisdiction, because the term Employer includes government agencies. It does not make any qualifications
whether it is one with or without original charter.
EMPLOYEE
An employee is always a NATURAL PERSON [may include Filipino citizens or foreigners
Example: Dumon Sari-sari Store (single proprietorship).
Q: Who is considered the employer?
A: Wilbert Dumon will be the employer, because the sari-sari store does not have a separate juridical personality. So, if Dumon is
made a defendant in a labor case, the caption will be - Employee vs. Wilbert Dumon, doing business under the name and style
of Dumon Sari-sari Store.
Hiring of employees
Foreigners Art. 40-42, PD 442 applies

Filipino- there is none. The Constitution and the Labor Code encourage the employment of Filipinos.
Foreign Investment Code
Of those corporations owned by foreigners, if they want to employ alien as their employees, the
following requirements must be complied with:
1. Such domestic or foreign companies should obtain a permit form the DOLE ( Alien Employment Permit) at
the nearest regional office
2. There must be a determination of the non- availability of a person in the Philippines, who is competent, able,
willing at the time of application to perform the services for which the alien is desired.
The purpose of the law is to protect the Filipinos.

CONCEPT OF EMPLOYER-EMPLOYEE RELATIONSHIP
It is in personam, involves the rendition of personal service by the employee, and partakes of master and servant relationship.
FOUR-FOLD TEST
1.
Selection and engagement of employees
Page 16

2.
3.
4.
Payment of wages
Power of dismissal
Power of control over employees conduct and over the means and methods by which the work is to be accomplished
Tabas vs. California Mfg Co., GR 80680, 01/26/89

QUESTION OF LAW; QUESTION OF FACT
The existence or absence of employer-employee relationship is A QUESTION OF LAW AND A QUESTION OF FACTS, each in its defined sense.
The character of relationship between the parties is not what they call it in their contract but what the law calls it after examination of the facts.
The characterization by law prevails that in the contract. In this case the existence of employer-employee relationship is not a matter of
stipulation; it is a QUESTION OF LAW.
But the conclusion an employer-employee relationship exists depends upon the facts of each case. In one case an employer-employee
relationship may be found to be present, but in another case with different facts, it may be absent. In this sense, the existence of an employeremployee relationship is a QUESTION OF FACT.
Philippine Fuji Xerox Corp vs. NLRC, GR 111501, 05/05/96

CORE OR NON-CORE JOBS
Depending on the applicability of the tests of employment, an employer-employee relationship may exist regardless of the nature of the
activities involved. In other words, the kind of work is not the definitive test of whether the worker is an employee or not
Sevilla vs. CA, GR 44182-3, 04/15/88

TITLE AS WEAK INDICATORS
The fact that one had been designated branch manager does not make such person an employee. Titles are weak indicators
Encyclopedia Britannica vs. NLRC, GR 87098, 11/04/96

Where a person who works for another does so more or less at his own pleasure and is not subject to definite hours or conditions of work and
in turn is compensated according to the result of his efforts and not the amount thereof, we should not find that the relationship of employeremployee exists.
Dy Keh Beng vs. ILMUP, GR 100665, 02/13/95

MERE EXISTENCE, NOT ACTUAL EXERCISE
But it should be borne in mind that the control test calls MERELY FOR THE EXISTENCE of the right to control the manner of doing the work, NOT
THE ACTUAL EXERCISE of the right.
Insular Assurance Co. vs. NLRC, GR 119930, 03/12/98

Exclusivity of service to the company, control of assignments and removal of agents, collection of premiums, furnishing of facilities and
materials as well as capital described as unit development fund are HALLMARKS OF A MANAGEMENT SYSTEM where there can be no escaping
the conclusion that one is an employee of the insurance company.
Investment Planning Corp v. SSS [11/18/67]

CONTROL TEST (most important element)
That is, whether the employer controls or has reserved the right to control the employee not only as to the result of the work to be done but
also as to the means and methods by which the same is to be accomplished
Domasig vs. NLRC, GR 118101 09/16/96

EVIDENCE OF EMPLOYMENT; ID, VOUCHERS, SSS REGISTRATION, MEMORANDUM
Substantial evidence is sufficient as a basis for judgment on the existence of employer-employee relationship. No particular form of evidence is
required to prove the existence of such relationship.
Flores vs. Nuestra, GR 66890 04/15/88

That the respondent registered the petitioners with SSS is proof that the latter is the formers employees. The coverage of SSS Law is
predicated on the existence of an employer-employee relationship
In a business establishment, an identification card is usually provided not only as a security measure but mainly to identify the holder thereof as
a bona fide of the firm that issues it. Together with the cash vouchers covering the petitioners salaries for the months stated therein, these
matters constitute substantial evidence adequate to support a conclusion that the petitioner was indeed the employee of the respondent.
Philippine FUJI XEROX CORP vs. NLRC, GR111501 03/05/96

Appointment letters or employment contracts, payrolls, organization charts, personnel lists, as well as testimony of co-employees, may also
serve as evidence of employee status.
Opulencia Ice Plant vs. NLRC, GR 98368 12/1593

ABSENCE OF NAME IN THE PAYROLL; TESTIMONIAL EVIDENCE
If only documentary evidence would be required to show that relationship, no scheming employer would ever be brought before the bar of
justice, as no employer would wish to come out with any trace of the illegality he as authored considering that it should take much weightier
Page 17
proof to invalidate a written instrument. Thus, as in this case where the employer-employee relationship between petitioners and Esita was
sufficiently proved by testimonial evidence, the absence of time sheet, time record or payroll has become inconsequential.
Labor Congress of the Philippines vs. NLRC, GR 123938 05/21/98

MODE OF COMPENSATION NOT A TEST OF EMPLOYMENT STATUS.
The presence or absence of employer-employee relationship is not determined by the basis of the employees compensation. Indeed,
employment relationship is one thing, pay determination is another. The existence of employment relationship depends on whether the fourfold test is present or not.
Zamudio vs. NLRC, GR 76723 03/25/90

ON PAKIAO BASIS
The nature of their employment i.e pakiao basis, does not make petitioners independent contractors. Pakiao workers are considered
employees as long as the employer exercises control over the means by which such workers are to perform their work. Considering that the
petitioners did their work inside private respondents farm, the latter necessarily exercised control over the work performed by petitioners.
The seasonal nature of petitioners work does not detract from the conclusion that employer-employee relationship exists. Seasonal workers
whose work is not merely for the duration of the season, but who are rehired every working season are considered regular employees.
Q: Why is it important to determine whether the relationship between the parties is that of employer and employee or that of
principal and independent contractor or of principal-agent?
A: To determine what laws will govern the rights and liabilities of the parties, and what tribunal will have jurisdiction over their
disputes.
Relationsh
ip
EmployerEmployee
PrincipalIndepende
nt
Contractor
PrincipalAgent
Governing
Laws
Labor laws
obligations
and
Contracts
[CC]
Civil Code
Tribunal
Labor
tribunal
Regular
courts
Regular
courts
ECONOMIC REALITY TEST

Francisco v. NLRC, G.R. No. 170087; August 31, 2006
TWO-TIERED APPROACH
The better approach would be to adopt a TWO-TIERED TEST involving (1) the putative employers power to control the employee with respect
to the means and methods by which the work is to be accomplished and (2) the underlying economic realities of the activity or relationship.
This two-tiered test would provide us with a framework of analysis, which would take into consideration the totality of circumstances
surrounding the true relationship between the parties.
This is especially APPROPRIATE in this case where there is no written agreement or terms of reference to base the relationship on; and due to
the complexities of the relationship based on the various positions and responsibilities given to the worker over the period of the latters
employment.
The determination of the relationship between employer and employee depends upon the circumstances of the whole economic activity. The
PROPER STANDARD OF ECONOMIC DEPENDENCE is whether the worker is dependent on the alleged employer for his continued employment in
that line of business.
Under the broader ECONOMIC REALITY TEST, the petitioner can likewise be said to be an employee of respondent corporation because she had
served the company for six years before her dismissal, receiving check vouchers indicating her salaries/ benefits, 13th month pay, bonuses and
allowances as well as deductions and SSS contributions. It is therefore apparent that petitioner is economically dependent on respondent for her
continued employment in the latters line of business.
Q: How to determine that a person is economically dependent?

A:
Number of years in the company
Reported to SSS, good indicator of treating him as an employee.
Registered in the payroll
Identification card
Company uniform
Page 18
Determine the underlying economic realities of the activity or relationships.

The determination of the relationship between employer and employee depends upon the circumstances of the whole
economic activity
1.
The (broad) extent to which the services performed are an integral part of the employers business.
2.
The (limited) extent of the workers investment in the equipment and facilities
3.
The nature (close supervision) and (high) degree of control exercised by the employer
4.
The workers (limited) opportunities for profit and loss
5.
The (small) amount of initiative, skill, judgment or foresight required for the success of the claimed independent
enterprise
6.
The (high degree of) permanency and duration of the relationship between the worker and the employer
7.
The degree of dependency of the worker upon the employer for his continued employment in that line of business.
Note:Unlike employee, independent contractor does not solely depend on the company for continued work as they can pursue
other jobs.
EMPLOYER-EMPLOYEE VS. PRINCIPAL-AGENT
ER-EE governed by the Labor Code
Principal-Agent Civil Code
AGENT (Art. 1868, NCC). By the contract of agency, a person binds himself to render some service or to do something
in representation or on behalf of another with the consent or authority of the latter.
PRINCIPAL-AGENT RELATIONSHIP
Art 1868 NCC:By the contract of agency, a person binds himself to render some service or to do something in representation or on
behalf of another, with the consent or authority of the latter.
It is the principal who selects the agent. An agent is compensated under the contract of agency of services rendered. He is
disciplined by the principal as in the case of an employee because the agent is under the authority of the principal. The principal
controls the means and methods of the work of an agent. In this relationship, there is only one party. The agent is merely an
extension of the principal. They are regarded as one. So if there is a contractor relationship, it is not among three parties but is
between the principal/agent and the other party.
Thus, to make a distinction between a principal-agent and employer-employee, the four-fold test will not be used because the
agent is selected by the principal and is also compensated by the principal and most oftentimes, the principal substitutes his own
judgment for that of the agent.
Note: To make a distinction between a principal-agent relationship and that of an employer-employee relationship, the fourfold test will not be used because the 1) agent is selected by the principal 2) compensated by the principal 3) and most
oftentimes, the principal also substitutes his own judgment for that of the agent.
EMPLOYER-EMPLOYEE VS. PRINCIPAL-CONTRACTOR (DO NO. 9)
Carries a distinct and independent business and undertakes to perform the job, work, or service on its own account and under
its own responsibility, according to its own manner and method and free from the control and direction of the principal in all
matters connected with the performance of the work except as to the results thereof.
PRINCIPAL-INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR RELATIONSHIP
The principal selects the contractor. The contractor is compensated for services rendered. The contractor is not under the
discipline of the principal. The distinction says that aside from engaging in the business separately distinct from the principal, the
performed job, work, or services is according to his own means and methods free from the control and direction of the principal
except as to the results thereof.
The definition says that aside from engaging in a business separately distinct from the principal, to perform job, work or service,
according to his own means and methods, free from control and direction of the principal except as to the results thereof.
Contractor may be Individual, Corporate Juridical Entity no need of protection from labor code because they earn better.
Page 19
ARTICLE 1713, NCC

By contract for a piece of work, the contractor binds himself to execute a piece of work for the
employer, in consideration of a certain price or consideration. The contractor may either employ only his labor,
skill, or also furnishes the materials.
CHIEF CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EMPLOYEE
Economic Dependence by the Worker

Employee cannot bargain the terms and conditions of employment.
Medical doctors, lawyers, dentists, engineers in the exercise of their profession offer special services, the person engaging
their services cannot exercise control over the means and methods of accomplishing the work except the results thereof.
They are considered as independent contractors not needing protection from the Labor Code.
Subordination in Work Relation

Employer exercises control not only the means and methods but also the results thereof.
Page 20
TOPIC 3: RIGHT TO SECURITY OF TENURE

Security of Tenure is the right of the employee to continue work until terminated for a just or authorized cause (as provided by
law).
CONSTITUTIONAL BASIS (Art. 13, Sec. 3, 1987 Constitution)
The State shall afford full protection to labor, local and overseas, organized and unorganized, and promote full employment and equality of
employment opportunities for all.
It shall guarantee the rights of all workers to self-organizations, and peaceful concerted activities, including the right to strike in accordance
with law. They shall be entitled to security of tenure, humane conditions of work, and a living wage. They shall also participate in policy and decisionmaking processes affecting their rights and benefits as may be provided by law.
The State shall promote the principle of shared responsibility between workers and employers and the preferential use of voluntary modes
in settling disputes, including conciliation, and shall enforce their mutual compliance therewith to foster industrial peace.
The State shall regulate the relations between workers and employers, recognizing the right of labor to its just share in the fruits of production and
the right of enterprises to reasonable returns on investments, and to expansion and growth.
STATUTORY BASIS
ARTICLE 279.Security of Tenure. In cases of regular employment, the employer shall not terminate the services of an employee except for a just
cause or when authorized by this Title. An employee who is unjustly dismissed from work shall be entitled to reinstatement without loss of seniority
rights and to his backwages computed from the time his compensation was withheld from him up to time of his actual reinstatement. (As amended by
RA 6715)
MARQUEZ: Although Art. 279 starts with In cases of regular employment xxx, jurisprudence will show that security of tenure is
guaranteed not only to regular employees, non-regular employees also enjoy security of tenure, but only to a limited sense.
CLASSIFICATION OF EMPLOYMENT AND KINDS OF EMPLOYEES
ART. 280. Regular and casual employment. - The provisions of written agreement to the contrary notwithstanding and regardless of the oral
agreement of the parties, an employment shall be deemed to be regular where the employee has been engaged to perform activities which are
usually necessary or desirable in the usual business or trade of the employer, except where the employment has been fixed for a specific project or
undertaking the completion or termination of which has been determined at the time of the engagement of the employee or where the work or
service to be performed is seasonal in nature and the employment is for the duration of the season.
An employment shall be deemed to be casual if it is not covered by the preceding paragraph: Provided, That any employee who has rendered at least
one year of service, whether such service is continuous or broken, shall be considered a regular employee with respect to the activity in which he is
employed and his employment shall continue while such activity exists.
ART. 281. Probationary employment. - Probationary employment shall not exceed six (6) months from the date the employee started working, unless
it is covered by an apprenticeship agreement stipulating a longer period. The services of an employee who has been engaged on a probationary basis
may be terminated for a just cause or when he fails to qualify as a regular employee in accordance with reasonable standards made known by the
employer to the employee at the time of his engagement. An employee who is allowed to work after a probationary period shall be considered a
regular employee.
MARQUEZ: Do not forget that Art. 280 is NOT the yardstick in determining employer-employee relationship. What is controlling is the
four-fold test and (now) the economic reality test. Art. 280 applies only when the existence of employer-employee relationship is not
in dispute.
REGULAR EMPLOYMENT
An employment shall be deemed to be regular where the employee has been engaged to perform activities which are usually
necessary or desirable in the usual business or trade of the employer.
A Regular Employee may either be
a. Permanent one who has an indefinite employment, whether passing the probationary stage or not
b. Probationary one who is placed in a trial period whose performance is assessed whether satisfactory or not. If
performance is satisfactory, it is followed by a regular employment, if not, the employment is terminated; One who is
on tentative employment during which the employer determines whether he (employee) is qualified for permanent
employment.
i. LC provides that the duration of probation is 6 months. The exceptions are the following (a) xxx unless it
is covered by an apprenticeship agreement stipulating a longer period and (b) the Manual of
Regulations for Private School provides a longer probationary period. Rationale by MARQUEZ: Education
is the grass root of all profession.
ii. Security of tenure is still available to probationary employees, but only for a limited period.
Page 21
An employer has the prerogative whether to subject the employee with probationary employment or not. Thus, an employee
may be considered as a permanent employee on his first day of work.
Examples of Regular Employees:

Usually necessary: ex. teller of a bank; machine operator of a manufacturing company
Usually Desirable: Janitor, gardener, fireman of a garment factory (Guarin vs NLRC); dispatcher, driver, mechanic of a taxi
business; traffic operator of a telephone company (PLDT vs Montemayor); Gardener, dishwasher of a recreational center or gold
club (Baguio vs NLRC)
Employee who has rendered at least one year of service, whether such service is continuous or broken, shall be considered a
regular employee with respect to the activity in which he is employed and his employment shall continue while such activity
exists.
i.e., A is engaged as a carpenter in a bank (casual since not usually necessary). A continued to do carpentry works for 1 year so
he becomes a regular employee BUT ONLY with respect to the activity which he is engaged and as such after the completion of
the project, his employment also ceased.
2 Kinds of Regular Employees:
By their nature of work usually necessary or desirable to the trade of the employee
Ex: airline: pilot, maintenance crew, attendants; meter reader
Fast food Chain: service crew, dishwasher employed on day-to-day basis but worked for ten months,
By the Length of Service those who rendered at least 1 year of service either continuous or broken
Ex: Painter working at La Tondena for more than 1 year
ART. 280 applies where the existence of the employer employee relationship is not contested and It is not a yardstick for determining
the existence of an employment relationship because it merely distinguishes between the 2 kinds of employees-regular and casual for
the purpose of determining the right of an employee to certain benefits, to join or form a union, or to security of tenure.
TEST/STANDARD: to determine a regular employment is the reasonable connection between the particular activity performed by the
employee in relation to the employer; has to be whether the former is usually necessary or desirable to the usual business of the
employer; nature of job and not the contract
BASIC RULE: You CANNOT convert regular employment to another type BUT you can place a regular employee under probation with
the intent to make him permanent
As to security of tenure, regular employee enjoys security of tenure indefinitely. He cannot be removed unless for a just or
authorized cause. While a probationary employee enjoys limited security of tenure only for the period of probation.
Rule is parties are prohibited to stipulate that employee is other than regular if a worker performs job that is necessary and
desirable to the business notwithstanding the written provisions to the contrary.
Exception to the rule above (even though you are performing work that is necessary and desirable to the business of the
employer, you are NOT considered holding regular employment):
1. Project employee
2. Seasonal employee
PROBATIONARY EMPLOYMENT
GENERAL RULE: employment shall not exceed six months from the date the employee started working
EXCEPTIONS:
where the work for which the employee has been engaged is learnable or apprenticeable in accordance with the standards
prescribed by the DOLE, the period of which shall be limited to the authorized learnership or apprenticeship period
whichever is applicable; - Job may be highly technical which requires longer then 6 months
When it involves academic personnel or those in the teaching/non teaching service
REASON: Sec. 92 of the Manual of Regulation of Private Schools provide for the probation period and it governs academic
personnels
Elementary Secondary: not more than 3 consecutive years of satisfactory service
Tertiary: not more than 6 consecutive semesters of satisfactory service
Trimester: not more than 9 consecutive semesters of satisfactory service
May a probationary employment be extended?

General Rule
Page 22

You CANNOT AGREE TO HAVE PROBATIONARY EMPLOYMENT BEYOND 6MONTHS
Exception
In Mariwasa Manufacturing, Inc. vs. Leogardo (G.R. No 74246, 26 January 1989), the Supreme Court stated that the extension of the
probationary period was ex gratia, an act of liberality on the part of the employer affording the employee a second chance to make
good after having initially failed to prove his worth as an employee. Such an act cannot unjustly be turned against said employers
account to compel it to keep on its payroll one who could not perform according to its work standards. By voluntarily agreeing to an
extension of the probationary period, the employee in effect waived any benefit attaching to the completion of said period if he still
failed to make the grade during the period of extension.
Period of probation is for the benefit of both the employer and employee that is why it cannot be extended or shortened
unilaterally. Consent must be taken. If it was shortened it will prejudice the employee.
Probationary employee becomes regular after the lapse of 6 months except the exceptions; contracts cannot override the
mandate of law; they become regular employees by operation of the law; ex. not required that employee be issued a regular
appointment or must first be declared as such to attain regular status
Shall Not Exceed six months means that law provides it merely as a ceiling and that the probationary period can be shorter
(Central Negros Electric Corp vs NLRC)employer determines initially
Probation period within which the FITNESS and the QUALIFICATION of the employees are tested
Applying Article 13 of the Civil Code, the probationary period of six (6) months consists of one hundred eighty (180) days. This is
in conformity with paragraph one, Article 13 of the Civil Code, which provides that the months which are not designated by their
names shall be understood as consisting of thirty (30) days each. The number of months in the probationary period, six (6),
should then be multiplied by the number of days within a month, thirty (30); hence, the period of one hundred eighty (180)
days. (Mitsubishi Motors Phls vs. Chrsyler Phls Labor Union)
Start counting 6 months from day one started working unless the contract provide otherwise bec. That will be the start of the
assessment.
Important bec. It will be basis when you become regular. Significance: regular has security of tenure while probationary no
security of tenure; benefits given by employer
PROBATIONARY EMPLOYEE IS A REGULAR EMPLOYEE (Art. 280)
Termination of Probationary Employees

The services of an employee who has been engaged on probationary basis may be terminated only for a just or authorized cause,
when he fails to qualify as a regular employee in accordance with the reasonable standards prescribed by the employer; means they
have limited tenure and he cannot be removed except for cause during the period of his probation and such cause is provided by law
If unsatisfactory employer has option NOT to hire or to terminate
If satisfactory made regular since it is not an option to terminate unless there is a just or authorized cause
Reasonable standards:
1. Work initiative
2. Quality of Work
3. Discipline
LIMITATIONS TO TERMINATION OF PROBATIONARY EMPLOYEE:
It must be exercised in accordance with specific requirements of the contract;
If a particular time is prescribed, the termination must be within such time and if formal notice is required, then that form
must be used;
the employers dissatisfaction must be real and in good faith, not feigned so as to circumvent the contract or the law
there must be no unlawful discrimination (Manila Hotel Corp vs. NLRC)
INSTANCES WHERE PROBATIONARY EMPLOYEE BECOMES REGULAR:

1. Probationary employee allowed to continue to work beyond the probationary period.
2.
Employee is NOT informed of the standards required to qualify as regular employee.
3.
Clarion Printing: The hiring of probationary but not informed of the standards: regular since day started working
Employee successfully passes the period of probation
Reason for probation: in order to afford the employer an opportunity to observe the fitness of the probationary employee while at
work and to ascertain where he will become a proper and efficient employee. Probation implies the purpose of term or period and
not the length (International Catholic Commission vs NLRC)
NO successive probations allowed otherwise it would circumvent right to security of tenure
WHEN PROBATION IS PERMISSIBLE
Page 23
When the work requires special qualifications, skills, training or experience
When the work, job, or position involved is permanent, regular, stable or indefinite, and not merely casual or intermittent
When the work is not intended to circumvent the employees right to security of tenure
When it is necessary or customary for the position or job involved
Peremptorily terminating probationary contract before end considered illegal in 2003 Cebu Marine Beach Resort as fixing of
probation is for the benefit of both parties; see 2005 Mauricio involving valid termination of probationary bank employee who
despite several reminders failed to submit reemployment requirements
CASUAL EMPLOYMENT
An employment shall be deemed to be casual if it is not covered by the preceding paragraph (regular employment); does not have
security of tenure before reaching the one-year period, however, if he has rendered at least one year of service, whether such service
is continuous or broken, he shall be considered a regular employee with respect to the activity in which he is employed and his
employment shall continue while such activity exists. (Art. 280)
Definition: Where an employee is engaged to perform a job, work or service which is merely incidental to the business of
the employer, and such job, work or service is for a definite period made known to the employee at the time of the
engagement; Sec.5 (b) Rule I Book V
Casual employment if:
1. employed to perform work merely incidental to the business of the employer; ex. janitor in a bank; cutter of cogon grass in a
cultured milk company
2. employment is for a definite period (usually short duration or less than a year)
3. employment status made known to him at the time of the engagement
If he works for more than a year, he is deemed a regular employee. Continuous or broken he is still considered a regular
employee after 1 year. But only with respect to the activity he is employed and as long as the activity continues to exist.
Being a regular casual is coterminous to the existence of activity after which it may be terminated by operation of law.
The continuous or broken period of 1 year includes authorized absence.
No security of tenure bec.it applies only to regular worker.
Termination of Service once service has been performed ex. painting of a classroom
Pier 8 Arrastre and Stevedoring Services Inc. vs. Boclot
A casual employee who has not worked for 1 year, whether continuous or broken; Not Regular Employee
PASSI is engaged in providing stevedoring and arrastre services in the port area in Manila. Stevedoring, dock and arrastre operations include, but are
not limited to, the opening and closing of a vessels hatches; discharging of cargoes from ship to truck or dock, lighters and barges, and vice-versa;
movement of cargoes inside vessels, warehouses, terminals and docks; and other related work. In line with this, petitioners hire stevedores who
assist in the loading and unloading of cargoes to and from the vessels.
Petitioners concede that whenever respondent worked as a reliever stevedore due to the absence of a regular stevedore, he performed tasks that are
usually necessary and desirable to their business. Petitioners, however, contend that this in itself does not make him a regular stevedore, postulating
that the hiring of respondent as a reliever is akin to a situation in which a worker goes on vacation leave, sick leave, maternity leave or paternity leave;
and the employer is constrained to hire another worker from outside the establishment to ensure the smooth flow of its operations.
Based on the circumstances of the instant case, this Court agrees. It takes judicial notice that it is an industry practice in port services to hire
reliever stevedores in order to ensure smooth-flowing 24-hour stevedoring and arrastre operations in the port area. No doubt, serving as a
stevedore, respondent performs tasks necessary or desirable to the usual business of petitioners. However, it should be deemed part of the nature of
his work that he can only work as a stevedore in the absence of the employee regularly employed for the very same function. Bearing in mind that
respondent performed services from September 1999 until June 2003 for a period of only 228.5 days in 36 months, or roughly an average of 6.34 days
a month; while a regular stevedore working for petitioners, on the other hand, renders service for an average of 16 days a month, demonstrates that
respondents employment is subject to the availability of work, depending on the absences of the regular stevedores. Moreover, respondent does not
contest that he was well aware that he would only be given work when there are absent or unavailable employees. Respondent also does not allege,
nor is there any showing, that he was disallowed or prevented from offering his services to other cargo handlers in the other piers at
the North Harbor other than petitioners. As aforestated, the situation of respondent is akin to that of a seasonal or project or term employee, albeit
on a daily basis.
Anent petitioners contention that respondent is neither a probationary nor a casual employee, this Court again refers to Article 280 of the Labor
Code.
The second paragraph thereof stipulates in unequivocal terms that all other employees who do not fall under the definitions in the first paragraph of
regular, project and seasonal employees, are deemed casual employees. Not qualifying under any of the kinds of employees covered by the first
paragraph of Article 280 of the Labor Code, then respondent is a casual employee under the second paragraph of the same provision.
The same provision, however, provides that a casual employee can be considered as regular employee if said casual employee has rendered at least
one year of service regardless of the fact that such service may be continuous or broken. Section 3, Rule V, Book II of the Implementing Rules and
Regulations of the Labor Code clearly defines the term at least one year of service to mean service within 12 months, whether continuous or
broken, reckoned from the date the employee started working, including authorized absences and paid regular holidays, unless the working days in
the establishment as a matter of practice or policy, or that provided in the employment contract, is less than 12 months, in which case said period
shall be considered one year. If the employee has been performing the job for at least one year, even if the performance is not continuous or merely
intermittent, the law deems the repeated and continuing need for its performance as sufficient evidence of the necessity, if not indispensability, of
Page 24
that activity to the business of the employer. Applying the foregoing, respondent, who has performed actual stevedoring services for petitioners only
for an accumulated period of 228.5 days does not fall under the classification of a casual turned regular employee after rendering at least one year of
service, whether continuous or intermittent.
OTHER CLASSIFICATION (SPECIAL LAWS)

a.
b.
Project
Non-Project
b.1. probationary
b.2. regular
b.3. casual
CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
Department Order No. 19, Series of 1993
GUIDELINES GOVERNING THE EMPLOYMENT OF WORKERS IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

Section 1. Coverage
This issuance shall apply to all operations and undertakings in the construction industry and its subdivisions, namely: general building construction,
general engineering construction and special trade construction, based on the classification code of the Philippine Construction Accreditation Board of
the Construction Industry Authority of the Philippines; to companies and entities involved in demolition works; and to those falling within the
construction industry as determined by the Secretary of Labor and Employment.
Section 2. Employment Status
2.1 Classification of employees. The employees in the construction industry are generally categorized as a) project employee and b) nonproject employees. Project employees are those employed in connection with a particular construction project or phase thereof and whose
employment is co-terminus with each project or phase of the project to which they are assigned.
Non-project employees, on the other hand, are those employed without reference to any particular construction project or phase of a
project.
2.2 Indicators of project employment. Either one or more of the following circumstances, among others, may be considered as indicators that
an employee is a project employee.
(a)
The duration of the specific/identified undertaking for which the worker is engaged is reasonably determinable.
(b)
Such duration, as well as the specific work/service to be performed, is defined in an employment agreement and is made clear to the
employee at the time of hiring.
(c)
The work/service performed by the employee is in connection with the particular project/undertaking for which he is engaged.
(d)
The employee, while not employed and awaiting engagement, is free to offer his services to any other employer.
(e)
The termination of his employment in the particular project/undertaking is reported to the Department of Labor and Employment
(DOLE) Regional Office having jurisdiction over the workplace within 30 days following the date of his separation from work, using the
prescribed form on employees terminations/dismissals/suspensions.
(f)
An undertaking in the employment contract by the employer to pay completion bonus to the project employee as practiced by most
construction companies
2.3 Project completion and rehiring of workers.

(a)
The employees of a particular project are not separated from work at the same time. Some phases of the project are completed ahead
of others. For this reason, the completion of a phase of the project is considered the completion of the project for an employee
employed in such phase. Meanwhile, those employed in a particular phase of a construction project are also not separated at the same
time. Normally, less and less employees are required as the phase draws closer to completion.
(b)
Upon completion of the project or a phase thereof, the project employee may be rehired for another undertaking provided, however,
that such rehiring conforms with the provisions of law and this issuance. In such case, the last day of service with the employer in the
preceding project should be indicated in the employment
2.4 Types of non-project employees. Generally there are three (3) types of non-project employees: first, probationary employees; second,
regular employees; and third, casual employees.
(a)
Probationary employees are those who, upon the completion of the probationary period, are entitled to regularization. Upon their
engagement, probationary employees should be informed of the reasonable standards under which they will qualify as regular
employees.
(b)
Casual employees are those employed to perform work not related to the main line of business of the Employer. Casual employees
who are employed for at least one year, whether continuous or broken, shall be considered regular with respect to the activity in which
they are employed and their employment shall continue for as long as such activity exists, unless the employment is terminated sooner
by the employer for a just or authorized cause, or voluntarily by the employee.
Policy Instruction NO. 20 required the employer to report to the nearest Public Employment Office the fact of termination of a
project as a result of the completion of the project or any phase thereof in which he is employed.
Page 25
DO No. 19., s. 1993 does not totally dispense with the notice requirement but, instead, makes provisions therefor and considers
it one of the indicators that the worker is a project employee as found in Sec. 2.2(d) of DO 19
Goma vs. Pamplona Plantation Incorporated, G.R. No. 160905, July 4, 2008
Failure To Report To The DOLE The Completion Of The Project Ad Required By DOLE D.O. No. 19 Is Indicative That Employee Is Regular
And Not Project
The principal test used to determine whether employees are project employees as distinguished from regular employees, is whether or not the
employees were assigned to carry out a specific project or undertaking, the duration or scope of which was specified at the time the employees were
engaged for that project. In this case, apart from respondents bare allegation that petitioner was a project employee, it had not shown that petitioner
was informed that he would be assigned to a specific project or undertaking. Neither was it established that he was informed of the duration and
scope of such project or undertaking at the time of his engagement.
Most important of all, based on the records, respondent did not report the termination of petitioners supposed project employment to the
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). Department Order No. 19 (as well as the old Policy Instructions No. 20) requires employers to submit a
report of an employees termination to the nearest public employment office every time the employment is terminated due to a completion of a
project. Respondents failure to file termination reports, particularly on the cessation of petitioners employment, was an indication that the
petitioner was not a project but a regular employee.
CHED Memorandum Circular No. 40, s. 2008
IN PRIVATE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
Section 39. The Other Institution Officials, Academic Support and Non-Academic Personnel. The officers, including academic personnel, who are
occupying supervisory positions involved in the implementation of the policies of the institution, are classified as other institution officials.
Those who perform certain prescribed academic functions directly supportive of teaching, such as registrars, librarians, guidance councilors,
researchers, and others performing similar functions including institution officials responsible for academic matters and affairs shall be considered
academic support personnel.
The non- academic personnel of an institution shall comprise the rank-and-file employees of the institution engaged in the administrative functions
and maintenance of the insitution, but are not classified under the foregoing paragraphs.
As simply classified by Marquez:

a. Academic Personnel
a.1. Academic teaching
a.2. Academic non-teaching (ex. The librarian)
b.
Non-Academic Personnel those staff who perform administrative functions but are not involved in academic work
Their employment is NOT covered by the MRPS or by the TVET Manual but by the Labor Code.
LEGAL REQUISITES FOR A TEACHER TO BE PERMANENT

1.
Teacher is a full time teacher

Full time Teacher: (2010 Revised Manual of Regulations for Private Schools in Basic Education. Full time and Part Time
Faculty.)
Section 66. Full-Time and Part-Time School Employment. As a general rule, all private schools shall employ full-time school personnel. An
applicant shall be eligible for a full-time employment in a private school whenever he has the minimum qualifications prescribed in this
Manual, has no other remunerative employment requiring regular working hours elsewhere, and whose services to the extent of at least
eight hours during each working day are available during the entire time the school operates.
A FULL TIME academic personnel or technology teacher is one who meets all the following requirements:
1. Possesses at least the minimum academic qualification prescribed by the authority under this Manual for all academic
and technology personnel;
2. Paid monthly or hourly, based on the regular teaching loads as provided for in the policies, rules and standards of the
authority of said school;
3. Total working day of not more than 8 hours a day is devoted to the school
4. no other remunerative occupation elsewhere requiring regular hours of work that will conflict with the working hours
in the school;
5. Not teaching full-time in any other educational institution
All teaching personnel who do not meet the foregoing qualifications are considered part time.
2.
Teacher must have rendered three consecutive years of service
3.
Such service must have been satisfactory (UST vs NLRC)

CASE: Lacuesta vs Ateneo: Court held that based on the above rules, the 3 semesters served as part time lecturer could not
be credited to her computing the number of years she has served to qualify her permanent status.
Page 26

La Cuesta vs ADMU
A part-time teacher cannot acquire permanent status. Only when one has served as a full-time teacher can he acquire permanent or regular
status. The petitioner was a part-time lecturer before she was appointed as a full-time instructor on probation. As a part-time lecturer, her
employment as such had ended when her contract expired. Thus, the three semesters she served as part-time lecturer could not be credited to
her. Completing the probation period does not automatically qualify her to become a permanent employee of the university. Petitioner could
only qualify to become a permanent employee upon fulfilling the reasonable standards for permanent employment as faculty member.
Consistent with academic freedom and constitutional autonomy, an institution of higher learning has the prerogative to provide standards for its
teachers and determine whether these standards have been met. At the end of the probation period, the decision to re-hire an employee on
probation, belongs to the university as the employer alone. Probationary employees enjoy security of tenure, but only within the period of
probation.
PROBATIONARY PERIOD FOR ACADEMIC PERSONNEL

2010 Revised Manual of Regulations for Private Schools
Section 63. Probationary Period; Regular or Permanent Status. A probationary period of not more than three years in the case of the school
teaching personnel and not more than six months for non-teaching personnel shall be required for employment in all private schools. A school
personnel who has successfully undergone the probationary period herein specified and who is fully qualified under the existing rules and
standards of the school shall be considered permanent.
IN HOSPITALS
Q: Are Resident Physicians considered employees of hospitals?
A: MARQUEZ: It depends. If undergoing training, he is NOT an employee of the hospital. If not undergoing training, he is an
employee, but only on a term basis.
BASIS:
Omnibus Rules, Book III, Rule X, Sec.15
Residents in training. There is employer-employee relationship between resident physicians and the training hospitals, UNLESS
there is a training agreement between them and
the training program is duly accredited or approved by the appropriate government agency. Xxx
EXCEPTIONS TO REGULAR EMPLOYMENT

IN THE LABOR CODE
1. Seasonal Employment
2. Project Employment
3. Casual Employment
JURISPRUDENCE (Brent School vs. Zamora, February 9, 1990)
4. Fixed Term/Period Employment an employment that will last only for a definite period, as agreed by the parties. This kind of
employment is not per se illegal or against public policy, even if this kind of employment is not mentioned in Art. 280 of the
Code. Such kind of employment contract may be justified in the Civil Code.
MARQUEZ: Art. 280 does not prohibit agreements voluntarily agreed upon by the employer AND employee, provided that it is
not used to circumvent the right of security of tenure.
PROJECT EMPLOYMENT
One where the employment has been fixed for a specific project or undertaking, the completion or termination of which has been
determined at the time of the engagement of the employee
Elements:
where employment has been fixed for a specific project or undertaking
the completion or termination of which has been determined at the time of the engagement of the employee;
Note: if one element is absent, your employment is not project employment but may be a regular employment
Specific Project/Underdaking: an activity which was NOT commonly or habitually performed or such type of work which is not done
on a daily basis, but only for a specific duration of time until the completion of the project.
Services of project employees are coterminous with the project and may be terminated upon the end or completion of that project
for which they were hired; as compared to regular employees who are legally entitled to remain in service of their employer until
their services are terminated by one or another of the recognized modes of termination of service. At the end of the project, project
employees employment is deemed terminated or ended by operation of the law. (Does a Project employee have security of tenure?)
Page 27
Length of service of project employee is NOT the controlling test of tenure since the provision on Art 280 that an employee who has
served for at least 1 year shall be considered as a regular employee relates to casual employees and NOT project employees.
NO SUCH THING AS PROBATIONARY PROJECT EMPLOYEE.
TEST: Whether or not the project employees were assigned to carry out a specific project or undertaking, the duration and scope of
which were specified at the time the employees were engaged for the project; there has to be a PREDETERMINATION of the
DURATION OR PERIOD of project employment;
Illustration:
1. ER hired EE as a fastfood crew and 3 days later after work, ER gives EE a contract as a fixed term employee. HELD: contract NOT
VALID because EE was already a regular employee at onset
2. Same situation but ER offered 2 months probation. HELD: Not valid since the employee must be informed of the trial period from
the time of his engagement
Project employees may or may not be members of a work pool since a work pool may either be a project or a regular
employee
Project employees are not entitled to separation pay except if the projects they are working on have not yet been
completed when their services are terminated.
Employer must report to the regional office of DOLE the termination of the project employee or the completion of the
project. If NOT reported, it does NOT mean that he is NOT a project employee but it is a badge of regular employment, that
is NOT conclusive.
Completion of Project Not valid reason to separate a project employee who has become regular
Computing the backwages of project employee who has become regular; the NO Work NO Pay Principle applies
CIRCUMSTANCES THAT MAKE PROJECT EE REGULAR
1. When there is a continuous rehiring of project employees even after the cessation of a project;
2. When the task performed by the alleged project employee are vital, necessary and indispensable to the usual business or
trade of the employer
Cosmos case:
These projects are distinct and separate, and are identifiable as such, from its usual business of bottling beverage. Their duration and scope
are made known prior to their undertaking and their specified goal and purpose are fulfilled once the projects are completed. When
private respondent was initially hired for a period of one month and re-hired for another five months, and then subsequently re-hired for
another five months, he was assigned to the petitioner's Maintenance Division tasked with the- installation and dismantling of its annex
plant machines. Evidently, these projects or undertakings, the duration and scope of which had been determined and made known to
private respondent at the time of his employment, can properly be treated as "projects" within the meaning of the "first" kind. Considered
as such, the services rendered by private respondent hired therein for the duration of the projects may lawfully be terminated at the end
or completion of the same.
Clearly, therefore, private respondent being a project employee, or to use the correct term, seasonal employee, considering that his
employment was limited to the installation and dismantling of petitioners annex plant machines after which there was no more work to do,
his employment legally ended upon completion of the project.
Purefoods case
Not Project Employee
In the instant case, the private respondents' activities consisted in the receiving, skinning, loining, packing, and casing-up of tuna fish which
were then exported by the petitioner. Indisputably, they were performing activities which were necessary and desirable in petitioner's
business or trade.
Contrary to petitioner's submission, the private respondents could not be regarded as having been hired for a specific project or
undertaking. The term "specific project or undertaking" under Article 280 of the Labor Code contemplates an activity which is not
commonly or habitually performed or such type of work which is not done on a daily basis but only for a specific duration of time or until
completion; the services employed are then necessary and desirable in the employer's usual business only for the period of time it takes to
complete the project.
The fact that the petitioner repeatedly and continuously hired workers to do the same kind of work as that performed by those whose
contracts had expired negates petitioner's contention that those workers were hired for a specific project or undertaking only.
Alcatel Phils, Inc. vs. Relos

A project employee or a member of a work pool may acquire the status of a regular employee when the following concur:
There is a continuous rehiring of project employees even after the cessation of a project; and
The tasks performed by the alleged project employee are vital, necessary and indispensable to the usual business or trade
of the employer. (Maraguinot, Jr. v. NLRC)
Page 28
While Relos performed tasks that were clearly vital, necessary and indispensable to the usual business or trade of Alcatel, Relos was not
continuously rehired by Alcatel after the cessation of every project.
2 TYPES OF PROJECT EMPLOYEES

A particular job WITHIN the regular or usual business of the employer company but which is DISTINCT and SEPARATE, and
IDENTIFIABLE as such from the undertakings of the company; ex. construction jobs in a hotel and terminal project;
installation of computers in a school
A particular job NOT WITHIN the regular or usual business of the employer company but which is DISTINCT and SEPARATE,
and IDENTIFIABLE from the ordinary or regular business operations of the employer (cafeteria in a hospital/mall in a school)
TERM OF PROJECT EMPLOYEES

Equipment Technical Services vs. CA
The Court has consistently held, the service of project employees are coterminous with the project and may be terminated upon the end or
completion of that project or project phase for which they were hired. Regular employees, in contrast, enjoy security of tenure and are entitled to
hold on to their work or position until their services are terminated by any of the modes recognized under the Labor Code.
SEASONAL EMPLOYMENT
Definition
One where the work or service to be performed is seasonal in nature and the employment is for the duration of the season.
Court decisions consider seasonal employees as regular employees, as their employment relationship is never severed but only
suspended. (Manila Hotel, September 30, 1963; Phil. Tobacco Flue-curing, December 10, 1998)
REQUISITES FOR A SEASONAL UNDERTAKING:
Dependent on climatic or Natural Causes its operations must be limited to a regular, annual, or recurring part or parts of
each year and regularly closes during the remainder of the year due to climatic or other natural causes;
Activity is agricultural where the crops are available only in certain times of the year
Regular Seasonal Employees

Refers to seasonal employees who are hired season after season
Nature of Relationship
During the off season they are temporarily laid off but during the summer season they are reemployed, or when their services may be
needed. They are not strictly speaking separated from service but they are merely considered on leave of absence without pay until
they are re employed. Their employment is never severed but only suspended. (Manila Hotel vs CIR)
Employer Employee Relationship Exists Between Milling Company and its Workers Even during off season; during the
temporary layoff the laborers are considered free to seek other employment is natural since they are not being paid yet and
must find means of support and should not mean starvation of the employees and their families since no compensation is
demanded during the period of the layoff
Upon assumption of the season, employer is obliged to rehire the seasonal employee, he enjoys security of tenure to that
extent.
Seasonal employees enjoys security of tenure but only for a limited extent; only within the duration of the season
Philips Semi Conductor

Not Seasonal Employee but a Regular Employee
Private Respondent was hired as production operator. According to the appellate court, the petitioner's contention that the respondent's
employment on "as the need arises" (petitioner claims that the hiring of workers for a definite period to supplement the regular work force during the
unpredictable peak loads was the most efficient, just and practical solution to the petitioner's operating needscyclical in nature) basis was illogical.
The fact that the petitioner had rendered more than one year of service at the time of his dismissal only shows that she is performing an activity which
is usually necessary and desirable in private respondent's business or trade. The work of petitioner is hardly "specific" or "seasonal." The petitioner is,
therefore, a regular employee of private respondent, the provisions of their contract of employment notwithstanding. The private respondent's
prepared employment contracts placed petitioner at the mercy of those who crafted the said contract
Hacienda Bino:
Not seasonal employees;
Although they showed that employees performed work seasonal in nature, they failed to prove that the latter worked only for the duration of one
particular season. In fact, petitioners do not deny that these workers have served them for several years already. Hence, they are regular not
seasonal- employees. For respondents to be excluded from those classified as regular employees, it is not enough that they perform work or services
that are seasonal in nature. They must have been employed only for the duration of the season. The evidence proves existence of the first, but not
Page 29
the second condition. The fact that the respondents repeatedly worked as sugarcane workers for the petitioners for several years, the general rule of
regular employment applies
Philippine Fruits and Vegetable Industries case

Processing of fruits is dependent on the season because it grows in certain parts of the year. But considering that the manufacturing operations is year
in, year out, workers are seasonal employees.
Poseidon Fishing
Boat Crew; Not A Seasonal Employee
Private respondent occupied the position of Chief Mate, Boat Captain, and Radio Operator. In petitioners' interpretation, however, this act of hiring
and re-hiring actually highlight private respondent's contractual status saying that for every engagement, a fresh contract was entered into by the
parties at the outset as the conditions of employment changed when the private respondent filled in a different position. But to this Court, the act of
hiring and re-hiring in various capacities is a mere gambit employed by petitioner to thwart the tenurial protection of private respondent. Such
pattern of re-hiring and the recurring need for his services are testament to the necessity and indispensability of such services to petitioners' business
or trade. As correctly pointed out by the Court of Appeals, the "activity of catching fish is a continuous process and could hardly be considered as
seasonal in nature
FIXED TERM EMPLOYMENT

Definition
An employee performing work that is usually necessary and desirable in the business of the employer wherein the contract of
employment stipulates the duration or term of employment
Not a regular employee even though performing work that is necessary or desirable in the business of the employer Zamora)
Not permanent but deemed regular in two senses:
1.
the nature of his work is necessary or desirable in the principal business of the employer
2.
he enjoys security of tenure during the limited time of employment as before the end of the agreed period, he cannot be
removed without a valid cause and valid procedure otherwise employer has to pay for the unexpired portion of the term
Brent School vs. Zamora

Fixed Term Employment
Art. 280 does not proscribe or prohibit an employment contract with a fixed period, provided the same is entered into by the parties without any
force, duress or improper pressure being brought to bear upon the employee and absent any other circumstances vitiating the consent; contracts of
employment governs the relationship of parties.
Accordingly, and since the entire purpose behind the development of legislation culminating in the present Article 280 of the Labor Code clearly
appears to have been, as already observed, to prevent circumvention of the employee's right to be secure in his tenure, the clause in said article
indiscriminately and completely ruling out all written or oral agreements conflicting with the concept of regular employment as defined therein should
be construed to refer to the substantive evil that the Code itself has singled out: agreements entered into precisely to circumvent security of tenure. It
should have no application to instances where a fixed period of employment was agreed upon knowingly and voluntarily by the parties, without any
force, duress or improper pressure being brought to bear upon the employee and absent any other circumstances vitiating his consent, or where it
satisfactorily appears that the employer and employee dealt with each other on more or less equal terms with no moral dominance whatever being
exercised by the former over the latter. Unless thus limited in its purview, the law would be made to apply to purposes other than those explicitly
stated by its framers; it thus becomes pointless and arbitrary, unjust in its effects and apt to lead to absurd and unintended consequences.
CREITERIA LAID BY BRENT DOCTRINE: (under which term employment cannot be said to be in circumvention of security of tenure)
1. must not be entered into merely to circumvent the employees security of tenure
2. the fixed period of employment was knowingly and voluntarily agreed upon by the parties without any force, duress or
improper pressure being brought to bear upon the employee and absent any other circumstances vitiating his consent;
3. It satisfactorily appears that the employer and the employee dealt with each other on more or less equal terms with no
moral dominance exercised by the former or the latter
NOTE: Doctrine is not followed if it is between construction worker (unschooled, illiterate) and the construction company not in
equal footing
Employment of deans nothing irregular because they have to be hired for a fixed term to give the other teachers the
opportunity to become deans, principals (Brent School vs. Zamora)
Q: Why add fixed term employment?

A: Labor code does not prevent the parties from making an agreement by fixing the term of employment.
Examples: (which a fixed term is an essential and natural appurtenance recognized by Supreme Court)
Overseas Workers considered contractual employees similar to fixed term employment. (e.g. seafarers- because of the
exigencies of their work)
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College Deans and Department Heads may be considered as regular as a teacher if agreed upon by school and employee
because he is performing work that is necessary and desirable but NOT regular as a dean even though performing work that
is necessary and desirable because it is employment with a fixed term to give other teachers opportunity to become dean.
Its an Industry practice
Ravago vs. ESSO

Logically, the decisive determinant in term employment should not be the activities that the employee is called upon to perform, but the day certain
agreed upon by the parties for the commencement and termination of their employment relationship, a day certain being understood to be "that
which must necessarily come, although it may not be known when." Seasonal employment, and employment for a particular project are merely
instances of employment in which a period, were not expressly set down, is necessarily implied.
Some familiar examples may be cited of employment contracts which may be neither for seasonal work nor for specific projects, but to which a fixed
term is an essential and natural appurtenance: overseas employment contracts, for one, to which, whatever the nature of the engagement, the
concept of regular employment with all that it implies does not appear ever to have been applied, Article 280 of the Labor Code notwithstanding; also
appointments to the positions of dean, assistant dean, college secretary, principal, and other administrative offices in educational institutions, which
are by practice or tradition rotated among the faculty members, and where fixed terms are a necessity without which no reasonable rotation would
be possible.
As expounded in the above-mentioned Millares Resolution, an exception is made in the situation of seafarers. The exigencies of their work
necessitates that they be employed on a contractual basis.
Thus, even with the continued re-hiring by respondent company of petitioner to serve as Radio Officer onboard Bergesen's different vessels, this
should be interpreted not as a basis for regularization but rather a series of contract renewals
Pangilinan vs. GMC

We furthered that it does not necessarily follow that where the duties of the employee consist of activities usually necessary or desirable in the usual
business of the employer, the parties are forbidden from agreeing on a period of time for the performance of such activities. There is thus nothing
essentially contradictory between a definite period of employment and the nature of the employees duties. While the petitioners employment as
chicken dressers is necessary and desirable in the usual business of the respondent, they were employed on a mere temporary basis, since their
employment was limited to a fixed period. As such, they cannot be said to be regular employees, but are merely contractual employees.
Consequently, there was no illegal dismissal when the petitioners services were terminated by reason of the expiration of their contracts. Lack of
notice of termination is of no consequence, because when the contract specifies the period of its duration, it terminates on the expiration of such
period. A contract for employment for a definite period terminates by its own term at the end of such period.
Millares vs. NLRC

Seafarers Cannot be Regular Employees; Contractual
From the foregoing cases, it is clear that seafarers are considered contractual employees. They cannot be considered as regular employees under
Article 280 of the Labor Code. Their employment is governed by the contracts they sign everytime they are rehired and their employment is
terminated when the contract expires. Their employment is contractually fixed for a certain period of time. They fall under the exception of Article
280 whose employment has been fixed for a specific project or undertaking the completion or termination of which has been determined at the time
of engagement of the employee or where the work or services to be performed is seasonal in nature and the employment is for the duration of the
season. We need not depart from the rulings of the Court in the two aforementioned cases which indeed constitute stare decisis with respect to the
employment status of seafarers.
Petitioners insist that they should be considered regular employees, since they have rendered services which are usually necessary and desirable to
the business of their employer, and that they have rendered more than twenty (20) years of service. While this may be true, the Brent case has,
however, held that there are certain forms of employment which also require the performance of usual and desirable functions and which exceed one
year but do not necessarily attain regular employment status under Article 280. Overseas workers including seafarers fall under this type of
employment which are governed by the mutual agreements of the parties.
In this jurisdiction and as clearly stated in the Coyoca case, Filipino seamen are governed by the Rules and Regulations of the POEA. The Standard
Employment Contract governing the employment of All Filipino seamen on Board Ocean-Going Vessels of the POEA, particularly in Part I, Sec. C
specifically provides that the contract of seamen shall be for a fixed period. And in no case should the contract of seamen be longer than 12 months.
Petitioners make much of the fact that they have been continually re-hired or their contracts renewed before the contracts expired (which has
admittedly been going on for twenty (20) years). By such circumstance they claim to have acquired regular status with all the rights and benefits
appurtenant to it.
Such contention is untenable. Undeniably, this circumstance of continuous re-hiring was dictated by practical considerations that experienced crew
members are more preferred. Petitioners were only given priority or preference because of their experience and qualifications but this does not
detract the fact that herein petitioners are contractual employees. They can not be considered regular employees.
MEMBERS OF WORK POOL

Work pool group of employees from which the company draws its manpower
Status of Employment - PROJECT
Work pool may or may not be created. If there are many projects, most likely there is a work pool.
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In Maraguinot, Jr. v. NLRC, the Court ruled that "once a project or work pool employee has been: (1) continuously, as opposed to
intermittently, rehired by the same employer for the same tasks or nature of tasks; and (2) these tasks are vital, necessary and
indispensable to the usual business or trade of the employer, then the employee must be deemed a regular employee, pursuant to
Article 280 of the Labor Code and jurisprudence."
If there is NO project, your EE-ER relationship is suspended, on leave without pay. Employer is obliged to hire these regular work pool
employees if there is a project.
Maraguinot vs. NLRC
A work pool may exist although the workers in the pool do not receive salaries and are free to seek other employment during temporary breaks in the
business, provided that the worker shall be available when called to report for a project. Although primarily applicable to regular seasonal workers,
this set-up can likewise be applied to project workers insofar as the effect of temporary cessation of work is concerned. This is beneficial to both the
employer and employee for it prevents the unjust situation of coddling labor at the expense of capital and at the same time enables the workers to
attain the status of regular employees. Clearly, the continuous rehiring of the same set of employees within the framework of the Lao Group of
Companies is strongly indicative that private respondents were an integral part of a work pool from which petitioners drew its workers for its various
projects.
Liganza vs. RBL Shipyard

At this time, we wish to allay any fears that this decision unduly burdens an employer by imposing a duty to re-hire a project employee even after
completion of the project for which he was hired. The import of this decision is not to impose a positive and sweeping obligation upon the employer
to re-hire project employees. What this decision merely accomplishes is a judicial recognition of the employment status of a project or work pool
employee in accordance with what is fait accompli, i.e., the continuous re-hiring by the employer of project or work pool employees who perform
tasks necessary or desirable to the employer's usual business or trade.
Cocomangas Hotel Beach Resort vs. Visca, G.R. No. 167045, August 29, 2008
In the present case, respondents cannot be classified as project employees, since they worked continuously for petitioners from three to twelve years
without any mention of a "project" to which they were specifically assigned. While they had designations as "foreman," "carpenter" and "mason,"
they performed work other than carpentry or masonry. They were tasked with the maintenance and repair of the furniture, motor boats, cottages,
and windbreakers and other resort facilities. There is likewise no evidence of the project employment contracts covering respondents' alleged periods
of employment. More importantly, there is no evidence that petitioners reported the termination of respondents' supposed project employment to
the DOLE as project employees. Department Order No. 19, as well as the old Policy Instructions No. 20, requires employers to submit a report of an
employees termination to the nearest public employment office every time his employment is terminated due to a completion of a project.
Petitioners' failure to file termination reports is an indication that the respondents were not project employees but regular employees.
This Court has held that an employment ceases to be coterminous with specific projects when the employee is continuously rehired due to the
demands of employers business and re-engaged for many more projects without interruption.
The Court is not persuaded by petitioners' submission that respondents' services are not necessary or desirable to the usual trade or business of the
resort. The repeated and continuing need for their services is sufficient evidence of the necessity, if not indispensability, of their services to
petitioners' resort business.
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TOPIC 4: MANAGEMENT PREROGATIVE

CONCEPT
The right of an employer to regulate, generally without restraint, according to its own discretion and judgment, every aspect of
its business, subject to limitations of law
It is an act of the employer to regulate all aspects of his business from hiring to firing has reference to employment
It should be exercised in good faith
The privilege is inherent in the right of employers to control and manage their enterprise effectively
SCOPE
Extent Of Management Prerogative To Proscribe Working Methods, Time, Place, Manner And Other Aspects Of Work
Employers have the freedom and prerogative, according to their discretion and best judgment, to regulate and control all aspects of
employment in their business organizations. Such aspects of employment include, hiring, work assignments, work methods, time,
place, and manner of work, tools to be used, processes to be followed, supervision of workers, working regulations, transfer of
employees, work supervision, lay off of workers and the discipline, dismissal and recall of workers (PAL vs NLRC, 4 Aug 2000);
SUMMARY:
The right to classify employees
The right to hire
The right to promote
The right to demote
The right to transfer
The right to dismiss
LIMITATIONS
LIMITATIONS ON THE EXERCISE OF MANAGEMENT PREROGATIVES:
1. Law
2. CBA
3. employment contract
4. employer policy or practice
5. general principles of fair play and justice
HIRING
Not found in the Labor Code, thus it is inherently a management prerogative and not a statutory right.
NATURE: RIGHT OR PREROGATIVE?
Employer has no right to hire a person as his employee. The matter of selecting a person as ones employee is more appropriately
described as a PREROGATIVE. It is not a right in which you can go to court and enforce the right to hire. One may invoke
constitutional provision against involuntary servitude if one is compelled to be anothers employee. No person can be compelled
against his will to do an act whether legal or illegal. An employer cannot go to court and get an injunction to compel a person to
become his employee. Employer can ONLY exercise prerogative to invite that person and hire him if he so chooses.
EXERCISE OF RIGHT/PREROGATIVE: ABSOLUTE?
The exercise of prerogative to hire is NOT ABSOLUTE. It is REGULATED BY LAW
Police Power: Is the power of the Government to enact laws, within the constitutional limits, to promote the order, safety, health,
morals and general welfare of the society.
The right of every person to pursue a business, occupation or profession is subject to the paramount right of the
government as part of its police power to impose such restrictions and regulations as the protection of the public may
require.
The right of reasonable regulation is a modification to the sweeping generalization that every person has a right to pursue
lawful calling.
Example of valid regulation is DO No. 1 series of 1988, temporarily suspending the deployment of female domestic workers
abroad. Petitioners contended that the said DO does not apply to all Filipino workers but only to female domestic helpers
and is violative of right to travel. Court ruled that the classification made which is the preference for female workers rests
on substantial distinctions. Although the DO applies only to female contract workers, it does not make any undue
discrimination between the sexes. Equality before the law does not import a perfect identity of rights among all men and
Page 33
women. It admit classifications provided that: (1) such classifications rest on substantial distinctions; (2) they are germane
to the purposes of law; (3) they are not confined to existing conditions; and (4) they apply equally to all members of the
same class
PROMOTION
DEFINITION
It is the advancement from one position to another with increase in duties and responsibilities which may or may not involve an
increase in salary
Q: What if a clerk is promoted to supervisor without increase in salary; can the clerk sue the employer?
A: NO
Definition of promotion is NOT found in Labor Code
ABSOLUTE?
No.
National Federation of Labor Unions vs NLRC
If there is a subsequent increase in salary, it is entirely non sequitor because that is entirely within the discretion of the management whether or not
to grant such increase. In the absence of company policy and practice, and in the absence of company agreement, the person promoted cannot
demand an increase in salary as a matter of right
ACCEPTANCE OR CONSENT IS REQUIRED (not opportunity to be heard because promotion is in the nature of a gift or donation thus it
requires the acceptance to be valid and binding.
No formalities are required except the notice of promotion and acceptance of employee
There is no law that compels an employee to accept a promotion it being in the nature of a gift or reward which a person has a right
to refuse
TRANSFER VS. PROMOTION (Dosch vs NLRC):
Promotion: denotes a scalar assent of a senior officer or employee to another position higher either in duties, rank or status usually
accompanied by increase in salary
Transfer: refers to lateral movement from one position to another of equivalent rank, level or salary
DEMOTION
DEFINITION:
It is a management prerogative on the movement from one position to another which carries with it diminution in duties, rank, status
but may or may not be accompanied by a reduction in salary (Fernando vs Sto. Tomas)
LIMITATIONS OF THE RIGHT TO DEMOTE:
1. It must not be exercised arbitrarily, capriciously or whimsically
2. It must be for a valid cause otherwise it would tantamount to a constructive dismissal- cannot be demoted just because of your
personality
3. It must pass the test of reasonableness, equity and good faith performance related conditions
4. Due process- employee must be given notice regarding the demotion and the cause or causes thereof and the opportunity to
explain why not to be demoted; Demotion necessitates the issuance of a notice for demotion for cause
CONSTRUCTIVE DISMISSAL
Demotion without a valid cause; coupled with employment that is unbearable and inhuman
Reliefs available to employee for constructive dismissal:
Reinstatement to his position prior to demotion
Backwages (difference in salary that you earn had you not been demoted) and other benefits he was entitled to receive
Damages- if there is bad faith and fraud
ILLEGAL DEMOTION
Demotion without compliance of due process
Page 34

Relief:
Reinstatement to former position
NOTE: failure to comply with these requirements may amount to constructive dismissal, as the case may be. It is even more so if the
demotion is not part of the company policy.
TRANSFER
DEFINITION:
It is the lateral movement from one position to another of equivalent rank, level or salary, without break of service
Reason for transfer: to maximize the service of employees
Consent of employee is NOT required; inherent in right to control or manage an enterprise effectively
BASIS:
Since this can be exercised by the management in accordance with the best interest of the company trying to see where a
particular employee can be best maximized.
It is the employers prerogative based on assessment and perception of its employees qualifications, attitudes and competence
to move them around in various areas of its business operations in order to ascertain where they will function with maximum
benefit to the company. (Phil Japan Active Carbon Corporation vs NLRC)
An employees right to security of tenure does not give him the vested right in his position as would deprive the company of its
prerogative to change his assignment or transfer him where he will be most useful (PT&T vs NLRC, 1991)
REQUISITES FOR VALID TRANSFER
1. Must be reasonable or it must have a sound purpose- if there is a need to augment work force because of a work assignment
(Isabelo vs NLRC)
2. Not inconvenient to welfare of the employee
3. Not prejudicial to the employee
4. Not involve a demotion of rank or status or a diminution of the employees salary, benefits, etc.
5. must not be motivated by discrimination
6. must not be made in bad faith
7. must not be effected as a form of punishment/demotion without sufficient cause (Mendoza vs. Rural Bank)
NOTE: Violation of these requirements amount to constructive dismissal
It is not an absolute right and it must be accompanied by good faith (not intended to harass)
Mere reasons of inconvenience does not justify the refusal to be transferred
Examples of VALID TRANSFER:
o Reshuffling of bank personnel to maintain the secrecy of bank deposits- valid transfer bec. It is for
security purposes
o Salesman transferred from one place to another- valid transfer bec. It is the nature of their work
Illegal transfer relief: reinstatement
If constructive dismissal: reinstatement, backwages
Mendoza vs Rural Banck of Lucban
VALID TRANSFER
Reshuffling of its and employees in line with the policy of the bank to familiarize bank employees with the various phases of bank operations and
further strengthen the existing internal control system. Management has the prerogative to transfer or assign employees from one office or area of
operation to another provided:
there is no demotion in rank or diminution of salary, benefits, and other privileges;
action is not motivated by discrimination,
not made in bad faith,
not effected as a form of punishment or demotion without sufficient cause.
PLDT vs Paguio:
TRANSFER TO FUNCTIONLESS OFFICE IS ABUSE OF MGMT PREROGATIVE
Paguio was reassigned as Head Special Assignment. Paguios transfer could only be caused by the managements negative reception of his comments.
It is prejudicial to Paguio because it left him out for a possible promotion as he was assigned to a functionless position with neither office nor staff.
Page 35

Norkis Trading
ILLEGAL TRANSFER (no legitimate business reason)
While petitioners invoke management prerogative in the transfer of private respondent to Manila, there is no showing at all of any valid and
legitimate reason for the verbal transfer order, as in fact private respondent was not given work to do, only occasionally and constantly avoided by her
superiors. Her meek and desperate plea to be allowed to return to her former post in Naga City Branch was met with total silence on managements
end. Such insensitivity and disdain pervading her work environment became more intense when her travel allowances were withdrawn and
management demanded for refund of those amounts received by her on the ground that she is not entitled thereto while posted in the main office
Coca-Cola Bottlers Phils vs. Del Villar

TRANSFER RESULTING TO DEMOTION- INVALID
Del Villar was not merely transferred from the position of Transportation Services Manager to the position of Staff Assistant to the Corporate
Purchasing and Materials Control Manager; he was evidently demoted.
Del Villars demotion is readily apparent in his new designation. Formerly, he was the Transportation Services Manager; then he was made a Staff
Assistant a subordinate to another manager
DISMISSAL
PREROGATIVE AND A RIGHT
It is not simply a prerogative but a right because it is found in the Labor Code Termination of employment Art. 282
BASIS: It isa measure of self protection on the part of the employer against all acts inimical to its interest.
Expiration of Tenure is NOT Dismissal
Seniority Rights NOT inherent: such right is based on contract, a statute or an administrative regulation; seniority rights
acquired by an employee through long time employment are merely contractual and not constitutional
The power to dismiss is NOT ABSOLUTE limited by police power
LIMITATIONS:
o Must not be arbitrary
o Must not be capricious
o Must be in observance of due process
OTHERS
REORGANIZATION AND ABOLITION OF POSITIONS
Takes place when there is an alteration of the structure of the offices or units therein including the likes of control, authority and
responsibility between them. It involves the reduction of personnel, consolidation of offices or abolition thereof by reason of
economy or redundancy of functions
Limitation:
Must be done in good faith
Management prerogative as a cost cutting measure
Right to enjoy security of tenure (the right to continue ones employment until such is severed for just or authorized causes
as provided for by law under art. 279, PD. 442)
EARLY RETIREMENT PROGRAM
Withdrawal from office, public station, business, occupation or public duty. It is a result of a bilateral act of the parties a voluntary
agreement between the employer and the employee whereby the latter after reaching a certain age, agrees and or consents to
severe his employment with the former (Brion vs South Philippine Union Mission of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, 1999)
Title II RETIREMENT FROM THE SERVICE
Art. 287. Retirement. Any employee may be retired upon reaching the retirement age established in the collective bargaining agreement or other
applicable employment contract.
In case of retirement, the employee shall be entitled to receive such retirement benefits as he may have earned under existing laws and any collective
bargaining agreement and other agreements: Provided, however, That an employees retirement benefits under any collective bargaining and other
agreements shall not be less than those provided therein.
In the absence of a retirement plan or agreement providing for retirement benefits of employees in the establishment, an employee upon reaching
the age of sixty (60) years or more, but not beyond sixty-five (65) years which is hereby declared the compulsory retirement age, who has served at
least five (5) years in the said establishment, may retire and shall be entitled to retirement pay equivalent to at least one-half (1/2) month salary for
every year of service, a fraction of at least six (6) months being considered as one whole year. (or 22.5 days per year of service)
Unless the parties provide for broader inclusions, the term one-half (1/2) month salary shall mean fifteen (15) days plus one-twelfth (1/12) of the
13th month pay and the cash equivalent of not more than five (5) days of service incentive leaves.
Page 36
An underground mining employee upon reaching the age of 50 years or more, but not beyond 60 years which is hereby declared the compulsory
retirement age for underground mine workers, who has served at least 5 years as underground mine worker may retire and shall be entitled to all the
benefits provided for in this Article (RA 8558 approved on 2/26/98)
Retail, service and agricultural establishments or operations employing not more than ten (10) employees or workers are exempted from the coverage
of this provision.
Violation of this provision is hereby declared unlawful and subject to the penal provisions under Article 288 of this
Code.
Note: House helpers are entitled to retirement pay.
VOLUNTARY RESIGNATION PROGRAM (ART. 285)

JOB EVALUATION PROGRAM
Realigning the functions of a certain position
Ex. Admin clerk then incorporate other functions
To be valid: reason must be efficiency of the operations
-employer have prerogative to redefine job responsibilities
Ex: from simple job to multi tasking job
EMPLOYMENT POLICIES AND STIPULATIONS
The ER in the exercise of management prerogative may stipulate in the employment contract several stipulations with the EE so
long as they are not contrary to law, public policy, morals.
Must be lawful and reasonable policies
BONA FIDE OCCUPATIONAL QUALIFICATION RULE
Employment in particular jobs may not be limited to persons of a particular sex, religion, or national origin unless the employer can
show that sex, religion, or national origin is an actual qualification for performing the job. The qualification is called a bona fide
occupational qualification (BFOQ).
They hold that the absence of such a bona fide occupational qualification invalidates a rule denying employment to one spouse due
to the current employment of the other spouse in the same office.Thus, they rule that unless the employer can prove that the
reasonable demands of the business require a distinction based on marital status and there is no better available or acceptable policy
which would better accomplish the business purpose, an employer may not discriminate against an employee based on the identity
of the employees spouse. This is known as the bona fide occupational qualification exception.
BONA FIDE OCCUPATIONAL QUALIFICATION EXCEPTIONS:
(1) that the employment qualification is reasonably related to the essential operation of the job involved;
(2) that there is a factual basis for believing that all or substantially all persons meeting the qualification would be unable to properly
perform the duties of the job.
RESTRICTIVE COVENANT CLAUSES (RIVERA VS. SOLIDBANK)

There are legitimate interests of the employer which might be protected in terms of time, space, and types of activities
proscribed
Requirements of a REASONABLE CONTRACT:
1. whether the covenant protects a legitimate business interest of the employer;
2. whether the covenant creates an undue burden on the employee;
3. whether the covenant is injurious to the public welfare;
4. whether the time and territorial limitations contained in the covenant are reasonable; and
5. whether the restraint is reasonable from the standpoint of public policy
Restraints on post retirement competitive employment in pension and retirement plans either incorporated in employment
contracts, CBA or separate from said contract. - Valid denial of the right to participate in the retirement plan if he does so
engage, not a prohibition on the employees engaging competitive work.
Anti nepotism policy, wherein an ER prohibits the employment of a relative of an existing EE to a certain degree of
consanguinity or affinity which is a valid policy because there could be certain biases that would prevent you from performing
your assigned job properly
-valid if intended to prevent conflict of interest
NON COMPETING CLAUSE OR NON-INVOLVEMENT CLAUSE VALID (TIU VS. PLATINUM PLANS)
Page 37
Stipulation where employer requires employee within 1 year from operation should not join or work with a competing
company
That during the employees engagement, and two years after separation form the company, the employee will not
engage in or be involved with any corporation or entity whether directly or indirectly, which is engaged in the same
business or belongs to the same pre- need industry as the employee
Valid as long as there are reasonable limitations as to time, trade, and place.
POSTEMPLOYMENT COMPETITIVE EMPLOYMENT BAN

A policy where EE is prohibited after the separation from joining a competitor
VALID policy. However, this is subject to limitation on duration and place. It should only be for a certain period of time
that is reasonable and the prohibition should only apply in a particular place.
REIMBURSEMENT OF TRAINING COSTS (ALMARIO VS. PAL)
A policy which requires an EE to stay with the company for a period of one year after being given training and that if
the EE chooses to leave he shall reimburse the company for the expenses paid for his training
A valid policy because an ER is entitled to a reasonable return of his investment.
The aspect of requiring the EE to reimburse the company is based on the principle against unjust enrichment
NO SPOUSE EMPLOYMENT POLICY
A policy prohibiting spouses from being employed in the same company
For the policy to be valid there must be a compelling business necessity for which no alternative exists other than the
discriminatory practice. (Star Paper Corp. vs. Simbol)
Conflict of interest might arise for example the wife works in the HR department and the husband works in a different
department. If the husband could not account for a certain transaction it is the duty of the HR to verify. The wife might
tamper with evidence in order to clear the husbands name. She could inhibit herself from the investigation
Art 136. LC. Stipulations Against Marriage. It shall be unlawful for an employer to require a condition of employment that a woman
employee shall not get married or to stipulate expressly or tacitly that upon getting married as woman employer shall be deemed resigned
or separated or to actually dismiss, discharge, discriminate or otherwise prejudice a woman employee merely by reason of her marriage.
DUNCAN ASSOCIATION OF DETAILMAN-PTGWO and PEDRO A. TECSON vs. GLAXO WELLCOME PHILS
Policy of a pharmaceutical company prohibiting its employees from marrying employees of any competitor company is VALID.
Glaxos policy prohibiting an employee from having a relationship with an employee of a competitor company is a valid exercise of management
prerogative as relationships of that nature might compromise the interests of the company. Glaxo has a right to guard its trade secrets, manufacturing
formulas, marketing strategies and other confidential programs and information from competitors.
The policy being questioned is not a policy against marriage. An employee of the company remains free to marry anyone of his or her choosing. The
policy is not aimed at restricting a personal prerogative that belongs only to the individual. However, an employees personal decision does not
detract the employer from exercising management prerogatives to ensure maximum profit and business success.
Constitutional provision cited to justify right of the employer: right of enterprises to reasonable returns to investments, and to expansion and growth.
PRINCIPLE: LEGAL LIMITATIONS/PROHIBITIONS; PROHIBITION AGAINST STIPULATION OF MARRIAGE; PROHIBITION ON EMPLOYEE

FROM ENGAGING IN RELATIONSHIP WITH AN EMPLOYEE OF A COMPETITOR COMPANY IS A VALID EXERCISE OF MANAGEMENT
PREROGATIVE AND NOT STIPULATION AGAINST MARRIAGE
STAR PAPER CORPORATION, JOSEPHINE ONGSITCO & SEBASTIAN CHUA, Vs.RONALDO D. SIMBOL,WILFREDA N. COMIA & LORNA E.
ESTRELLA
There must be a compelling business necessity for which no alternative exists other than the discriminatory practice.
To justify a bona fide occupational qualification, the employer must prove two factors: (1) that the employment qualification is reasonably related to
the essential operation of the job involved; and, (2) that there is a factual basis for believing that all or substantially all persons meeting the
qualification would be unable to properly perform the duties of the job. We do not find a reasonable business necessity in the case at bar.
Court does not find a reasonable business necessity in the case at. It is significant to note that in the case at bar, respondents were hired after they
were found fit for the job, but were asked to resign when they married a co-employee. Petitioners failed to show how the marriage of Simbol, then a
Sheeting Machine Operator, to Alma Dayrit, then an employee of the Repacking Section, could be detrimental to its business operations. Neither did
petitioners explain how this detriment will happen in the case of Wilfreda Comia, then a Production Helper in the Selecting Department, who married
Howard Comia, then a helper in the cutter-machine. The policy is premised on the mere fear that employees married to each other will be less
efficient. If we uphold the questioned rule without valid justification, the employer can create policies based on an unproven presumption of a
perceived danger at the expense of an employees right to security of tenure.
Petitioners contend that their policy will apply only when one employee marries a co-employee, but they are free to marry persons other than coemployees. The questioned policy may not facially violate Article 136 of the Labor Code but it creates a disproportionate effect and under the
disparate impact theory, the only way it could pass judicial scrutiny is a showing that it is reasonable despite the discriminatory, albeit
disproportionate, effect. The failure of petitioners to prove a legitimate business concern in imposing the questioned policy cannot prejudice the
employees right to be free from arbitrary discrimination based upon stereotypes of married persons working together in one company.
Page 38
PRINCIPLE: PROHIBITION/LIMITATION ON HIRING; PROHIBITION AGAINST STIPULATION ON MARRIAGE; BANNING SPOUSES FROM
WORKING IN THE SAME COMPANY ABSENCE REASONABLE BUSINESS NECESSITY IS AN INVALID MANAGEMENT PREROGATIVE.
Situation: If driver fails to remit the boundary, they will be suspended until driver is able to remit
Caong vs. Begualos case
Petitioners' suspension cannot be categorized as dismissal, considering that there was no intent on the part of respondent to sever the employeremployee relationship between him and petitioners. In fact, it was made clear that petitioners could put an end to the suspension if they only pay
their recent arrears. As it was, the suspension dragged on for years because of petitioners' stubborn refusal to pay. It would have been different if
petitioners complied with the condition and respondent still refused to readmit them to work. Then there would have been a clear act of dismissal.
But such was not the case. Instead of paying, petitioners even filed a complaint for illegal dismissal against respondent.
Page 39
TOPIC 5: TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT

EMPLOYEES RIGHT TO DISCIPLINE; NATURE OF RIGHT
The employers right to conduct the affairs of his business, according to its own discretion and judgment, includes the prerogative to
instill discipline in its employees and to impose penalties, including dismissal, upon erring employees. This is a management
prerogative where the free will of management to conduct its own affairs to achieve its purpose takes form. The only criterion to
guide the exercise of its management prerogative is that the policies, rules and regulations on work-related activities of the
employees must always be fair and reasonable and the corresponding penalties, when prescribed, commensurate to the offense
involved and to the degree of the infraction. (St. Michaels Institute vs. Santos, G. R. No. 145280, Dec. 4, 2001; Consolidated Food
Corporation vs. NRLC, 315 SCRA 129, 139 [1999]).
Instilling discipline among its employees is a basic management right and prerogative. Management may lawfully impose reasonable
penalties such as dismissal upon an employee who transgresses the company rules and regulations. (Deles, Jr. vs. NLRC, G. R. No.
121348, March 9, 2000).
The employer cannot be compelled to maintain in his employ the undeserving, if not undesirable, employees. (Shoemart, Inc. vs.
NLRC, G. R. No. 74229, Aug. 11, 1989).
ACTUAL AND CONSTRUCTIVE DISMISSAL
A.)
Actual Dismissal
B.)
Constructive Dismissal - act of quitting because continued employment is rendered impossible, unreasonable or unlikely as
in the case of an offer involving a demotion in rank and a diminution in pay.
GROUNDS FOR TERMINATION
JUST CAUSES (LABOR CODE)
ART. 282. Termination by employer. - An employer may terminate an employment for any of the following causes:
A.
(a)
Serious misconduct or willful disobedience by the employee of the lawful orders of his employer or representative in connection with his
work;
(b)
Gross and habitual neglect by the employee of his duties;
(c)
Fraud or willful breach by the employee of the trust reposed in him by his employer or duly authorized representative;
(d)
Commission of a crime or offense by the employee against the person of his employer or any immediate member of his family or his duly
authorized representatives; and
(e)
Other causes analogous to the foregoing.
SERIOUS MISCONDUCT
Definition
Improper conduct, or wrong conduct. It is a transgression of some established and definite rule of action, a forbidden act, a
dereliction of duty, willful in character and implies wrongful intent and not a mere error in judgment.
Must be in connection with the employees work to constitute just cause for his separation.
ELEMENTS:
(1) an improper act
(2) willful in nature
(3) of a grave and aggravated character not merely trivial or unimportant
(4) work related in connection with the employees work or in transgression with established company policy
REQUISITES:
(1) it must be serious and not minor
(2) it must be work-related or relate to the performance of the employees duties
(3) it must show that the employee has become unfit to continue working for the employer
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Examples
Sleeping in post, gross insubordination, dereliction of duty and challenging superior officers to a fight security guard
is supposed to protect property from loss or pilferage
Extra-marital relationship: both are married in a private educational institution
Inadequate cause: Teacher falling in love with a student after termination they got married. SC ruled that there is no
evidence of immorality and the dismissal is invalid.
Telecommunications Distributors Specialists Inc., et al., vs Garriel,GR No. 174981, May 25, 2009. Citing 2009 Perez
Serious Misconduct
Respondents acts of forging subscribers signatures, attempting to cover up his failure to secure their signatures on the coverage waivers, selling
a personally owned mobile phone to a company customer (a defective one at that) and attempting to connive with other TDSI employees to
cover up his illicit schemes were serious acts of dishonesty
Merin vs. NLRC

Serious Misconduct
It appears that petitioner had committed several infractions while on board the vessel - reported for work after he drank too much alcohol at a
party, however, he apologized for such act; sleeping in crew's smoke room and when roused from slumber, had bloodshot eyes and was
intoxicated; bragged about his connection in POEA should he be repatriated; refused to obey instructions of his bosun and immediate superior
without justifiable reasons and that petitioner threatened to harm
Despite the sanctions imposed upon petitioner, he continued to commit misconduct and exhibit undesirable behavior on board. Indeed, the
employer cannot be compelled to retain a misbehaving employee, or one who is guilty of acts inimical to its interests. It has the right to dismiss
such an employee if only as a measure of self-protection.We find just cause in petitioners termination
Technological institute of the Phils Teachers and Employees Organization vs CA et al.,GR No. 158703, August 14, 2009
Serious Misconduct Of Teacher
Grade tampering and sale of test papers without prior approval from school as required by the school policy is serious misconduct
Not entitled to separation pay because cause of dismissal is relating to employees moral character
Nagkaka-sang Lakas ng Manggagawa sa Keihin vs. Keihin Phils.

Serious misconduct
Misconduct is defined as the transgression of some established and definite rule of action, a forbidden act, a dereliction of duty, willful in
character, and implies wrongful intent and not mere error in judgment. For serious misconduct to justify dismissal under the law:
(1)
it must be serious;
(2)
must relate to the performance of the employees duties; and (c) must show that the employee has become unfit to continue working
for the employer.
Despite these reminders, complainant took the packing tape and was caught during the routine inspection. All these circumstances point to the
conclusion that it was not just an error of judgment, but a deliberate act of theft of company property
B.
WILLFUL DISOBEDIENCE
Definition
When there is wanton disregard to follow the orders of the employer
- Includes company rules and regulations of discipline
Must be Willful and intentional;
WILLFUL - it is characterized by a wrongful perverse mental attitude rendering the employees act inconsistent with the proper
subordination
Orders, regulations or instructions of the employer against which the employee willfully disobeys must be:
(a) reasonable and lawful -refers both to kinds and character of the direction and commands and the manner in which
they are made or given (Escobin vs NLRC)
(b) sufficiently known to the employee- either written or oral order or instruction that is conveyed to the employee like a
code of conduct or lawful verbal instruction (Reason: how could you follow something which you do not know)
(c) in connection with the duties which the employee has been engaged to discharge
Examples:
refusal by a secretary to make a report
transferring to another work without resignation as required
If a secretary refuses to write a check even if the EE knows that there are insufficient funds because it only involves the
mechanical act of writing. If the order was to deliver the check thereby exposing the company to criminal liability then the
order already becomes unlawful.
Refusal to render overtime work
Page 41
Refusal to stop the fight between two employees despite order by the superior
Failure to follow a valid transfer
Cosmos Bottling Corp., vs Nagrama, GR NO. 164403, March 4, 2008

Requisites of wilful disobedience:
(1)
conduct must have been intentional and characterized by a wrongful and perverse attitude;
(2)
order violated must have been reasonable, lawful, and made known to the employee and should pertain to the duties which he has been
engaged to discharge
Apacible vs. Multimed Industries

Wilful Disobedience
Petitioner was, it bears reiteration, dismissed for willfully disobeying the lawful order of her employer to transfer from Cebu to Pasig City.The act
of the Petitioner constitutes serious misconduct or willful disobedience.
Willful disobedience of the employer's lawful orders, as a just cause for dismissal of an employee, envisages the concurrence of at least two
requisites: (1) the employee's assailed conduct must have been willful, that is, characterized by a wrongful and perverse attitude; and (2) the
order violated must have been reasonable, lawful, made known to the employee and must pertain to the duties which he had been engaged
to discharge.
Clearly, petitioner's adamant refusal to transfer, coupled with her failure to heed the order for her return the company vehicle assigned to her
and, more importantly, allowing her counsel to write letters couched in harsh language to her superiors unquestionably show that she was guilty
of insubordination, hence, not entitled to the award of separation pay
C.
GROSS AND HABITUAL NEGLECT OF DUTY

Definition
Absence of that diligence that an ordinarily prudent man would use in his own affairs
Neglect of duty vs. misconduct: Neglect of duty is an omission or failure to do what is required compared to serious
misconduct which requires a positive act
Gross grave or serious
Habitual repetition of a similar act
GR: Neglect of duty must be BOTH gross and habitual

Exception: where an employee may be terminated on the ground of gross negligence even if it is not habitual- that is if there is
substantial damage or injury to the employer
Example: When a Bank teller left a deposited amount unattended in the counter when the SOP requires them to put the money
in a safe place resulting in the loss of the money. (Fuentes v NLRC). Although it was just one incident, considering that the
amount there is 50,000. Even when there is no habituality, SC said that the neglect of duty is gross, because it is a very basic
requirement of a teller to safe keep any deposits made by the creditors. Employer has to pay that to the customer.
Other Examples:
Excessive absenteeism esp if managerial position where punctuality is in demand
An appraiser who overstated the value of property to 769,545 when FMV is only 142, 915 and merely asked people residing
there for land valuation without asking the City Assessors office
School of the Holy Spirit of QC vs Taguiam, GR No. 165565, July 14, 2008
Gross Negligence Resulting To Loss Of Confidence
Gross negligence implies a want or absence of or a failure to exercise slight care or diligence, or the entire absence of care. It evinces a
thoughtless disregard of consequences without exerting any effort to avoid them.
Habitual neglect implies repeated failure to perform one's duties for a period of time, depending upon the circumstances.
Student drown under her care and custody while in the school premises for a school activity.
Mansion Printing vs. Bitara

Gross And Habitual Neglect Of Duty
Diosdado Bitara was dismissed from service due to habitual tardiness and absenteeism, and for having continued disregarding attendance
policies despite his undertaking to report on time. His weekly time record for the first quarter of the year 2000 revealed that he came late 19
times out of the 47 times he reported for work. He also incurred 19 absences out of the 66 working days during the quarter. His absences
without prior notice and approval from March 11-16, 2000 were considered to be the most serious infraction of all because of its adverse effect
on business operations. The Supreme Court held that even in the absence of a written company rule defining gross and habitual neglect of
duties, Bitaras omissions qualify as such warranting his dismissal from the service
Phil Natl Bank vs. Padao

Page 42
Padao was accused of having presented a fraudulently positive evaluation of the business, credit standing/rating and financial capability of
Reynaldo and Luzvilla Baluma and eleven other loan applicants. Some businesses were eventually found not to exist at all, while in other
transactions, the financial status of the borrowers simplycould not support the grant of loans in the approved amounts. Moreover, Padao overappraised the collateral of spouses Gardito and Alma Ajero, and that of spouses Ihaba and Rolly Pango. Padaos repeated failure to discharge his
duties as a credit investigator of the bank amounted to gross and habitual neglect of duties under Article 282 (b) of the Labor Code. He not only
failed to perform what he was employed to do, but also did so repetitively and habitually, causing millions of pesos in damage to PNB. Thus, PNB
acted within the bounds of the law by meting out the penalty of dismissal, which it deemed appropriate given the circumstances.
That there is no proof that Padao derived any benefit from the scheme is immaterial. What is crucial is that his gross and habitual negligence
caused great damage to his employer. Padao was aware that there was something irregular about the practices being implemented by his
superiors, but he went along with, became part of, and participated in the scheme.
Nissan Motor Phils vs. Angelo

Respondents repeated failure to turn over his task of preparing the payroll of the petitioners employees to someone capable of performing the
vital tasks which he could not effectively perform or undertake because of his heart ailment or condition constitutes gross neglect. However,
although the dismissal was legal, respondent was still held to be entitled to a separation pay as a measure of compassionate justice, considering
his length of service and his poor physical condition which was one of the reasons he filed a leave of absence
Hospital Management Services, Inc. vs Hospital Management Services Inc-Medical Center Manila Employees Assoc., GR No.
176287, January 31, 2011
Not Gross AND Habitual Neglect Of Duty
However neglect of duty, to be a ground for dismissal, must be both gross and habitual. Gross negligence connotes want of care in the
performance of one's duties. Habitual neglect implies repeated failure to perform one's duties for a period of time, depending upon the
circumstances. A single or isolated act of negligence does not constitute a just cause for the dismissal of the employee.
There was no any wrongful intent, deliberate refusal, or bad faith on her part when, instead of personally attending to patient Causaren, she
requested Nursing Assistant Tatad and ward-clerk orientee Guillergan to see the patient, as she was then attending to a newly-admitted patient
at Room 710. It was her judgment call, albeit an error of judgment, being the staff nurse with presumably more work experience and better
learning curve, to send Nursing Assistant Tatad and ward-clerk orientee Guillergan to check on the health condition of the patient, as she
deemed it best, under the given situation, to attend to a newly-admitted patient who had more concerns that needed to be addressed
accordingly. Being her first offense, respondent De Castro cannot be said to be grossly negligent so as to justify her termination of employment
Llamas vs Ocean Gateway Maritime and Management Services Inc.,GR No. 179293, August 14, 2009
Here, Llamas as OGMMSIs accounting manager, failed to discharge her important duty of remitting SSS/PhilHealth contributions not once but
quadruple times, resulting in OGMMSIs incurring of penalties totaling P18,580.41 and the employees/members contributions being unupdated.
Her claim of being overworked and undermanned does not persuade. OGMMSI had been in operation for less than three (3) months at the time
the negligence and delays were committed, with only a few transactions and only with one principal, hence, its financial and accounting books
should not have been difficult to prepare.
Estacio et al., vs Pampanga I Electric Cooperative Inc., GR No. 183195, August 19, 2009
Gross Negligence
Estacio was dismissed from service for gross and habitual negligence.Estacio, as bill custodian of PELCO failed to account for and record the bill
collections for 8 days of July and 4 days of August 2002. As a result of her improper accounting and records keeping, the amount of P123,807.14
remains unremitted.
A single or isolated act of negligence does not constitute a just cause for the dismissal of the employee.Manliclic was validly dismissed for breach
of trust reposed in him by PELCO. Manliclics honesty and integrity are the primary considerations for his position as a bill collector because, as
such, he has in his absolute control and possession -- prior to remittance -- a highly essential property of the cooperative, i.e., its collection.
PELCO, as the employer, must be able to have utmost trust and confidence in its bill collectors
D.
FRAUD/WILLFUL BREACH OF TRUST

Definition
Any commission or concealment which involves a breach of legal duty, trust and confidence justly reposed, and is injurious to
another
To whom Applicable: Position of Trust and Confidence
Cases involving employees occupying positions of trust and confidence;or managerial employee or those vested with
powers or prerogatives to lay down management policies/hire, transfer, suspend, layoff, recall, discharge, assign or
discipline employees or effectively recommend managerial sanctions
To those situations where the employee is routinely charged with the care and custody of the employers money or
property cashiers, auditors, property custodians
Who in the normal and routine exercise of their functions regularly handle significant amounts of money or property
Requisites of Fraud:
Page 43

(1) Committed against the employer or his representative
(2) In connection with the employees work
(3) Position of the employee must be with trust and confidence
Requisites of Breach of Trust:
(1) Breach must be work-related
(2) Position must be impressed with trust and confidence such as positions having the custody of funds, money or other
company property
When you hire an employee, it doesnt mean he is in a position of trust right a way
Must be done intentionally or deliberately
Must be committed against the employer or representatives and in connection with his work.
Breach committed by an employee against third persons not in connection with his work and which does not involve his
employer is not a ground for dismissal
Loss of Confidence: The grounds MUST NOT be:

1) merely simulated
2) used as a subterfuge for cause which are improper, illegal or unjustified
3) arbitrarily asserted
4) mere afterthought to justify earlier action taken in bad faith but must be genuine
5) employee holds position of trust and confidence
Example:
Falsification of Time Cards involving security guards who falsified it when in fact they went to a hunting trip and red
handed punching not only his card but another
Sy vs Metrobank,GR No. 160618, November 2, 2006
Fraud And Wilful Breach Of Trust
We hold that petitioner Sy was validly dismissed on the ground of fraud and willful breach of trust under Article 282 of the Labor Code. Records
show that as bank manager, he authorized "kiting" or drawing of checks against uncollected funds in wanton violation of the banks policies. It
was sufficient basis for the bank to lose trust in him.
Jumuad vs. Hi-Flyer Food

Loss Of Confidence
Anomalies committed in the KFC branches managed by Jumuad. On the principle of respondeat superior or command responsibility alone,
Jumuad may be held liable for negligence in the performance of her managerial duties. She may not have been directly involved in causing the
cash shortages in KFC-Bohol, but her involvement in not performing her duty monitoring and supporting the day to day operations of the
branches and ensure that all the facilities and equipment at the restaurant were properly maintained and serviced, could have prevented the
whole debacle from occurring
Lopez vs. Keppel Bank Phils

Loss Of Trust And Confidence
As branch manager, Lopez clearly occupies a "position of trust." His hold on his position and his stay in the service depend on the employer's
trust and confidence in him and on his managerial services.[27] According to the bank, Lopez betrayed this trust and confidence when he issued
the subject POs without authority and despite the express directive to put the client's application on hold
Lopez vs. Alturas

Loss Of Confidence
Loss of trust and confidence arising from petitioner's smuggling out of the scrap iron, compounded by his past acts of unauthorized selling
cartons belonging to respondent company, constituted just cause for terminating his services.
Petitioner, a driver assigned with a specific vehicle, was entrusted with the transportation of respondent company's goods and property, and
consequently with its handling and protection, hence, even if he did not occupy a managerial position, he can be said to be holding a position of
responsibility
Ancheta vs Destiny Financial Plans Inc., et al.,GR No. 179702, February 6, 2010
Doctrine Of Loss Of Confidence
The doctrine of loss of confidence requires the concurrence of the following:
(1)
loss of confidence should not be simulated;
(2)
it should not be used as a subterfuge for causes which are improper, illegal, or unjustified;
(3)
it may not be arbitrarily asserted in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary;
(4)
it must be genuine, not a mere afterthought to justify an earlier action taken in bad faith; and
Page 44

(5)
the employee involved holds a position of trust and confidence.
In order to constitute a just cause for dismissal, the act complained of must be "work-related" such as would show the employee concerned to
be unfit to continue working for the employer. Petitioner was a managerial employee of respondent company, holding a highly sensitive
position.
His performance was practically the lifeblood of the corporation, because its earnings depended on the sales of the marketing group, which he
used to head. The position held by petitioner required the highest degree of trust and confidence of his employer in the formers exercise of
managerial discretion insofar as the conduct of the latters business was concerned.
Petitioners inability to perform the functions of his office to the satisfaction of his employer and the formers poor judgment as marketing head
caused the company huge financial losses. If these were not timely addressed and corrected, the company could have collapsed, to the
detriment of its policy holders, stockholders, employees, and the public in general.
Triumph International (Phils) Inc., vs Apostol et al.,GR No. 164423, June 16, 2009
Wilful Breach Of Trust For Rank-And-File Employees Vs. For Managerial Employees
With respect to rank-and-file personnel, loss of trust and confidence, as ground for valid dismissal, requires proof of involvement in the alleged
events in question, and that mere uncorroborated assertions and accusations by the employer will not be sufficient. But as regards a managerial
employee, the mere existence of a basis for believing that such employee has breached the trust of his employer would suffice for his dismissal.
in the case of managerial employees, proof beyond reasonable doubt is not required.
The relationship of employer and employee, especially where the employee has access to the employers property, necessarily involves trust and
confidence.
Apostol and Opulencia were not ordinary rank and file employees but managerial and supervisory employees entrusted with the management
and handling of the companys warehouse goods. They were found to have made unauthorized and unreported adjusting entries to the stocklist
without proper investigation and reconciliation with the accounting department, without prior authorization by management, and without
preparation of formal reports
E.
COMMISSION OF CRIME BY EMPLOYEE AGAINST THE PERSON OF EMPLOYER, HIS IMMEDIATE FAMILY, OR AUTHORIZED
REPRESENTATIVES
F.
Immediate members limited to spouse, ascendants, descendants, or legitimate, natural, or adopted brother and sisters of
employer or his relative by affinity in same degrees and those by consanguinity within the fourth civil degree (Art 11. RPC)
Conviction is not necessary to effect termination on this ground;
The quantum of evidence is merely substantial evidence to terminate an employee under these grounds that relevant
evidence as a reasonable man might accept as valid to support a conclusion
Crimes against person: murder, physical injuries, homicide
OTHER ANALOGOUS CAUSES

These are causes that are in one or more respects similar to the above mentioned causes, and have been deliberated by the SC.
I.
ABANDONMENT (Analogous to Gross and Habitual Neglect of Duty)

ELEMENTS OF ABANDONMENT:
(1) Long absence from work without valid reason inquire as to the reason of the absence first
(2) Intention to sever the employer-employee relationship determinative factor
Employees intention to severe er-ee relationship is manifested through his acts like while working for your employer
you are working for another (Agabon vs. NLRC)
Agabon vs NLRC, GR No. 158693, November 17, 2004
Abandonment is the deliberate and unjustified refusal of an employee to resume his employment.
Two factors for abandonment:

(1)
the failure to report for work or absence without valid or justifiable reason;
(2)
a clear intention to sever employer-employee relationship, with the second as the more determinative factor which is manifested by
overt acts from which it may be deduced that the employees has no more intention to work. The intent to discontinue the
employment must be shown by clear proof that it was deliberate and unjustified.
In February 1999, petitioners were frequently absent having subcontracted for an installation work for another company. Subcontracting
for another company clearly showed the intention to sever the employer-employee relationship with private respondent
Martinez vs B&B Fish Broker,GR No. 179985, September 18, 2009

No Abandonment- There Is Constructive Dismissal
After being informed of his alleged shortages in collections and despite his relegation to that of company custodian, still reported for work.
He later applied for a 4-day leave of absence. On his return, he discovered that his name was erased from the logbook, was refused entry
into the company.
To the Court, these circumstances do not indicate abandonment.
Page 45
What thus surfaces is that petitioner was constructively dismissed. No actual dismissal might have occurred in the sense that petitioner
was not served with a notice of termination, but there was constructive dismissal, petitioner having been placed in a position where
continued employment was rendered impossible and unreasonable by the circumstances indicated above
Morales vs. Harbour Centre

Floating Status; Abandonment Is Inconsistent With Filing A Claim For Constructive Dismissal
Since an employee like Morales who takes steps to protest his dismissal cannot logically be said to have abandoned his work, it is a settled
doctrine that the filing of a complaint for illegal dismissal is inconsistent with abandonment of employment
II.
SEXUAL HARASSMENT (Analogous to Serious Misconduct)

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7877 - Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995
Note: Gravamen of the Offense: not the mere violation of ones sexuality but the abuse of power by the employer who has
a duty to protect his employee against over-sex.
Section 3. Work, Education or Training -Related, Sexual Harassment Defined. Work, education or training-related sexual harassment is
committed by an employer, employee, manager, supervisor, agent of the employer, teacher, instructor, professor, coach, trainor, or any
other person who, having authority, influence or moral ascendancy over another in a work or training or education environment, demands,
requests or otherwise requires any sexual favor from the other, regardless of whether the demand, request or requirement for submission
is accepted by the object of said Act.
(a)
In a work-related or employment environment, sexual harassment is committed when:

(1)
The sexual favor is made as a condition in the hiring or in the employment, re-employment or continued
employment of said individual, or in granting said individual favorable compensation, terms of conditions,
promotions, or privileges; or the refusal to grant the sexual favor results in limiting, segregating or classifying the
employee which in any way would discriminate, deprive or diminish employment opportunities or otherwise
adversely affect said employee;
(2)
The above acts would impair the employee's rights or privileges under existing labor laws; or
(3)
The above acts would result in an intimidating, hostile, or offensive environment for the employee.
Sec. 5.Liability of the Employer, Head of Office, Educational or Training Institution. The employer or head of office, educational training
institution shall be solidarily liable for damage arising from the acts of sexual harassment committed in the employment, education or
training environment if the employer or head of office, educational or training institution is informed of such acts by the offended party
and no immediate action is taken thereon.
III. GROSS INEFFICIENCY OR POOR PERFORMANCE (Analogous To Gross And Habitual Neglect Of Duty)
When you terminate an employee on the ground of gross inefficiency:
1. Employer must prove that it has set standards of performance expected of the employee
2. These standards must be reasonable and in connection with the employees work
3. And there must be proof that the employee failed to meet the standards despite the
4. Given reasonable opportunity to meet the same.
There are a lot of requirements here since we are talking of a termination not of a probationary but of a regular
employee.
Universal Staffing Services Inc. vs NLRC, GR No. 177576, July 21, 2008
Poor Work Performance Just Cause If It Amounts To Gross And Habitual Neglect Of Duties
Morales' employment was terminated allegedly due to her poor work performance.
Under Article 282 of the Labor Code, an unsatisfactory rating can be a just cause for dismissal only if it amounts to gross and habitual
neglect of duties. Thus, the fact that an employee's performance is found to be poor or unsatisfactory does not necessarily mean that the
employee is grossly and habitually negligent of his duties
IV. DRUG ABUSE RA 9165 (Analogous To Serious Misconduct)

Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 RA 9165
Art. III
Section 36. Authorized Drug Testing. Authorized drug testing shall be done by any government forensic laboratories or by any of the drug
testing laboratories accredited and monitored by the DOH to safeguard the quality of test results. The DOH shall take steps in setting the
price of the drug test with DOH accredited drug testing centers to further reduce the cost of such drug test. The drug testing shall employ,
among others, two (2) testing methods, the screening test which will determine the positive result as well as the type of the drug used and
the confirmatory test which will confirm a positive screening test. Drug test certificates issued by accredited drug testing centers shall be
valid for a one-year period from the date of issue which may be used for other purposes. The following shall be subjected to undergo drug
testing:
xxx
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(d) Officers and employees of public and private offices. Officers and employees of public and private offices, whether domestic or
overseas, shall be subjected to undergo a random drug test as contained in the company's work rules and regulations, which shall be borne
by the employer, for purposes of reducing the risk in the workplace. Any officer or employee found positive for use of dangerous drugs
shall be dealt with administratively which shall be a ground for suspension or termination, subject to the provisions of Article 282 of the
Labor Code and pertinent provisions of the Civil Service Law;
D.O. No. 53-03

C. COMPONENTS OF A DRUG-FREE WORKPLACE POLICIES AND PROGRAMS
xxxx
b) Drug Testing Program for Officers and Employees
i. Employers shall require their officials and employees to undergo a random drug test (as defined in Annex 2) in accordance
with the companys work rules and regulations for purposes of reducing the risk in the workplace. Strict confidentiality shall be
observed with regard to screening and the screening results.
xxxx
iii. Drug testing shall conform with the procedures as prescribed by the Department of Health (DOH) (www.doh.gov.ph). Only
drug testing centers accredited by the DOH shall be utilized. A list of the accredited centers may be accessed through the OSHC
website (www.oshc.dole.gov.ph).
iv. Drug testing shall consist of both the screening test and the confirmatory test; the latter to be carried out should the
screening test turn positive. The employee concerned must be informed of the test results whether positive or negative.
v. Where the confirmatory test turns positive, the companys Assessment Team shall evaluate the results and determine the
level of care and administrative interventions that can be extended to the concerned employee.
c) Treatment, Rehabilitation and Referral
xxxx
ii. The Assessment Team shall determine whether or not an officer or employee found positive for drugs would need referral for treatment
and/or rehabilitation in a DOH accredited center.
iii. This option is given only to officers and employees who are diagnosed with drug dependence for the first time, or who turn to the
Assessment Team for assistance, or who would benefit from the treatment and rehabilitation.
iv. Following rehabilitation, the Assessment Team, in consultation with the head of the rehabilitation center, shall evaluate the status of the
drug dependent employee and recommend to the employer the resumption of the employees job if he/she poses no serious danger to
his/her co-employees and/or the workplace.
v. Repeated drug use even after ample opportunity for treatment and rehabilitation shall be dealt with the corresponding penalties under
the Act and its IRR.
An employee is using prohibited drugs while at work, or in the premises, or even outside the premises if on duty
2 tests under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Acts to determine whether one is using drugs or not
1.
screening test determine the positive result as well as the type of the drug used
2.
confirmatory test which will confirm a positive screening test.
Drug testing must be conducted by any laboratory duly accredited by the DOH.
Employer can compel employee to submit himself to drug test because of the Comprehensive Drugs Act. Before that
law, they cannot since it will violate the right to privacy.
Random drug testing can be done when employer saw some physical manifestations that you are using, the law allows
it.
If you refuse to comply with the request of a drug test and there exist a regulation, violation of which you can be
disciplined and even be terminated.
An employee found positive of drug use can be terminated. He should be submitted first to drug rehabilitation, the
employer is required to create a committee and when you are found positive of drug use then the employer under the
existing rules will submit you to rehab.
However, if you are a recidivist, then the employer can terminate your employment.
Termination due to drug abuse is the last resort.
Its different when you are using drugs or in possession of drug, then that will now be a ground for termination. (D.O.
No. 53-03 s. 2003)
Plantation Bay Resort and Spa et al., vs Dubrico,GR No. 182216, December 4, 2009
Drug Use
As reflected in the above matrix, the confirmatory test results were released earlier than those of the drug test, thereby casting doubts on
the veracity of the confirmatory results.
Indeed, how can the presence of shabu be confirmed when the results of the initial screening were not yet out?
Plantation Bays arguments that it should not be made liable thereof and that the doubt arising from the time of the conduct of the drug
and confirmatory tests was the result of the big volume of printouts being handled by Martell do not thus lie. It was Plantation Bays
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responsibility to ensure that the tests would be properly administered, the results thereof being the bases in terminating the employees
services
Nacague vs Sulpicio Lines Inc., GR No. 172589, August 8, 2010

Drug Use
Sulpicio failed to clearly show that Nacague was guilty of using illegal drugs. The lack of accreditation of S.M. Lazo Clinic made its drug test
results doubtful.
Section 36 of Republic Act No. 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002) provides that drug tests shall be performed only by any
government forensic laboratories or any of the drug testing laboratories accredited and monitored by the Department of Health, to
safeguard the quality of test results. The same provision also requires that drug testing should consist of both the screening test and the
confirmatory test. In this case, Sulpicio failed to prove that S.M. Lazo Clinic was an accredited drug testing center. Sulpicio did not even
deny Nacagues allegation that S.M. Lazo Clinic was not accredited. Also, only a screening test was conducted to determine if Nacague was
guilty of using illegal drugs. Sulpicio Lines did not confirm the positive result of the screening test with a confirmatory test
Kakampi vs. Kingspoint Express

Refusal to Submit To Drug Test- Serious Misconduct And Wilful Disobedience
The Court agreed with the CA that the petitioners refusal to submit themselves to drug test is a just cause for their dismissal. An employer
may terminate an employment on the ground of serious misconduct or willful disobedience by the employee of the lawful orders of his
employer or representative in connection with his work
Thus, this gives rise to the impression that their non-compliance is deliberate. The utter lack of reason or justification for their
insubordination indicates that it was prompted by mere obstinacy, hence, willful and warranting of dismissal
V.
ATTITUDE PROBLEM (Analogous To Breach Of Trust)

If you are an employee, you should be a team player. But if you have an attitude problem, that will be detrimental to
your employer which makes it a ground for termination.
Ex. Managerial employees refusal to carry out the company policies because you disagree
VI. DISLOYALTY/CONFLICT OF INTEREST (Analogous To Willful Breach Of Trust/Loss Of Confidence)

Holding a position in conflict with the present position
Ex: your employer is engaged in softdrinks business and you establish a company of the same business in competition
with your employer.
VII. LACK OF COMMON SENSE (Analogous To Gross And Habitual Neglect Of Duty)
VIII. ENFORCEMENT OF UNION SECURITY CLAUSE
Another cause for termination is dismissal from employment due to the enforcement of the union security clause in the
CBA. x x x. (Emphasis ours.)
"Union security" is a generic term, which is applied to and comprehends "closed shop," "union shop," "maintenance of
membership," or any other form of agreement which imposes upon employees the obligation to acquire or retain union
membership as a condition affecting employment. There is union shop when all new regular employees are required to join
the union within a certain period as a condition for their continued employment. There is maintenance of membership shop
when employees, who are union members as of the effective date of the agreement, or who thereafter become members,
must maintain union membership as a condition for continued employment until they are promoted or transferred out of
the bargaining unit or the agreement is terminated. A closed shop, on the other hand, may be defined as an enterprise in
which, by agreement between the employer and his employees or their representatives, no person may be employed in any
or certain agreed departments of the enterprise unless he or she is, becomes, and, for the duration of the agreement,
remains a member in good standing of a union entirely comprised of or of which the employees in interest are a part.
It is State policy to promote unionism to enable workers to negotiate with management on an even playing field and with
more persuasiveness than if they were to individually and separately bargain with the employer. For this reason, the law
has allowed stipulations for "union shop" and "closed shop" as means of encouraging workers to join and support the union
of their choice in the protection of their rights and interest vis--vis the employer.
Moreover, a stipulation in the CBA authorizing the dismissal of employees are of equal import as the statutory provisions on
dismissal under the Labor Code, since "a CBA is the law between the company and the union and compliance therewith is
mandated by the express policy to give protection to labor.
In terminating the employment of an employee by enforcing the union security clause, the employer needs only to
determine and prove that:
(1) the union security clause is applicable;
(2) the union is requesting for the enforcement of the union security provision in the CBA; and
Page 48
(3) there is sufficient evidence to support the decision of the union to expel the employee from the union. These
requisites constitute just cause for terminating an employee based on the union security provision of the CBA.
When certain employees are obliged to join a particular union as a requisite for continued employment, as in the case of
Union Security Clauses, this condition is a valid restriction of the freedom or right not to join any labor organization because
it is in favor of unionism.
Indeed, a union security clause in a CBA should be interpreted to give meaning and effect to its purpose, which is to afford
protection to the certified bargaining agent and ensure that the employer is dealing with a union that represents the
interests of the legally mandated percentage of the members of the bargaining unit.
IX. COMMISSION OF PROHIBITED ACTS DURING STRIKE
Prohibited acts during strike Art. 264
Solidbank Corp. vs Gamier et al., Gr No. 159461, November 15, 2010
Illegal Acts During Strike
There was no valid termination. Notwithstanding the illegality of the strike, we cannot sanction petitioners act of indiscriminately
terminating the services of individual respondents who admitted joining the mass actions and who have refused to comply with the offer of
the management to report back to work on April 6, 2000.
A worker merely participating in an illegal strike may not be terminated from employment. It is only when he commits illegal acts during a
strike that he may be declared to have lost employment status.
For the rest of the individual respondents who are union members, the rule is that an ordinary striking worker cannot be terminated for
mere participation in an illegal strike. There must be proof that he or she committed illegal acts during a strike. In all cases, the striker must
be identified. But proof beyond reasonable doubt is not required. Substantial evidence available under the attendant circumstances, which
may justify the imposition of the penalty of dismissal, may suffice. Liability for prohibited acts is to be determined on an individual basis.
The dismissal of herein respondent-union members are therefore unjustified in the absence of a clear showing that they committed
specific illegal acts during the mass actions and concerted work boycott.
The petitioners are not entitled to backwages.
The award of backwages is a legal consequence of a finding of illegal dismissal. Assuming that respondent-union members have indeed
reported back to work at the end of the concerted mass actions, but were soon terminated by petitioners who found their explanation
unsatisfactory, they are not entitled to backwages in view of the illegality of the said strike
Escario et al., vs NLRC et al., GR No. 160302, September 27, 2010

Violation Of Provision On Strike Of CBA; Grounds Of Grant Of Separation Pay Instead Of Reinstatement
Any worker whose employment has been terminated as a consequence of an unlawful lockout shall be entitled to reinstatement with full
backwages. Any union officer who knowingly participates in an illegal strike and any worker or union officer who knowingly participates in
the commission of illegal acts during a strike may be declared to have lost his employment status; Provided, That mere participation of a
worker in a lawful strike shall not constitute sufficient ground for termination of his employment, even if a replacement had been hired by
the employer during such lawful strike.
On the consequences of an illegal strike, the provision distinguishes between a union officer and a union member participating in an illegal
strike. A union officer who knowingly participates in an illegal strike is deemed to have lost his employment status, but a union member
who is merely instigated or induced to participate in the illegal strike is more benignly treated.
Petitioners not entitled to backwages despite their reinstatement. The principle of a "fair days wage for a fair days labor" remains as the
basic factor in determining the award thereof.
HANCOCK case
THEFT AGAINST A CO- EMPLOYEE- ANALOGOUS TO SERIOUS MISCONDUCT
Involved theft by an employee of a credit card. A cause analogous to serious misconduct is a voluntary and/or willful act or omission
attesting to an employee's moral depravity.
YRASEGUI case
OBESITY- ANALOGOUS TO WILFUL DISOBEDIENCE
Flight attendant who did not meet the minimum weight requirement. Obesity as a ground for termination is a just cause because it is for
the safety of the steward and passengers. Analogous to Wilful disobedience.
JUST CAUSES FOR ACADEMIC PERSONNEL IN THE TERTIARY LEVEL

Manual of Regulations for Private Higher Education of 2008
Section 121. Causes of Terminating Employment. In addition to the just causes enumerated in the Labor Code, the employment of personnel in a
higher education institution, may be terminated for any of the causes as follows:
(1) Grave misconduct, such as, but not limited to, giving of grades to a student in a subject not based solely on scholastic performance; failure
to maintain confidentiality of school records; contracting loans from students or parents; use of cruel punishment, insubordination;
(2)
Gross inefficiency and incompetence in the performance of duties such as, but not limited to failure to cope with the reasonable standard
of efficiency and competence of the institution; habitual absences and tardiness from classes, and willful neglect of employment or
assignment;
Page 49

(3)
Tampering or falsification of, or negligence in keeping school or student records including unreasonable delay in the submission of student
grades;
(4)
Conviction of a crime, or an attempt on, or a criminal act against the life of any school official, personnel, or student, or upon the property
or interest of the institution;
(5)
Being notoriously undesirable;
(6)
Disgraceful or immoral act inside or outside the school campus, or in the case of institutions established by a religious order or foreign
mission board, conduct contrary to the teaching of that religious sector operating the institution;
(7)
The sale of tickets or the collection of any contributions in any form or for any purpose or project whatsoever, whether voluntary or
otherwise, from students and school personnel;
(8)
Voluntary or request for de-loading of teaching units to less than the required minimum teaching assignment for full-time academic
personnel as fixed by the school;
(9)
In the event of phasing out, closure or cessation of the higher education program or of the institution itself; and
(10) Other causes analogous to the foregoing as may be provided for in the policies and regulation of the Commission or of the institution, or in
a collective bargaining agreement.
A higher education institution may provide for additional grounds for termination in accordance with its institutional policies, rules and regulations.
JUST CAUSES FOR ACADEMIC PERSONNEL IN BASIC EDUCATION

2010 DEPED Manual of Regulations for Private Schools DO No. 88, s. 2010
Section 76. Termination of Employment by the School Administration. School personnel of private schools under permanent status may be removed,
reduced in salary, or suspended without pay for the following causes:
(1) Dishonesty, fraud, or willful breach of the trust reposed in him by the school through its duly constituted authorities;
(2)
Oppression, or commission of a crime against the person of school officials, students, or any other component elements therein;
(3)
Misconduct which directly or indirectly affects the integrity of the school;
(4)
Neglect of duty, or inefficiency;
(5)
Notoriously disgraceful or immoral conduct;
(6)
Violation of Reasonable school rules, or willful disobedience of a reasonable order of the school authorities in connection with his work;
(7)
Improper or unauthorized solicitation or collection of contributions from, or selling of tickets or materials, to students and school
personnel;
(8)
Conviction of a crime involving moral turpitude; or
(9)
Other causes analogous to the foregoing as may be provided for in the regulations prescribed by the Secretary, or in the school rules, or in
collective bargaining agreements.
AUTHORIZED CAUSES
Art. 283. Closure of establishment and reduction of personnel. The employer may also terminate the employment of any employee due to the
installation of labor-saving devices, redundancy, retrenchment to prevent losses or the closing or cessation of operation of the establishment or
undertaking unless the closing is for the purpose of circumventing the provisions of this Title, by serving a written notice on the workers and the
Ministry of Labor and Employment at least one (1) month before the intended date thereof. In case of termination due to the installation of laborsaving devices or redundancy, the worker affected thereby shall be entitled to a separation pay equivalent to at least his one (1) month pay or to at
least one (1) month pay for every year of service, whichever is higher. In case of retrenchment to prevent losses and in cases of closures or cessation
of operations of establishment or undertaking not due to serious business losses or financial reverses, the separation pay shall be equivalent to one
(1) month pay or at least one-half (1/2) month pay for every year of service, whichever is higher. A fraction of at least six (6) months shall be
considered one (1) whole year.
AUTHORIZED CAUSES:
(1) Installation of Labor-Saving Devices
(2) Redundancy
(3) Retrenchment to Prevent Losses
(4) Closing or Cessation of Operation of the Establishment or Undertaking UNLESS the closing is for the purpose of circumventing
the provisions of law.
OTHER AUTHORIZED CAUSES:
(1) Total and Permanent Disability of An Employee
(2) Disease Not Curable in Six Months
(3) Valid Application of a Union Security Clause
(4) Expiration of Period in Term Employment
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(5) Completion of Project in Project Employment
(6) Failure in Probation
(7) Sale Amounting to Closure of Business
(8) Relocation of Business to a Distant Place
(9) Defiance of Return-to-Work Order
(10) Commission of Illegal Acts in a Strike
(11) Non-feasible Reinstatement
(12) Floating Status or Off-Detail Beyond Six Months
(13) Resignation
(14) Violation of a Contractual Commitment e.g. being a consultant to a competitor
(15) Retirement
(16) Death of employee
INSTALLATION OF LABOR SAVING DEVICE

Refers to the reduction of the number of workers in a companys factory made necessary by the introduction of machinery in the
manufacture of its products is justified. There can be no question as to the right of the manufacturer to use new labor saving devices
with a view to effecting more economy and efficiency in its method of production.
Example:
flexible work schedule
reduction of workdays- normal workdays per week is reduced but it should not be more than 6 months
compressed work week: more than 8 hours but less than 12 hours per day
work rotation: one group MWF, other group TTHS
flexi holiday: employees avail holidays on some other day but no diminution of benefits
gliding or flexi-time schedule: EE chooses when to arrive and depart but not less than the required hours of work
These are tentative or short term labor and cost saving measures.
In case of termination due to the installation of labor saving devices, the worker affected thereby shall be entitled to a separation
pay equivalent to at least his one month pay or to at least one month pay for every year of service, whichever is higher. (Article 283,
Labor Code.)
GUIDELINES ON THE ADOPTION OF FLEXIBLE WORK ARRANGEMENTS (DOLE Dept. Advisory No. 2, s. 2009)
I. PURPOSE
This advisory is being issued to assist and guide employers and employees in the implementation of various flexible work arrangements as one of the coping mechanisms
and remedial measures in times of economic difficulties and national emergencies. Adoption of flexible work arrangements is considered as a better alternative than the
outright termination of the services of the employees or the total closure of the establishment. Anchored on voluntary basis and conditions mutually acceptable to both the
employer and the employees, it is recognized as beneficial in terms of reduction of business costs and helps in saving jobs while maintaining competitiveness and
productivity in industries.
II. CONCEPT
The Department recognizes the desirability and practicality of flexible work arrangements that may be considered by employers after consultation with the employees,
taking into account the adverse consequence of the situation on the performance and financial condition of the company.
Flexible work arrangements refer to alternative arrangements or schedules other than the traditional or standard work hours, workdays and workweek.
The effectivity and implementation of any of the flexible work arrangements provided herein shall be temporary in nature.
III. FLEXIBLE WORK ARRANGEMENTS
The following are the flexible work arrangements which may be considered, among others:
(1)
Compressed Workweek refers to one where the normal workweek is reduced to less than six (6) days but the total number of work-hours of 48 hours per week
shall remain. The normal workday is increased to more than eight hours but not to exceed twelve hours, without corresponding overtime premium. The
concept can be adjusted accordingly depending on the normal workweek of the company pursuant to the provisions of Department Advisory No. 02, series of
2004, dated 2 December 2004.
(2)
Reduction of Workdays refer to one where the normal workdays per week are reduced but should not last for more than six months.
(3)
Rotation of Workers refers to one where the employees are rotated or alternately provided work within the workweek.
(4)
Forced Leave refers to one where the employees are required to go on leave for several days or weeks utilizing their leave credits if there are any.
(5)
Broken-time schedule refers to one where the work schedule is not continuous but the work-hours within the day or week remain.
(6)
Flexi-holidays schedule refers to one where the employees agree to avail the holidays at some other days provided there is no diminution of existing benefits as
a result of such arrangement.
Under these flexible work arrangements, the employers and the employees are encouraged to explore alternative schemes under any agreement and company policy or
practice in order to cushion and mitigate the effect of the loss of income of the employees.
IV. ADMINISTRATION OF FLEXIBLE WORK ARRANGEMENTS
Page 51
The parties to the flexible work schemes shall be primarily responsible for its administration. In case of differences of interpretation, the following guidelines shall be
observed:
1.
The differences shall be treated as grievances under the applicable grievance mechanism of the company.
2.
If there is no grievance mechanism or if this mechanism is inadequate, the grievance shall be referred to the Regional Office which has jurisdiction over the
workplace for appropriate conciliation.
3.
To facilitate the resolution of grievances, employers are required to keep and maintain, as part of their records, the documentary requirements proving that
the flexible work arrangement was voluntarily adopted.
V. NOTICE REQUIREMENT
Prior to its implementation, the employer shall notify the Department through the Regional Office which has jurisdiction over the workplace, of the adoption of any of the
above flexible work arrangements. The notice shall be in the Report Form attached to this Advisory.
The Regional Office shall conduct an ocular visit to validate whether the adoption of the flexible work arrangements is in accordance with this issuance.
Pantoja vs SCA Hygiene Products Corp., GR No. 163554, April 23, 2010
Good Faith In Installing A Labor Saving Device; Retrenchment As The Last Resort
Pantoja is not illegally dismissed. SCA Hygienes right of management prerogative was exercised in good faith. In International Harvester Macleod, Inc.
v. Intermediate Appellate Court, the determination of the need to phase out a particular department and consequent reduction of personnel and
reorganization as a labor and cost saving device is a recognized management prerogative which the courts will not generally interfere with.
Circumstances pointing good faith on SCA Hygienes part - the abolishment of Paper Mill No. 4 was a business judgment arrived at due to low demand
for the production of industrial paper at the time. As can be seen, retrenchment was utilized by respondent only as an available option in case the
affected employee would not want to be transferred. SCA Hygiene did not proceed directly to retrench. This, to our mind, is an indication of good
faith on respondents part as it exhausted other possible measures other than retrenchment. Besides, the employers prerogative to bring down labor
costs by retrenching must be exercised essentially as a measure of last resort, after less drastic means have been tried and found wanting. Giving the
workers an option to be transferred without any diminution in rank and pay specifically belie petitioners allegation that the alleged streamlining
scheme was implemented as a ploy to ease out employees, thus, the absence of bad faith
Rosa vs Ambassador Hotel, GR No. 177059, March 13, 2009

No Abandonment; Reduction Of Workdays Through Work Reduction/ Rotation Scheme
Respondents sudden, arbitrary and unfounded adoption of the two-day work scheme which greatly reduced petitioners salaries renders it liable for
constructive dismissal.
Edge Apparel vs. NLRC, G.R. No. 121314, February 12, 1998
Distinguished from Retrenchment
The institution of new methods or more efficient machinery, or of automation is technically a ground for termination of employment by reason of
installation of labor-saving devices but where the introduction of these methods is resorted to not merely to effect greater efficiency in the operations
of the business but principally because of serious business reverses and to avert further losses, the device could then verily be considered one of
retrenchment.
REDUNDANCY
Exists where the services of an employee are in excess of what is reasonably demanded by the actual requirement of the enterprise
Position is redundant, not the worker
Employer has no legal obligation to keep in its payroll more employees than are necessary for the operation of its business
Causes:
o Over hiring of workers
o Decreased volume of business
o Dropping of a particular product line or service activity previously undertaken or
o Streamlining of operations
o Lack of demand for products
La Union Cement Workers Union et al., vs NLRC et al., GR No. 174621, January 30, 2009
Redundancy
Petitioner Almoites work as an oiler for both the wet line and dry line has become redundant or superfluous following the closure of the wet line. By
and large, the determination of whether to maintain or phase out an entire department or section or to reduce personnel lies with the management.
Thus, his termination on the ground of redundancy is an authorized cause for termination under Article 283 of the Labor Code.
There was a curtailment in operations, certain activities were rendered either excess or no longer necessary, hence, redundant.
Lowe Inc., et al., vs CA,GR No. 164813 & 174590, August 14, 2009
Requisites For A Valid Redundancy Program; Criteria In Implementing A Redundancy Program
For a valid implementation of a redundancy program, the employer must comply with the following requisites:
(1)
written notice served on both the employee and the DOLE at least one month prior to the intended date of termination;
(2)
payment of separation pay equivalent to at least one month pay or at least one month pay for every year of service, whichever is higher;
(3)
good faith in abolishing the redundant position; and
(4)
fair and reasonable criteria in ascertaining what positions are to be declared redundant.
Page 52

Among the accepted criteria in implementing a redundancy program are:
(1)
preferred status;
(2)
efficiency; and
(3)
seniority.
Here, Mutuc, was the most junior of all the executives of Lowe. She was also the least efficient and least competent among all the creative directors.
Fulache, et al., vs ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp.,GR No. 183810, January 21, 2010
Dismissal Due To Redundancy Not Done In Good Faith
While notice has been made to the employees whose positions were declared redundant, the element of good faith in abolishing the positions of the
complainants appear to be wanting. In fact, it remains undisputed that herein complainants were terminated when they refused to sign an
employment contract with Able Services which would make them appear as employees of the agency and not of ABS-CBN. Such act by itself clearly
demonstrates bad faith on the part of the respondent in carrying out the companys redundancy program
Culili vs Eastern Telecommunications Phils et al., GR No. 165381, February 9, 2011

Redundancy
There is redundancy when the service capability of the workforce is greater than what is reasonably required to meet the demands of the business
enterprise. A position becomes redundant when it is rendered superfluous by any number of factors such as over-hiring of workers, decrease in
volume of business, or dropping a particular product line or service activity previously manufactured or undertaken by the enterprise.
This Court has been consistent in holding that the determination of whether or not an employees services are still needed or sustainable properly
belongs to the employer. Provided there is no violation of law or a showing that the employer was prompted by an arbitrary or malicious act, the
soundness or wisdom of this exercise of business judgment is not subject to the discretionary review of the Labor Arbiter and the NLRC.
Among the requisites of a valid redundancy program are:
(1)
the good faith of the employer in abolishing the redundant position; and
(2)
fair and reasonable criteria in ascertaining what positions are to be declared redundant, such as but not limited to: preferred status,
efficiency, and seniority.
This Court also held that the following evidence may be proffered to substantiate redundancy: the new staffing pattern, feasibility studies/ proposal
on the viability of the newly created positions, job description and the approval by the management of the restructuring
RETRENCHMENT TO PREVENT LOSSES
Requisites:
(1) Losses are substantial and not merely de minimis in extent

o
If the loss purportedly sought to be forestalled by retrenchment is clearly shown to be unsubstantial and
inconsequential in character, the bona fide nature of the retrenchment would appear to be seriously in question.
(2) Loss must be reasonably imminent, as such imminence can be perceived objectively and in good faith by the employer.
o
There should in other words be a certain degree of urgency, for the retrenchment, which is after all a drastic recourse
with serious consequences for the livelihood of the employees retires or otherwise laid-off.
(3) It must be reasonably necessary and likely to effectively prevent the expected losses.
(4) Alleged losses must be proved by sufficient and convincing evidence.
NOTE:
All 4 requisites must be present.
Financial statements duly audited by an independent external auditor is the best and most reliable method to determine the
existence of losses
Income tax return is NOT reliable to prove losses because it is self- serving.
It is NOT required that an employer be required to experience actual loss before retrenchment can be valid because if the law
requires actual loss before the declaration of retrenchment it would violate due process since it would tantamount to
deprivation of right to property.
Must resort first to labor and cost saving measures or devices before resorting to retrenchment.
To show serious business losses, FS would show that the retained earnings is impaired
If you are suffering from business losses, you need not pay separation pay. But it would not stop employees from filing a petition
for involuntary insolvency against the employer in order to enforce the workers preference. But that is inferior to secured
creditors.
Causes:
o Lack of work
o Business recession
o Fire
Criteria who to retrench (fair and reasonable):
(1) Efficiency Rating (Performance Evaluation)
Page 53

(2) Less Preferred Status
(3) Seniority
(4) Physical fitness
(5) Age
(6) Size of the family
(7) Proof of financial loses
If you do not follow the criteria then it is illegal dismissal.
REDUNDANCY VS RETRENCHMENT
Redundancy results from the fact that the position of the employee has become superfluous, an excess over what is actually
needed even if the business has not suffered serious reverses
Effect: separation pay for redundancy is higher than that for retrenchment
Retrenchment linked with losses; cost cutting measure made immediately necessary by business reduction or reverses
TEMPORARY VS PERMANENT RETRENCHMENT
Permanent Retrenchment Art 283
Temporary Retrenchment Art 286 when the six-month period is over and the employee still willing to work is not recalled, he is
deemed separated or constructively dismissed.
Mendros, Jr. vs Mitsubishi Motors Phils Corp., GR No. 169780, February 16, 2009
Retrenchment Due To Substantial Losses
The phrase necessarily implies that retrenchment may be effected even in the event only of imminent, impending, or expected losses. The employer
need not wait for substantial losses to materialize before exercising ultimate and drastic option to prevent such losses.
Flight Attendants and Steward Association of the Phils vs Phil Airlines,GR No. 178083, October 2, 2009
Pilots Strike Not A Valid Reason To Retrench
The strike was a temporary occurrence that did not necessitate the immediate and sweeping retrenchment of 1,400 cabin or flight attendants. Some
of the striking pilots went back to work less than one month after the strike began.
It could have implemented the cost-cutting measures being discussed as a temporary measure to obviate the adverse effects of the pilots
strike. There was no reason to drastically implement a permanent retrenchment scheme in response to a temporary strike, which could have ended at
any time, or remedied promptly, if management acted with alacrity.
PAL must still prove that it implemented cost-cutting measures to obviate retrenchment, which under the law should be the last resort.
The employers obligation to exhaust all other means to avoid further losses without retrenching its employees is a component of the first element as
enumerated above. To impart operational meaning to the constitutional policy of providing full protection to labor, the employers prerogative to
bring down labor costs by retrenching must be exercised essentially as a measure of last resort, after less drastic means have been tried and found
wanting
Simizu Phils Contractors Inc., vs Callanta, GR No. 165923, September 29, 2010
Retrenchment
SC ruled that there was substantial compliance for a valid retrenchment; petitioner used fair and reasonable criteria in effecting retrenchment but
that the termination notice sent to DOLE did not comply with the 30-day notice requirement, thus, respondent is entitled to indemnity for violation of
due process.
As an authorized cause for separation from service under Article 283 of the Labor Code, retrenchment is a valid exercise of management prerogative
subject to the strict requirements set by jurisprudence:
(1)
That the retrenchment is reasonably necessary and likely to prevent business losses which, if already incurred, are not merely de
minimis, but substantial, serious, actual and real, or if only expected, are reasonably imminent as perceived objectively and in good faith by
the employer;
(2)
That the employer served written notice both to the employees and to the Department of Labor and Employment at least one month prior
to the intended date of retrenchment;
(3)
That the employer pays the retrenched employees separation pay equivalent to one month pay or at least month pay for every year of
service, whichever is higher;
(4)
That the employer exercises its prerogative to retrench employees in good faith for the advancement of its interest and not to defeat or
circumvent the employees right to security of tenure; and
(5)
That the employer used fair and reasonable criteria in ascertaining who would be dismissed and who would be retained among the
employees, such as status, x x x efficiency, seniority, physical fitness, age, and financial hardship for certain workers
Plastimer Industrial Corp., vs Gopo et al, GR No. 183390, February 16, 2011
Retrenchment
An independent auditor confirmed petitioners losses for the years 2001 and 2002.The fact that there was a net income in 2003 does not justify the
Court of Appeals ruling that there was no valid reason for the retrenchment. Records showed that the net income of P6,185,707.05 for 2003 was not
Page 54
even enough for petitioners to recover from the P52,904,297.88 loss in 2002.Article 283 of the Labor Code recognizes retrenchment to prevent losses
as a right of the management to meet clear and continuing economic threats or during periods of economic recession to prevent losses. There is no
need for the employer to wait for substantial losses to materialize before exercising ultimate and drastic option to prevent such losses
CLOSURE OF BUSINESS
It is NOT necessary that the entire business will close, it may just be a department, division or section.
The significance of the qualification (not due to serious business reverses) in the law for closure is that separation pay is not
given if it is due to serious business losses (North Davao Mining case)
North Davao Mining vs NLRC, 1996: the corporation is owned and managed by Philippine Government and had to close in
1992 because for the past five years has been incurring mind boggling losses averaging 3billion per year and in 1991 its
liabilities exceeded its assets by 20,392. Justice Panganiban explained that Art 283 governs the grant of separation benefits in
case of closures or cessation of operation of business establishments NOT due to business losses or financial reverses . If
closure is due to financial losses that amounted to 20 billion, Labor Code does not impose ny obligation upon the employer to
pay separation benefits
GUIDELINES ON THE PROCEDURE FOR CLOSURE OF BUSINESS UNDER RA 9231 (DOLE DEPT. CIRCULAR NO. 3, S. 2009)
I. PURPOSE
This Circular is being issued to guide the DOLE Regional Offices on the procedure for closure on the basis of Republic Act No. 9231 (An Act Providing for the Elimination of
the Worst Forms of Child Labor and Affording Stronger Protection for the Working Child), particularly its Section 16 g, amending Section 16 Penalties of Republic Act No.
7610 (Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act) and Department Order No. 65-04 or the Implementing Rules and Regulations
of RA 9231, particularly Sections 21, 23 and 24.
II. CLOSURE AFTER NOTICE AND HEARING
In accordance with the abovementioned legal basis, the Secretary of Labor and Employment or the Regional Director may order the closure of any business, firm, or
establishment found to have violated any of the provisions of RA 9231 more than three (3) times. Prior notice and hearing is required before the issuance of such Closure
Order, unless there is a ground for immediate closure, as set forth in Section III below. The hearing for the issuance of a Closure Order shall be summary in nature.
III. IMMEDIATE CLOSURE
Prior notice and hearing is not required if any of the following circumstances or grounds is present:
(1)
The violation of any provision of RA 9231 has resulted in the death, insanity, or serious physical injury of a child employed in such establishment;
(2)
Such firm or establishment is employing a child for prostitution or obscene or lewd shows; or
(3)
There is imminent danger to the life and limb of the child. An imminent danger is a condition or practice that could reasonably be expected to cause death or
serious physical harm before abatement under the enforcement procedures can be accomplished.
Under any of the above circumstances, the Secretary of Labor and Employment or the Regional Director shall order the immediate closure of the business, firm or
establishment. For purposes herein, the term immediate shall mean a reasonable time not to exceed five (5) working days reckoned from receipt by the Regional Director
of the complaint or petition for closure and relevant documentary evidence in support thereof.
Such documentary evidence shall be attached to the Notice of Closure and shall include a combination of any or all, but not limited to, the following documents as may be
applicable, to wit:
(1)
Inspection Report
(2)
Proof of childs age, such as the NSO-authenticated Certificate of Live Birth;
(3)
Sworn Statement of the complainant-child or children and their witnesses;
(4)
Photographs;
(5)
Daily Time Records and/or Time Sheet;
(6)
Results of Physical and Medical Examination as issued by a competent medical practitioner;
(7)
Accident Report;
(8)
Results of ultra-violet (UV) testing for receipt of marked money by the offender during entrapment; and
(9)
Business License/Permit/SEC Registration of the business, firm, or establishment concerned.
In any of the above three circumstances or grounds, the prescribed procedure is a close-now-hear-later process, which shall be summary in nature. In this procedure, the
Notice of Closure shall include a statement duly notifying the establishment concerned of a subsequent hearing that will be conducted to determine whether to affirm or
reverse the closure order.
IV. RESCUE OPERATIONS IN RELATION TO CLOSURE PROCEEDINGS: PRESENCE OR PARTICIPATION OF DOLE PERSONNEL
Section 24 of DO 65-04 provides that the proceedings for closure may be initiated motu proprio by the Department or upon complaint by any interested party. Thus, the
closure proceedings may be initiated by the Regional Office even without a prior rescue operation or even without the presence of DOLE personnel in such an operation.
The foregoing notwithstanding, the participation of the DOLE in the rescue operation is hereby encouraged.
Incase a complaint or petition for closure is filed by any interested party after a rescue operation had already been conducted without the presence of DOLE personnel, the
DOLE Regional Director shall take cognizance of the complaint or petition and proceed with the appropriate steps, which may include an ocular visit or inspection or
investigation, to validate the existence of any ground for closure.
The Sec. Of Labor and Employment may order the closure of any business, firm or establishment found to have violated the
provisions of RA 9231 for more than 3 times. Prior notice and hearing is required before the issuance of the Closure Order,
unless ther is a ground for immediate closure as provided in Sec III. The hearing for the Closure Order is summary in nature.
(Sec. II DOLE Dept. Cir. No. 3 S. 2009)
Prior notice and hearing is NOT required if any of the following circumstances or ground is present:
Page 55

o
Violation of any provision of RA 9231 resulted to death, insanity, or serious physical injury to the child employed in the
establishment
Firm is employing child for prostitution or lewd shows.
There is imminent danger to the life and limb of the child.
The term immediate means not more than 5 working days from the time of the receipt of the complaint.(Sec III. DOLE Dept.
Cir. No. 3 S. 2009)
Galaxi Steel Workers Union vs NLRC, GR No. 165757, October 17, 2006, citing North Davao Mining
Closure Due To Serious Business Losses
Where, the closure then is due to serious business losses, the Labor Code does not impose any obligation upon the employer to pay separation
benefits.
It is only in instances of "retrenchment to prevent losses and in cases of closures or cessation of operations of establishment or undertaking not due
to serious business losses or financial reverses" that employees whose employment has been terminated as a result are entitled to separation pay. In
other words, Article 283 of the Labor Code does not obligate an employer to pay separation benefits when the closure is due to serious losses. To
require an employer to be generous when it is no longer in a position to do so, in our view, would be unduly oppressive, unjust, and unfair to the
employer
ANALOGOUS AUTHORIZED CAUSES

Termination of lease contract
Non-renewal of permit to operate analogous to closure or cessation
Industrial Timber Corp., vs Ababon, GR No. 164518, January 25, 2006 and March 28, 2006
ITC notified the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and its workers that effective March 19, 1990 it will undergo a "no plant operation" due
to lack of raw materials and will resume only after it can secure logs for milling. Meanwhile, IPGC notified ITC of the expiration of the lease contract in
August 1990 and its intention not to renew the same. On June 26, 1990, ITC notified the DOLE and its workers of the plant's shutdown due to the nonrenewal of anti-pollution permit that expired
A reading of Article 283 of the Labor Code shows that a partial or total closure or cessation of operations of establishment or undertaking may either
be due to serious business losses or financial reverses or otherwise. Under the first kind, the employer must sufficiently and convincingly prove its
allegation of substantial losses, while under the second kind, the employer can lawfully close shop anytime as long as cessation of or withdrawal from
business operations was bona fide in character and not impelled by a motive to defeat or circumvent the tenurial rights of employees
Closure of the plywood plant was done in good faith and that it was due to causes beyond its control, the conclusion is inevitable that said closure is
valid
Manila Mining Corp Employees Association vs. Manila Mining Corp

Failure to Secure Permit
Despite all efforts exerted by MMC, it did not succeed in obtaining the consent of the residents of the community where the tailings pond would
operate, one of the conditions imposed by DENR-EMB in granting its application for a permanent permit. It is precisely MMCs faultless failure to
secure a permit which caused the temporary shutdown of its mining operations.
REQUISITES FOR VALID TERMINATION

1. Substantive due process the existence of just cause and authorized cause.
2. Procedural due process refers to the manner of dismissal whether there was compliance with the prior notice rule or the twin
notice requirement.
LABOR CODE
Article 277. Miscellaneous Provisions. x x x

(b) Subject to the constitutional right of workers to security of tenure and their right to be protected against dismissal except for a just and authorized
cause and without prejudice to the requirement of notice under Article 283 of this Code, the employer shall furnish the worker whose employment is
sought to be terminated a written notice containing a statement of the causes for termination and shall afford the latter ample opportunity to be
heard and to defend himself with the assistance of his representative if he so desires in accordance with company rules and regulations promulgated
pursuant to guidelines set by the Department of Labor and Employment. Any decision taken by the employer shall be without prejudice to the right of
the worker to contest the validity or legality of his dismissal by filing a complaint with the regional branch of the National Labor Relations Commission.
The burden of proving that the termination was for a valid or authorized cause shall rest on the employer. The Secretary of the Department of Labor
and Employment may suspend the effects of the termination pending resolution of the dispute in the event of a prima facie finding by the appropriate
official of the Department of Labor and Employment before whom such dispute is pending that the termination may cause a serious labor dispute or is
in implementation of a mass lay-off. (As amended by Section 33, Republic Act No. 6715, March 21, 1989)
DEFINITION
PREVENTIVE SUSPENSION
Page 56
Preventive suspension may be defined as the temporary removal of an employee charged for violation of company rules from his
present status or position. Preventive suspension is usually imposed against subject employee while the company is conducting an
investigation for his alleged violation in order to prevent him from causing further harm or damage to the company or his coemployees.
Preventive suspension is not a disciplinary measure, and should not be confused with suspension imposed as a penalty.
LEGAL BASIS
The right of employer to impose preventive suspension is not found in the Labor Code itself.
The oft-cited legal basis for imposition of preventive suspension is Section 8 and Section 9 of Rule XXIII, Book V, of the Omnibus Rules
Implementing the Labor Code, as amended by Department Order No. 9, Series of 1997, which read as follows:
Section 8. Preventive suspension. The employer may place the worker concerned under preventive suspension only if his continued
employment poses a serious and imminent threat to the life or property of the employer or of his co-workers.
Section 9. Period of suspension. No preventive suspension shall last longer than thirty (30) days. The employer shall thereafter reinstate
the worker in his former or in a substantially equivalent position or the employer may extend the period of suspension provided that
during the period of extension, he pays the wages and other benefits due to the worker. In such case, the worker shall not be bound to
reimburse the amount paid to him during the extension if the employer decides, after completion of the hearing, to dismiss the worker.
Interestingly, the above-quoted provisions are no longer reproduced in the present Omnibus Rules, as amended by Department
Order No. 40, Series of 2003, which supersedes Department Order 9-97.
It is opined, however, that the removal of said provisions from the omnibus rules did not diminish the right of the employer to
impose preventive suspension, considering that the justification for upholding the right is necessity itself, i.e., when continued
employment poses threats to the life of the employer or his co-worker.
DO NO. 19 FOR WORKERS IN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
Section 4. Preventive Suspension. Project or non project employees may be preventively suspended if their employment poses serious or imminent
threat to the life or property of the employer or his co- workers. No preventive suspension will last longer than 15 days. The employer shall thereafter
reinstate the worker in his former or in a substantially equivalent position or the employer may extend the period of suspension provided that during
the period of extension, he pays the wages and other benefits due to the worker. The employer shall designate a day, time and place within the period
of preventive suspension, with notice of the employee, to hold a fact-finding investigation, to enable the suspended employee to be heard and be
assisted by his counsel or representative, if he so desires, of the charge and against him and thereby exonerate the employee, or upon the employees
failure to vindicate himself, to find the employee guilty and thereby, to terminate his employment. Such termination shall not prejudice the right of
the employee to question the severance of the relationship in the appropriate forum.
Employee is NOT paid salary while he is under preventive suspension.

Employee is NOT unlawfully deprived of his wage.
If he is NOT found guilty- recover the unpaid wages
If found guilty- he cannot recover.
The nature of preventive suspension: It is a protective measure undertaken by the employer
o to protect the interest of his business
o to prevent further commission of another offense
o to prevent tampering of evidences to conceal a crime to prevent influence on the witnesses
Woodridge School vs. Enito
While the employer may place the worker concerned under preventive suspension, it can do so only if the latters continued employment poses a
serious and imminent threat to the life or property of the employer or of his co-workers. In this case, the grounds relied upon by petitioner in placing
respondents under preventive suspension were the alleged violation of school rules and regulations on the wearing of uniform, tardiness or absence,
and maliciously spreading false accusations against the school. These grounds do not, in any way, pose a threat to the life or property of the school, of
the teachers or of the students and their parents. Hence, we affirm the CAs conclusion that respondents preventive suspension was illegal.
STATUTORY DUE PROCESS VS. CONSTITUTIONAL DUE PROCESS

Agabon vs. NLRC, G.R. No. 158693, November 17, 2004
To be sure, the Due Process Clause in Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution embodies a system of rights based on moral principles so deeply
imbedded in the traditions and feelings of our people as to be deemed fundamental to a civilized society as conceived by our entire history. Due
process is that which comports with the deepest notions of what is fair and right and just. It is a constitutional restraint on the legislative as well as on
the executive and judicial powers of the government provided by the Bill of Rights.
Due process under the Labor Code, like Constitutional due process, has two aspects: substantive, i.e, the valid and authorized causes of employment
termination under the Labor Code; and procedural, i.e., the manner of dismissal. Procedural due process requirements for dismissal are found in the
Implementing Rules of PD 442, as amended, otherwise known as the Labor Code of the Philippines in Book VI, Rule I, Sec. 2, as amended by
Page 57
Department Order Nos. 9 and 10. Breaches of these due process requirements violate the Labor Code. Therefore, statutory due process should be
differentiated from failure to comply with constitutional due process.
Constitutional due process protects the individual from the government and assures him of his rights in criminal, civil or administrative proceedings;
while statutory due process found in the Labor Code and Implementing Rules protects employees from being unjustly terminated without just cause
after notice and hearing.
Serrano vs. NLRC, G.R. No. 117040, January 27, 2000

Violation of Notice Requirement Not A Denial of Due Process
The cases cited by both Justices Puno and Panganiban refer, however, to the denial of due process by the State, which is not the case here. There are
three reasons why, on the other hand, violation by the employer of the notice requirement cannot be considered a denial of due process resulting in
the nullity of the employees dismissal or layoff.
The first is that the Due Process Clause of the Constitution is a limitation on governmental powers. It does not apply to the exercise of private power,
such as the termination of employment under the Labor Code. This is plain from the text of Art. III, 1 of the Constitution, viz.: "No person shall be
deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. . . ." The reason is simple: Only the State has authority to take the life, liberty, or
property of the individual. The purpose of the Due Process Clause is to ensure that the exercise of this power is consistent with what are considered
civilized methods.
The second reason is that notice and hearing are required under the Due Process Clause before the power of organized society are brought to bear
upon the individual. This is obviously not the case of termination of employment under Art. 283. Here the employee is not faced with an aspect of the
adversary system. The purpose for requiring a 30-day written notice before an employee is laid off is not to afford him an opportunity to be heard on
any charge against him, for there is none. The purpose rather is to give him time to prepare for the eventual loss of his job and the DOLE an
opportunity to determine whether economic causes do exist justifying the termination of his employment.
Even in cases of dismissal under Art. 282, the purpose for the requirement of notice and hearing is not to comply with Due Process Clause of the
Constitution. The time for notice and hearing is at the trial stage. Then that is the time we speak of notice and hearing as the essence of procedural
due process. Thus, compliance by the employer with the notice requirement before he dismisses an employee does not foreclose the right of the
latter to question the legality of his dismissal. As Art. 277(b) provides, "Any decision taken by the employer shall be without prejudice to the right of
the worker to contest the validity or legality of his dismissal by filing a complaint with the regional branch of the National Labor Relations
Commission."
Indeed, to contend that the notice requirement in the Labor Code is an aspect of due process is to overlook the fact that Art. 283 had its origin in Art.
302 of the Spanish Code of Commerce of 1882 which gave either party to the employer-employee relationship the right to terminate their relationship
by giving notice to the other one month in advance. In lieu of notice, an employee could be laid off by paying him a mesada equivalent to his salary for
one month. This provision was repealed by Art. 2270 of the Civil Code, which took effect on August 30, 1950. But on June 12, 1954, R.A. No. 1052,
otherwise known as the Termination Pay Law, was enacted reviving the mesada. On June 21, 1957, the law was amended by R.A. No. 1787 providing
for the giving of advance notice or the payment of compensation at the rate of one-half month for every year of service.
The Termination Pay Law was held not to be a substantive law but a regulatory measure, the purpose of which was to give the employer the
opportunity to find a replacement or substitute, and the employee the equal opportunity to look for another job or source of employment. Where the
termination of employment was for a just cause, no notice was required to be given to the employee. It was only on September 4, 1981 that notice
was required to be given even where the dismissal or termination of an employee was for cause. This was made in the rules issued by the then
Minister of Labor and Employment to implement B.P. Blg. 130 which amended the Labor Code. And it was still much later when the notice
requirement was embodied in the law with the amendment of Art. 277(b) by R.A. No. 6715 on March 2, 1989. It cannot be that the former regime
denied due process to the employee. Otherwise, there should now likewise be a rule that, in case an employee leaves his job without cause and
without prior notice to his employer, his act should be void instead of simply making him liable for damages.
The third reason why the notice requirement under Art. 283 can not be considered a requirement of the Due Process Clause is that the employer
cannot really be expected to be entirely an impartial judge of his own cause. This is also the case in termination of employment for a just cause under
Art. 282 (i.e., serious misconduct or willful disobedience by the employee of the lawful orders of the employer, gross and habitual neglect of duties,
fraud or willful breach of trust of the employer, commission of crime against the employer or the latters immediate family or duly authorized
representatives, or other analogous cases).
Lack of Notice Only Makes Termination Ineffectual

Not all notice requirements are requirements of due process. Some are simply part of a procedure to be followed before a right granted to a party can
be exercised. Others are simply an application of the Justinian precept, embodied in the Civil Code, to act with justice, give everyone his due, and
observe honesty and good faith toward ones fellowmen. Such is the notice requirement in Arts. 282-283. The consequence of the failure either of the
employer or the employee to live up to this precept is to make him liable in damages, not to render his act (dismissal or resignation, as the case may
be) void. The measure of damages is the amount of wages the employee should have received were it not for the termination of his employment
without prior notice. If warranted, nominal and moral damages may also be awarded.
We hold, therefore, that, with respect to Art. 283 of the Labor Code, the employers failure to comply with the notice requirement does not constitute
a denial of due process but a mere failure to observe a procedure for the termination of employment which makes the termination of employment
merely ineffectual. It is similar to the failure to observe the provisions of Art. 1592, in relation to Art. 1191, of the Civil Code in rescinding a contract
for the sale of immovable property. Under these provisions, while the power of a party to rescind a contract is implied in reciprocal obligations,
nonetheless, in cases involving the sale of immovable property, the vendor cannot exercise this power even though the vendee defaults in the
payment of the price, except by bringing an action in court or giving notice of rescission by means of a notarial demand.[35] Consequently, a notice of
rescission given in the letter of an attorney has no legal effect, and the vendee can make payment even after the due date since no valid notice of
rescission has been given.
Indeed, under the Labor Code, only the absence of a just cause for the termination of employment can make the dismissal of an employee illegal. This
is clear from Art. 279 which provides:
Security of Tenure. - In cases of regular employment, the employer shall not terminate the services of an employee except for a just
cause or when authorized by this Title. An employee who is unjustly dismissed from work shall be entitled to reinstatement without loss of
seniority rights and other privileges and to his full backwages, inclusive of allowances, and to his other benefits or their monetary
equivalent computed from the time his compensation was withheld from him up to the time of his actual reinstatement.
Page 58
Thus, only if the termination of employment is not for any of the causes provided by law is it illegal and, therefore, the employee should be reinstated
and paid backwages. To contend, as Justices Puno and Panganiban do, that even if the termination is for a just or authorized cause the employee
concerned should be reinstated and paid backwages would be to amend Art. 279 by adding another ground for considering a dismissal illegal. What is
more, it would ignore the fact that under Art. 285, if it is the employee who fails to give a written notice to the employer that he is leaving the service
of the latter, at least one month in advance, his failure to comply with the legal requirement does not result in making his resignation void but only in
making him liable for damages. This disparity in legal treatment, which would result from the adoption of the theory of the minority cannot simply be
explained by invoking President Ramon Magsaysays motto that "he who has less in life should have more in law." That would be a misapplication of
this noble phrase originally from Professor Thomas Reed Powell of the Harvard Law School.
NOTES:
Art. 277 (b) does NOT contemplate constitutional due process.

Constitutional due process the state cannot deprive you of life, liberty and property without due process of law
Art. 277 (b) is a provision of statutory due process
Difference between consti due process and statutory due process
Act against the consti void
Act against the statutory due process under labor code act is still valid
Serrano vs. NLRC (difference between constitutional due process and statutory due process)
Statutory due process is presently known right to prior notice and hearing
SEC. 2, RULE I, BOOK VI, IMPLEMENTING RULES
Section 2. Security of tenure.

(a)
In cases of regular employment, the employer shall not terminate the services of an employee except for just or authorized causes as provided
by law, and subject to the requirements of due process.
(b)
The foregoing shall also apply in cases of probationary employment: Provided, however, that in such cases, termination of employment due to
failure of the employee to qualify in accordance with the standards of the employer made known to the former at the time of engagement
may also be a ground for termination of employment.
(c)
In cases of employment covered by contracting or subcontracting arrangements, no employee shall be dismissed prior to the expiration of the
contract between the principal and contractor or subcontractor as defined in Rule VIII-A, Book III of these Rules, unless the dismissal is for just or
authorized cause, or is brought about by the completion of the phase of the contract for which the employee was engaged but, in any case,
subject to the requirements of due process or prior notice.
(d)
In all cases of termination of employment, the following standards of due process shall be substantially observed:For termination of
employment based on just cases as defined in Article 282 of the Labor Code:
(e)
A written notice served on the employee specifying the ground or grounds for termination, and giving said employee reasonable opportunity
within which to explain his side.
(f)
A hearing or conference during which the employee concerned, with the assistance of counsel, if he so desires, is given opportunity to respond
to the charge, present his evidence, or rebut the evidence presented against him.
(g)
A written notice of termination served on the employee, indicating that upon due consideration of all the circumstances, grounds have been
established to justify his termination.
For termination of employment as defined in Article 283 of the Labor Code, the requirement of due process shall be deemed complied with upon
service of a written notice to the employee and the appropriate Regional Office of the Department of Labor and Employment at least thirty days
before effectivity of the termination, specifying the ground or grounds for termination.
If the termination is brought about by the completion of a contract or phase thereof, or by failure of an employee to meet the standards of the
employer in the case of probationary employment, it shall be sufficient that a written notice is served the employee within a reasonable time from
the effective date of termination.
PRIOR NOTICE AND HEARING RULE

Before an EE is terminated, he must be given notice about the termination and should be given an ample opportunity to be heard.
Ideally, this should be done by personally handing a copy of the notice to the employee concerned. However, if this is not possible,
the notices may be served on the employees last known address either by ordinary or registered mail (from legal viewpoint,
registered mail is preferred).
The mere posting of the notice on the bulletin board is not sufficient compliance. (Shoppers Gain Supermart, 1996)
If the employee refused to receive notice, the employer must serve the same by registered mail at his last known address. (See Nueva
Ecija Electric Coop case, 2005)
Dismissals based on just causes contemplate acts or omissions attributable to the employee while dismissals based on authorized
causes involve grounds - business or health - allowing the employer to terminate. A termination for an authorized cause requires
payment of separation pay. When the termination of employment is declared illegal, reinstatement and full backwages are mandated
under art. 279 of the Labor Code. If reinstatement is no longer possible where the dismissal was unjust, separation pay may be
granted.
Procedurally, (1) if the dismissal is based on a just cause under art. 282 of the Labor Code, the employer must give the employee two
written notices and a hearing or opportunity to be heard before terminating the employment, that is, a notice specifying the grounds
for which dismissal is sought and, after hearing or opportunity to be heard, a notice of the decision to dismiss; and (2) if the dismissal
is based on authorized causes under arts. 283 and 284 of the Labor Code, the employer must give the employee and the Department
of Labour and Employment written notices 30 days prior to the effectivity of the separation.
Page 59
PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENT FOR JUST CAUSES

Sec. 2, Rule I, Book VI of the Implementing Rules:
(1) Notice to explain
(2) Ground relied upon
(3) Facts which constitute the ground
(4) Giving the employee a reasonable opportunity to prepare and explain his side
(5) Intention of the employer to dismiss
(6) Notice of conference or investigation
(7) Notice of decision
Purpose of the first notice: In notice to explain you have to give him an opportunity to respond to the charges, by responding to
the charges he can decide to respond or deny, or admit it or not respond at all.
First notice requires ample opportunity to be heard. Reasonable opportunity under the omnibus rules means every kind of
assistance that management may provide. This period should constitute at least 5 calendar days so that employee may study the
situation, gather evidence and prepare intelligently his defense. 5 days, this is not provided in the Labor Code but in one case
(Genuino vs. NLRC, GR No. 142732-33, December 4, 2007)
What is important is that the employee is given opportunity to be heard. No prohibition of extension of the 5 year period.
What is important is there is a substantial compliance with the 5 day period to explain, its not something that is needed to be
strictly complied.
Conduct of hearing is not mandatory since it is only written in the IRR and not in the Labor Code itself. IRR is not the law, they
are merely interpretation for enforcement. What is important is the ample opportunity to be heard. When the SC looked for
conduct of hearing in the LC, they found none, and so they ruled that if there is a conflict between the IRR and the law, the law
prevails. Furthermore, the IRR only sought for substantial compliance. (Telecommunications vs. Garriel citing Perez)
Probationary employee may be terminated from just cause, authorized cause or failure to meet the standards
failure of an employee to meet the standards of the employer in the case of probationary employment, it shall be sufficient
that a written notice of termination for failure to qualify is served the employee within a reasonable time from the effective
date of termination
if employer fails to satisfy written notice for failure to give notice, employer is liable for nominal damages
Project employees may be terminated for just cause but NOT for failure to qualify with the standards
If project employee is terminated but NOT for a just cause, entitled for reinstatement, backwages- same rule with seasonal
employee
If dismissal is done in bad faith- under the civil code, employee is entitled to damages
Perez et al., vs Phil Telegraph && Telephone Company et al., GR No. 152048, April 7. 2009
Due Process Requirement DOES NOT Require Actual Or Formal Hearing
Petitioners dismissed due to alleged falsification of documents.
This Court has consistently ruled that the due process requirement in cases of termination of employment does not require an actual or formal
hearing
Instances when formal conference or hearing is mandatory:
1.
when the employee himself requests
2.
when it is a company practice
3. when it involves substantial evidentiary disputes
4. and other similar instances (Perez vs. PT&T)
Placido et al., VS NLRC, et al., GR No. 180888, September 18, 2009

Ample Opportunity To Be Heard Is Not Synonymous To A Formal Hearing
Sec. 2(d) should not be taken to mean, however, that holding an actual hearing or conference is a condition sine qua non for compliance with the due
process requirement in case of termination of employment. The test for the fair procedure guaranteed under Art. 277(b), LC is not whether there has
been a formal pretermination confrontation between the employer and the employee. The ample opportunity to be heard standard is neither
synonymous nor similar to a formal hearing. To confine the employees right to be heard to a solitary form narrows down that right.
What the law prohibits is absolute absence of the opportunity to be heard, hence, a party cannot feign denial of due process where he had been
afforded the opportunity to present his side. A formal or trial type hearing is not at all times and in all instances essential to due process, the
requirements of which are satisfied where the parties are afforded fair and reasonable opportunity to explain their side of the controversy.
D.M. Consunji vs. Gobres

Construction Employee Not Given Prior Or Advance Notice Of Termination VALID
Page 60
Prior or advance notice of termination is not part of procedural due process if the termination of a project employee is brought about by the
completion of the contract or phase thereof. This is because completion of the work or project automatically terminates the employment, in which
case, the employer is, under the law, only obliged to render a report to the DOLE. Therefore, failing to give project employees advance notice of their
termination is not a violation of procedural due process and cannot be the basis for the payment of nominal damages
Robinsons Galleria/Robinsons Supermarket Corp., vs Ranchez, GR No. 177937, January 19, 2011
Illegal Dismissal Of Probationary Employee; No Due Process
The services of an employee who has been engaged on probationary basis may be terminated for any of the following: (1) a just or (2) an authorized
cause; and (3) when he fails to qualify as a regular employee in accordance with reasonable standards prescribed by the employer.
In the instant case, based on the facts on record, petitioners failed to accord respondent substantive and procedural due process. The haphazard
manner in the investigation of the missing cash, which was left to the determination of the police authorities and the Prosecutor's Office, left
respondent with no choice but to cry foul. Administrative investigation was not conducted by petitioner Supermarket. On the same day that the
missing money was reported by respondent to her immediate superior, the company already pre-judged her guilt without proper investigation, and
instantly reported her to the police as the suspected thief
They are mandated to conduct their own separate investigation, and to accord the employee every opportunity to defend himself.
Right to confront witness against employee

Employee has the right to confront the witness against him. It is necessary to controvert the grounds imputed against him.
To rebut the charges.
However, the employee may waive his right to confront the witness against him.
Employer does NOT have the obligation to give employee the right to confront the witness against him.
Right to Counsel
Employee has a right to counsel during investigation, this right is also waivable.
Employer is under NO obligation to provide employee a counsel.
Employee is supposed to invoke these rights. If not invoked, may be validly waived. If he invokes the right and the employer
denies it then violation of due process.
CONSEQUENCES OF COMPLIANCE AND NON COMPLIANCE WITH JUST CAUSE AND PRIOR NOTICE REQUIREMENT TABLE
1. with JC
and PN
Consequence
VALID
2. with JC;
no PN
3. NO JC;
with PN
VALID
4. NO JC;
NO PN
INVALID=
dismissal
INVALID=
illegal
dismissal
(Basis: Art. 279)
illegal
Employees relief
GR: None Basis: Art. 279
Exc: Employee may be awarded Separation pay as financial assistance provided that the
dismissal was for a just cause which does not involve serious misconduct or those reflecting
on his moral character. (based on equity)
How much? month pay for every year of service
(measure of compassionate justice; discerning compassion doctrine)
Nominal damages-to vindicate the right that was wronged tempered (Agabon and Jaka
case)
1. reinstatement without loss of seniority rights and other privileges and
2. full backwages, inclusive of allowances, and other benefits or their monetary equivalent
computed from the time his compensation was withheld from him up to the time of his
actual reinstatement.
1. reinstatement
2. full backwages and other benefits
4. damages
DISCUSSION ON WITH JC BUT WITHOUT PN:

Agabon et al., G.R.No. 158693, November 17, 2004
In this case, the Supreme Court revisited Serrano and re-examined the lack of statutory basis in the Labor Code for declaring as
"ineffectual or defective" a dismissal of an employee for a valid or authorized cause but without complying with the employee's
statutory right to due process. Following the 1989 vintage case of Wenphil (170 SCRA 69 [1989]), the present rule now as laid down
in Agabon et al. is to hold the dismissal as valid (no longer defective or ineffectual) but with the qualification, that the employer
will have to pay the "validly" dismissed employee the sum of P30,000 as nominal damages for non-observance by the employer of
the employee's right to due process. In the mind of the High Court, P30,000 was considered as a stiffer" sanction than the P1,000
which it originally awarded in Wenphil. Being a landmark decision by the Supreme Court en banc, Agabon et al., is now the leading
authority used by many human resource practitioners and management lawyers, citing it with distinction to overturn previous
decisions of the High Court based on Serrano (Caingat vs. NLRC, G.R. No. 154308, March 10, 2005; Chua vs. NLRC, G.R. No. 146780,
March 11, 2005; Glaxo Wellcome Phils., vs. Nagkaisang Empleyado ng Wellcome, G.R. No. 149349, March 11, 2005).
Notably however, as what the Supreme Court said in reversing Serrano, social justice is not based on rigid formulas set in stone. A few
Page 61
months ago after enunciating Agabon et al., the cash equivalent, so to speak, of the "belated due process" rule was further clarified
by the Supreme Court in the more recent en banc case of Jaka Food Processing vs. Pacot et al., (G.R. No. 151378, March 28, 2005).
Here, the Court found the need to make a material distinction as regards the gravity of the sanction which an employer should be
meted in case it violates the employee's right to due process. Thus in this recent case, the cash equivalent may be "tempered" or
made "stiffer", depending on the cause for termination. In other words, the P30,000 indemnity in Agabon, et al., is not a uniform
amount of indemnity to be applied in all cases of termination for cause when there is non-compliance with due process.
Clearly then, the Court laid down the following parameters:
if the dismissal is based on just cause under Article 282 but the employer failed to comply with the notice requirement, the
sanction to be imposed upon him should be tempered because the dismissal was, in effect initiated by an act imputable to
the employee; and
if the dismissal is based on authorized cause under Article 283 but the employer failed to comply with the notice
requirement, the sanction should be stiffer because the dismissal process was initiated by the employer's exercise of his
management prerogative. In Jaka Food Processing Corp., a P50,000 award was considered by the Supreme Court as a
"stiffer" sanction.
PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENT FOR AUTHORIZED CAUSES

(1) service of a written notice to the (show cause letter)
(a) employee and (so that he can look for another job)
(b) the appropriate Regional Office of the DOLE (so that it can check the validity or legality of the dismissal bec. The Sec. of
Labor can suspend the effect of the termination bec. That could result to mass lay off as provided in Art. 277(b))
(c) at least 30 days before the effectivity of the termination
(2) specifying the ground or grounds of termination
Termination due to completion of the contract or phase thereof- no prior notice required
Termination due to failure of an employee to meet the standards for probationary employment- written notice is served
the employee within reasonable time from effective date of termination.
Personal service of notice is required.
Notice of termination is served at the nearest regional office of DOLE having jurisdiction over the workplace
But nothing is stopping you from serving the notice of termination to the head office of DOLE bec. That is still substantial
compliance.
EFFECT OR CONSEQUENCE OF A VALID DISMISSAL
ART. 283. Closure of establishment and reduction of personnel.- The employer may also terminate the employment of any employee due to the
installation of labor-saving devices, redundancy, retrenchment to prevent losses or the closing or cessation of operation of the establishment or
undertaking unless the closing is for the purpose of circumventing the provisions of this Title, by serving a written notice on the workers and the
Ministry of Labor and Employment at least one (1) month before the intended date thereof. In case of termination due to the installation of laborsaving devices or redundancy, the worker affected thereby shall be entitled to a separation pay equivalent to at least his one (1) month pay or to at
least one (1) month pay for every year of service, whichever is higher. In case of retrenchment to prevent losses and in cases of closures or cessation
of operations of establishment or undertaking not due to serious business losses or financial reverses, the separation pay shall be equivalent to one
(1) month pay or at least one-half (1/2) month pay for every year of service, whichever is higher. A fraction of at least six (6) months shall be
considered one (1) whole year.
ART 283 applies to employees whose employment are validly terminated

Relief is separation pay
General Rule: When an employee is dismissed and the dismissal complies with both substantive and procedural due process,
separation pay is not given.
Exception: If one is dismissed based on a just cause, and such cause does not constitute serious misconduct nor reflect the
employees moral character, Separation pay may be validly awarded to the employee concern. This is called the DISCERNING
COMPASSION DOCTRINE.
The award of Separation Pay is called a FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE and is awarded based on equity. It is a measure of social justice where
the employee is validly dismissed for causes not constituting serious misconduct or those reflecting on his moral character.
In most cases, the Supreme Court awarded financial assistance equivalent to one-half month pay for every year of service.
Page 62
JUST CAUSE
Separation pay, in lieu of reinstatement, shall include the amount equivalent at least to one (1) month salary or to one (1) month
salary for every year of service, whichever is higher, a fraction of at least six (6) months being considered as one (1) whole year
including regular allowances. If the employee is not regular, he is not included.
AUTHORIZED CAUSE
Separation pay is as follows:
a) In case of termination due to the installation of labor-saving devices or redundancy, the worker affected thereby shall
be entitled to a separation pay equivalent to at least one (1) month pay or to at least one (1) month pay for every year
of service, whichever is higher.
b) In case of retrenchment to prevent losses and in cases of closures or cessation of operations of establishment or
undertaking not due to serious business losses or financial reverses, the separation pay shall be equivalent to one (1)
month pay or at least one-half (1/2) month pay for every year of service, whichever is higher. A fraction of at least six
(6) months shall be considered one (1) whole year.
c) In cases of closures or cessation of operations of establishment or undertaking due to serious business losses or
financial reverses, there shall be no separation pay.
EFFECT OR CONSEQUENCE OF AN INVALID DISMISSAL
ART. 279. Security of tenure. - In cases of regular employment, the employer shall not terminate the services of an employee except for a just cause
or when authorized by this Title. An employee who is unjustly dismissed from work shall be entitled to reinstatement without loss of seniority rights
and other privileges and to his full backwages, inclusive of allowances, and to his other benefits or their monetary equivalent computed from the time
his compensation was withheld from him up to the time of his actual reinstatement. (As amended by Section 34, Republic Act No. 6715, March 21,
1989).
(1) Backwages
RELIEFS AVAILABLE TO UNJUSTLY DISMISSED EMPLOYEE
(2) Reinstatement
(3) Separation Pay
(4) Damages (Moral and Exemplary when warranted)
BACKWAGES
Backwages salary, or compensation, benefits, or their monetary equivalent from the time it was withheld from the employee
without deduction on employees earnings elsewhere during the time of his illegal dismissal until his reinstatement
The salary that the employee would have earned had he no been illegally dismissed. It is computed from the date of the illegal
dismissal up to the date of the illegal dismissal up to the date of the employees actual reinstatement.
The basic figure to be used in the computation of backwages due to the employee should include not just the basic salary, but also
th
the regular allowances that he had been receiving such as the emergency living allowance and 13 month pay mandated by the law
(Paramount Vinyl Product vs. NLRC)
Facilities should not be included in the computation of backwages for the reason that such are given free, to be used only for official
tour of duty and not for personal use.
Equitabl vs. Sadac
Inclusive Of Allowances and Benefits; Excludes Salary Increases Because: Volatile and Dependent On Numerous Valuables; Mere
Expectancy; No Degree Of Assuredness
Court does NOT see that a salary increase can be interpreted as either an allowance or a benefit- salary increases are not akin to allowances or
benefits and cannot be confused with either an unqualified award of backwages means that the employee is paid at the wage rate at the time of his
dismissal . the base figure to be used in the computation of backwages is pegged at the wage rate at the time of the employees dismissal
Aro vs. NLRC

Computation of Backwages For Project Employees
Therefore, being project employees, petitioners are only entitled to full backwages, computed from the date of the termination of their employment
until the actual completion of the work. Illegally dismissed workers are entitled to the payment of their salaries corresponding to the unexpired
portion of their employment where the employment is for a definite period. 18 In this case, as found by the CA, the Cordova Reef Village Resort
project had been completed in October 1996 and private respondent herein had signified its willingness, by way of concession to petitioners, to set
the date of completion of the project as March 18, 1997; hence, the latter date should be considered as the date of completion of the project for
purposes of computing the full backwages of petitioners.
Page 63
Chairs are not considered benefits because it is for the efficiency of the workers.
If the EEs are dismissed, they CANNOT include the chairs as backwages because the benefits do not involve those which are used
in the performance of the job and will not increase their standard of living.
REINSTATEMENT OR SEPARATION PAY IN CASE REINSTATEMENT IS NO LONGER FEASIBLE
General Rule: Restoration of the employee to his previous position or to a substantially equivalent position without loss of seniority
rights and other privileges.
When one is entitled to reinstatement and position does not exist anymore, EE may be reinstated to a substantially
equivalent position. If no substantial equivalent position is available, or the establishment closed, EE may be entitled to
separation pay. (Sec. 4. Book VI or IRR)
Separation pay is at least 1 month or 1 month for every year of service whichever is higher
Exceptions (Instances when reinstatement is no longer available which entitles EE to separation pay):
(1) Strained relations - must be so compelling and so serious in character that the continued employment of the EE is so obnoxious
to the person/ business of the ER and that the continuation of such employment has become inconsistent with peace and
tranquility which is an ideal atmosphere in every workplace.
Bank of Lubao vs. Manabat
Doctrine of Strained Relations
Under the law and prevailing jurisprudence, an illegally dismissed employee is entitled to reinstatement as a matter of right. However, if
reinstatement would only exacerbate the tension and strained relations between the parties, or where the relationship between the
employer and the employee has been unduly strained by reason of their irreconcilable differences, particularly where the illegally
dismissed employee held a managerial or key position in the company, it would be more prudent to order payment of separation pay
instead of reinstatement
In such cases, it should be proved that the employee concerned occupies a position where he enjoys the trust and confidence of his
employer; and that it is likely that if reinstated, an atmosphere of antipathy and antagonism may be generated as to adversely affect the
efficiency and productivity of the employee concerned, the refusal of the respondent to be re-admitted to work is in itself indicative of the
existence of strained relations between him and the petitioner
(2) when reinstatement has become impossible because of a supervening event

Example: abolition in good faith the position the worker once occupied, absence of equivalent position
(3) Closure of the establishment
(4) If the employee is already beyond retirement age (65 years old)
(5) where an employee elects a separation pay
Escario et al., vs NLRC et al., GR No. 160302, September 27, 2010
Grounds Of Grant Of Separation Pay Instead Of Reinstatement
The absence from an order of reinstatement of an alternative relief should the employer or a supervening event not within the control of
the employee prevent reinstatement negates the very purpose of the order
However, separation pay is made an alternative relief in lieu of reinstatement in certain circumstances, like:
(a)
when reinstatement can no longer be effected in view of the passage of a long period of time or because of the realities of the
situation;
(b)
reinstatement is inimical to the employers interest;
(c)
reinstatement is no longer feasible;
(d)
reinstatement does not serve the best interests of the parties involved;
(e)
the employer is prejudiced by the workers continued employment;
(f)
facts that make execution unjust or inequitable have supervened; or
(g)
strained relations between the employer and employee
SEPARATION PAY will be given 30 days after the service of notice of the termination. This is so because it is only then that they are
considered separated from service
Installation of Labor saving devices and redundancy 1 month pay or at least 1 month pay for every year of service whichever
is higher
Retrenchment to prevent losses/ Closure not due to serious business losses or financial reverses- equivalent to 1 month pay
or at least (1/2) one half month pay for every year of service whichever is higher
Closure due to serious business losses- no separation pay is given
Motorola Phils et al., Ambrocio, et al., GR No. 173279, March 20 2009

Separation Pay Vs. Termination Pay
Page 64

Employees terminated due to redundancy.
Separation pay has been defined as the amount that an employee receives at the time of his severance and is designed to provide the employee with
the wherewithal during the period he is looking for another employment, and is recoverable only in the following instances enumerated:
(1)
Under Articles 283 of labor code (authorized cause)
(2)
Under Art. 284 of the Labor Code, as amended
(3)
Illegal dismissal cases when reinstatement is no longer possible.
Retirement pay, on the other hand, presupposes that the employee entitled to it has reached the compulsory retirement age or has rendered the
required number of years as provided
It is admitted that respondents were terminated pursuant to a redundancy, and not due to retirement program, hence, they were entitled to a
separation pay of one month salary per year of service
Situation:
1. Employee worked for 15 days then business was closed. separation pay for 1 month
2. Employee worked for 1 day then business was closed.- separation pay for 1 month, that is the minimum
1
1. with AC and PN
Effect
VALID
2. with AC; no PN
VALID
3. no AC; with PN
INVALID
4. no AC; no PN
INVALID
Relief
None
-entitled to Separation pay
Damages (stiffer bec. Prerogative comes from the employer)
Exception: Industrial Timber case
1. reinstatement without loss of seniority rights and
2. full backwages, inclusive of allowances, and other benefits or their monetary equivalent
computed from the time his compensation was withheld from him up to the time of his
actual reinstatement
3. Damages- if there is fraud in the termination
Same as above
DISMISSAL FOR FALSE OR NON-EXISTENT CAUSE

Dismissal of an employee on no grounds or on fabricated cause.
NOT the same as termination for a just cause.
There was this time during Marcos where an employee was not able to report to work because he was detained by the
Marcos soldiers. So his employer terminated him for abandonment of work which is analogous to gross and habitual
neglect of duty, but there was no gross and neglect of duty because he was behind bars there was no intent to sever his
employment. The dismissal was found to be illegal but due to a false or inexistent cause, so what is the significance of
that? On the matter of reinstatement and payment of back wages which he is entitled.
Asian Terminal vs NLRC, GR No. 158458, December 19, 2007, citing Standard Electirc Mfg. vs Standard Electric Employees Union, GR
No. 166111, August 25, 2011
NOT Abandonment; Illegal Dismissal; Termination For A False Or Non-Existent Cause
Respondent herein was prevented from reporting for work by reason of his detention. That his detention turned out to be without basis, as the
criminal charge upon which said detention was ordered was later dismissed for lack of evidence, made the absences he incurred as a consequence
thereof not only involuntary but also excusable. Employee is entitled to backwages
CORPORATE OFFICERS
Corporate officers in the context of PD 902-A are those officers of a corporation who are given that character either by the
Corporation Code or by the corporations by-laws. Under Section 25 of the Corporation Code, the corporate officers are the
president, secretary, treasurer and such other officers as may be provided for in the by-laws.
The burden of proof is on the party who makes the allegation. Here, petitioner merely alleged that respondent was a corporate
officer. However, it failed to prove that its by-laws provided for the office of vice president for nationwide expansion. Since
petitioner failed to satisfy the burden of proof that was required of it, we cannot sanction its claim that respondent was a corporate
officer whose removal was cognizable by the SEC under PD 902-A and not by the NLRC under the Labor Code.
An office is created by the charter of the corporation and the officer is elected by the directors or stockholders. On the other hand,
an employee occupies no office and generally is employed not by the action of the directors or stockholders but by the managing
officer of the corporation who also determines the compensation to be paid to such employee.
In this case, respondent was appointed vice president for nationwide expansion by Malonzo, petitioners general manager, not by the
board of directors of petitioner. It was also Malonzo who determined the compensation package of respondent. Thus, respondent
1
2
Authorized Cause
Prior Notice
Page 65
was an employee, not a corporate officer. It is therefore correct that jurisdiction over the case was properly with the NLRC, not the
SEC.
Three (3) officers which a corporation must have under the statute: president, secretary, and treasurer. However, the law does not
limit corporate officers to these three. Section 25 of the Corporation Code gives corporations the widest latitude to provide for such
other offices, as they may deem necessary. The by-laws may and usually do provide for such other officers, e.g., vice president,
cashier, auditor, and general manager. Consequently, the Supreme Court has held that one who is included in the by-laws of a
corporation in its roster of corporate officers is an officer of said corporation and not a mere employee.
Persons Liable:
(1)
Art. 289. Who are liable when committed by other than natural person. - If the offense is committed by a corporation, trust, firm, partnership,
association or any other entity, the penalty shall be imposed upon the guilty officer or officers of such corporation, trust, firm, partnership,
association or entity.
(2)
BP 68 (Corporation Code of the Philippines)

Sec. 31. Liability of directors, trustees or officers. Directors or trustees who willfully and knowingly vote for or assent to patently unlawful acts
of the corporation or who are guilty of gross negligence or bad faith in directing the affairs of the corporation or acquire any personal or
pecuniary interest in conflict with their duty as such directors or trustees shall be liable jointly and severally for all damages resulting therefrom
suffered by the corporation, its stockholders or members and other persons.
General Rule: Officers of a corporation are not personally liable for their official acts unless it is shown that they have exceeded their
authority.
Exceptions:
a) "Where the incorporators and directors belong to a single family, the corporation and its members can be considered as one in
order to avoid its being used as an instrument to commit injustice," or to further an end subversive of justice.
b) In the case of Claparols vs. CIR involving almost similar facts as in this case, it was also held that the shield of corporate fiction
should be pierced when it is deliberately and maliciously designed to evade financial obligations to employees.
Unless they have exceeded their authority, corporate officers are, as a general rule, not personally liable for their official acts,
because a corporation, by legal fiction, has a personality separate and distinct from its officers, stockholders and members. However,
this fictional veil may be pierced whenever the corporate personality is used as a means of perpetuating a fraud or an illegal act,
evading an existing obligation, or confusing a legitimate issue. In cases of illegal dismissal, corporate directors and officers are
solidarily liable with the corporation, where terminations of employment are done with malice or in bad faith. (Bogo-Medellin
Sugarcane Planters Association v. NLRC, G.R. No. 97846 September 25, 1998)
WPP Marketing Communications Inc., et al., vs Galera, GR No. 169207, March 25, 2010
Who Are Corporate Officers
Corporate officers are given such character either by the Corporation Code or by the corporation's by-laws. Galera's appointment as a corporate
officer (Vice-President with the operational title of Managing Director of Mindshare) during a special meeting of WPP's Board of Directors is an
appointment to a non-existent corporate office. At the time of Galera's appointment, WPP already had one Vice-President in the person of Webster
and all five directorship positions provided in the by-laws are already occupied. Another indicator that she was a regular employee and not a
corporate officer is Section 14 of the contract, which clearly states that she is a permanent employee not a Vice-President or a member of the
Board of Directors.
disciplinary procedure, which states that her right of redress is through Mindshare's Chief Executive Officer for the Asia-Pacific. This implies that she
was not under the disciplinary control of private respondent WPP's Board of Directors (BOD), which should have been the case if in fact she was a
corporate officer because only the Board of Directors could appoint and terminate such a corporate officer.
Given character as corporate officer by the Corporation Code or the by laws.
Under the disciplinary control of BOD bec. It is only the BOD who could appoint and terminate the corporate officer
RA 10022 ACT AMENDING THE MIGRANT WORKERS ACT (RA 8042)
SEC. 10. Money Claims. - Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the Labor Arbiters of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC)
shall have the original and exclusive jurisdiction to hear and decide, within ninety (90) calendar days after the filing of the complaint, the claims arising
out of an employer-employee relationship or by virtue of any law or contract involving Filipino workers for overseas deployment including claims for
actual, moral, exemplary and other forms of damage. Consistent with this mandate, the NLRC shall endeavor to update and keep abreast with the
developments in the global services industry.
The liability of the principal/employer and the recruitment/placement agency for any and all claims under this section shall be joint and several. This
provision shall be incorporated in the contract for overseas employment and shall be a condition precedent for its approval. The performance bond to
de filed by the recruitment/placement agency, as provided by law, shall be answerable for all money claims or damages that may be awarded to the
workers. If the recruitment/placement agency is a juridical being, the corporate officers and directors and partners as the case may be, shall
themselves be jointly and solidarily liable with the corporation or partnership for the aforesaid claims and damages.
Such liabilities shall continue during the entire period or duration of the employment contract and shall not be affected by any substitution,
amendment or modification made locally or in a foreign country of the said contract.
Page 66
Any compromise/amicable settlement or voluntary agreement on money claims inclusive of damages under this section shall be paid within thirty (30)
days from approval of the settlement by the appropriate authority.
In case of termination of overseas employment without just, valid or authorized cause as defined by law or contract, or any unauthorized deductions
from the migrant worker's salary, the worker shall be entitled to the full reimbursement if his placement fee and the deductions made with interest at
twelve percent (12%) per annum, plus his salaries for the unexpired portion of his employment contract or for three (3) months for every year of the
unexpired term, whichever is less."In case of a final and executory judgement against a foreign employer/principal, it shall be automatically
disqualified, without further proceedings, from participating in the Philippine Overseas Employment Program and from recruiting and hiring Filipino
workers until and unless it fully satisfies the judgement award.
Noncompliance with the mandatory periods for resolutions of case provided under this section shall subject the responsible officials to any or all of
the following penalties:
(a)
The salary of any such official who fails to render his decision or resolution within the prescribed period shall be, or caused to be, withheld
until the said official complies therewith;
(b)
Suspension for not more than ninety (90) days; or
(c)
Dismissal from the service with disqualification to hold any appointive public office for five (5) years.
Provided, however, That the penalties herein provided shall be without prejudice to any liability which any such official may have incured under other
existing laws or rules and regulations as a consequence of violating the provisions of this paragraph.
Rule VII, Section 3. Joint and Several Liability. The liability of the principal/employer and the recruitment/placement agency on any and all claims
under this Rule shall be joint and several. This liability shall be incorporated in the contract for overseas employment and shall be a condition
precedent for its approval. The performance bond to be filed by the recruitment/ placement agency, as provided by law, shall be answerable for all
money claims or damages that may be awarded to the workers.
If the recruitment/placement agency is a juridical being, the corporate officers and directors and partners, as the case may be, shall themselves be
jointly and severally liable with the corporation or partnership for the aforesaid claims and damages.
Such liabilities shall continue during the entire period or duration of the employment contract and shall not be affected by any substitution,
amendment or modification of the contract made locally or in a foreign country.
DOCTRINES
DOCTRINE OF STRAINED RELATIONSHIP
Where the relationship between the employer and the employee is so strained and ruptured as to preclude a harmonious working
relationship, reinstatement of the employee should not be decreed.
However, the rule is that strained relations may be invoked only against employees whose positions demand trust and confidence or
whose differences with employer are of such nature or degree as to preclude reinstatement (maranaw hotels vs ca.)
TOTALITY OF INFRACTIONS DOCTRINE
Where the employee has been found to have repeatedly incurred several suspensions or warnings on account of violations of
company rules and regulations, the law warrants their dismissal as it is akin to habitual delinquency.
HOBSON DOCTRINE
In SAN MIGUEL CORP vs. NLRC, the employees were given the option to retire, be retrenched or dismissed, but they were made to
understand that they had no choice but to leave the company.
This is known as the Hobsons choice, which means that they have no choice at all. All that the private respondents were offered was
a choice on the means or method of terminating their services, but never as to the status of their employment. In short, they were
never asked if they still wanted to work for petitioner (GR No. 107693, July 23, 1998)
TOTALITY OF CONDUCT DOCTRINE
Totality of infractions doctrine or the number of violations committed during the period of employment shall be considered in
determining the penalty to be imposed upon an erring employee.
PAST/PREVIOUS INFRACTION RULE
The number of same nature of violations committed during the period of employment shall be considered in determining the penalty
to be imposed upon an erring employee.
WENPHIL DOCTRINE
If the services of the employee was terminated due to a just cause or authorized cause but the affected employees right to due
process has been violated, the dismissal is legal but the employee is entitled to damages by way of indemnification for the violation
of the right.
BONA FIDE OCCUPATIONAL QUALIFICATION
They were standards that establish continuing qualifications for an employees position. The failure to meet the employers qualifying
standards is in fact a ground that does not squarely fall under grounds (a) to (d) and is therefore one that falls under Article 282(e)
the other causes analogous to the foregoing.
Page 67

By its nature, these qualifying standards are norms that apply prior to and after an employee is hired.
SUCCESSION EMPLOYER DOCTRINE

Involves a transfer of ownership of business to a new employer whereby the successor-employer is deemed to have absorbed the
employees and is held liable for the transgression of his predecessor when such transfer is made in bad faith or used to defeat the
rights of labor.
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TOPIC 6: SUSPENSION OF BUSINESS OPERATIONS

BASIS AND MAXIMUM PERIOD
ART. 286. When employment not deemed terminated. The bona-fide suspension of the operation of a business or undertaking for a period not
exceeding six (6) months, or the fulfillment by the employee of a military or civic duty shall not terminate employment. In all such cases, the employer
shall reinstate the employee to his former position without loss of seniority rights if he indicates his desire to resume his work not later than one (1)
month from the resumption of operations of his employer or from his relief from the military or civic duty.
Employment is deemed not terminated when there is:

(1) Bona-fide suspension by the employer of the operation of his business or undertaking for a period not exceeding six (6) months;
(2) Fulfillment by the employee of a military duty; or
(3) Fulfillment by the employee of a civic duty.
IMPLEMENTING RULES
Sec .12, Rule, Book VI
SECTION 12. Suspension of relationship. The employer-employee relationship shall be deemed suspended in case of suspension of operation of the
business or undertaking of the employer for a period not exceeding six (6) months, unless the suspension is for the purpose of defeating the rights of
the employees under the Code, and in case of mandatory fulfillment by the employee of a military or civic duty. The payment of wages of the
employee as well as the grant of other benefits and privileges while he is on a military or civic duty shall be subject to special laws and decrees and to
the applicable individual or collective bargaining agreement and voluntary employer practice or policy.
The employer may suspend the business operations for a period not exceeding 6 months for such to be a bona fide suspension.
If the suspension exceeds 6 months it will amount to constructive dismissal and the employer must give separation pay
Employer is NOT required to notify the employee of the suspension 1 month prior to suspension because there is NO
termination of employment.
REQUISITES OF A VALID/BONA FIDE SUSPENSION OF OPERATIONS:

(1) It must be for a period not exceeding six months
(2) The ER shall reinstate the EE to his former position without loss of seniority rights, if he indicates his desire to resume his work
not later than one month from the resumption of operations of his ER.
In case of suspension of operations, the ER must serve a written notice of suspension individually addressed to the EEs affected
stating:
(a) The reason why the ER is suspending operations
(b) The date that the ER expects to resume operations
(c) That the EEs must indicate, within one month from resumption of operations, their desire to resume working with the ER.
EFFECT ON EMPLOYMENT STATUS

COMPENSATION OF EMPLOYEES DURING THE SIX-MONTH SUSPENSION
Employees are not entitled to their wages and benefits during the 6-month period. The reason is, within the said period, the
employer-employee relationship is deemed suspended. The employment relationship being suspended, both the employer and the
employees cease to be bound, at least temporarily, by the basic terms and conditions of their employment contract - the employer
regarding his obligation to provide salary to his workers; and on the part of the workers, to provide their services to the former.
EFFECT OF SUSPENSION OF WORK EXCEEDING 6 MONTHS
Article 286 is clear - there is termination of employment when an otherwise bona fide suspension of work exceeds six (6) months.
Moreover, even assuming arguendo that the cessation of employment on April 1997 was merely temporary when hotel operations
were suspended due to the termination of the lease of the old premises, it became dismissal by operation of law when petitioners
failed to reinstate respondents after the lapse of six (6) months, pursuant to Article 286. And even assuming that the closure was due
to a reason beyond the control of the employer, it still has to accord its employees some relief in the form of severance pay. (Mayon
Hotel & Restaurant vs. Adana, [G. R. No. 157634, May 16, 2005])
Natl Mines & Allied Workers Union vs. Marcopper Mining
The initial suspension of operations that the DENR imposed eventually turned into an involuntary closure as discussed above, Article 283 of the Labor
Code comes into play entitling the three remaining employees the payment of separation pay computed under the terms of that Article. The
Page 69
termination of employment date, for separation pay purposes, should be computed from June 21, 1996 and not from October 12, 1996 (or six months
from the April 12, 1996 suspension of operation date).
EFFECT OF EMPLOYMENT OF THE EMPLOYEE IN OTHER ESTABLISHMENTS DURING 6-MONTH PERIOD

Private respondent-employees sought employment from other establishments even before the expiration of the six (6)-month period
provided by law. They admitted that all three of them applied for and were employed by another establishment after they received
the notice from JPL. Consequently, it was held that petitioner JPL cannot be said to have terminated their employment for it was they
themselves who severed their relations with JPL. Thus, they are not entitled to separation pay, even on the ground of compassionate
justice. Clearly, the principle in the law which grants separation pay applies only when the employee is dismissed by the employer,
which is not the case in this instance. In seeking and obtaining employment elsewhere, private respondents effectively terminated
their employment with JPL. (JPL Marketing Promotions vs. CA, [G. R. No. 151966, July 8, 2005])
Upon resumption of work the EMPLOYER has the following obligations:
(a) notify the EEs of the resumption of the operation
(b) reinstate the EE to prior position
Obligation of EMPLOYEE after notification of resumpiton of operations:
notify employer not later than 1 month of desire to return

o
If employee shall NOT notify employer of ones desire to return, the employee shall be deemed resigned and shall
NOT be entitled to separation pay because he is said to have voluntarily resigned.
If the employee is NOT reinstated after the resumption of opeartions, that will amount to constructive dismissal. Thus, the
employee is entitled to the following:
(1) Reinstatement to his position or to a substantially equivalent position,
(2) Backwages inclusive of allowances and other benefits or their monetary equivalent
If within the 6 month period, the employer foresees that resumption is not possible, his legal option is to terminate the employee
on the ground of closure or cessation of business operations.
The steps to terminate on the ground of closure or cessation of business operations are as follows:
(1) Notify the EEs individually and the Regional Office of DOLE at least 30 days before the termination.
(2) If the closure is NOT due to serious financial losses EEs should be paid one month pay or month pay for every year of service,
whichever is higher
(3) If DUE to serious financial losses, no separation pay.
IRR Book VI Rule 1
FULFILLMENT OF MILITARY OR CIVIC DUTY
SECTION 12. Suspension of relationship. The employer-employee relationship shall be deemed suspended in case of suspension of operation of
the business or undertaking of the employer for a period not exceeding six (6) months, unless the suspension is for the purpose of defeating the rights
of the employees under the Code, and in case of mandatory fulfillment by the employee of a military or civic duty. The payment of wages of the
employee as well as the grant of other benefits and privileges while he is on a military or civic duty shall be subject to special laws and decrees and to
the applicable individual or collective bargaining agreement and voluntary employer practice or policy.
ANALOGOUS SITUATION
Article 283 of the Labor Code of the Philippines (on closure of business and reduction of personnel) speaks only of permanent
retrenchment or lay-off. There is no specific provision in the Labor Code that governs temporary retrenchment, particularly the
requisites for its implementation and maximum duration.
To remedy this situation, the Court has applied by analogy Art. 286 to set a specific period that employees may remain temporarily
laid, or, sometimes referred to as in floating status.
ART. 286. When employment not deemed terminated. The bona-fide suspension of the operation of a business or undertaking for a period not
exceeding six (6) months, or the fulfillment by the employee of a military or civic duty shall not terminate employment. In all such cases, the employer
shall reinstate the employee to his former position without loss of seniority rights if he indicates his desire to resume his work not later than one (1)
month from the resumption of operations of his employer or from his relief from the military or civic duty.
Applying the above provision in the case of temporary retrenchment, an employee who has been temporarily laid-off should be
recalled or otherwise permanently retrenched after the lapse of six months. Failing this would be tantamount to illegal dismissal.
There is no law on temporary retrenchment or lay-off, Article 286 applies only by analogy.
Page 70
Suspension of operation may involve only a section or department of the company and not necessarily the entire operations.
The burden to prove bona-fide suspension of operation is on the employer.
Situation:
ER owns a bus company, EE is driver. Aircon broke down. EE cannot continue with business because aircon is broken. Fixing of aircon
has to take 1 and a half month. In this case, there will be temporary lay-off. Article 286 will apply by analogy
Employee shall be temporarily laid off for not more than 6 months.
Megaforce Security & Allied Services vs. Lactao
Security guard may be placed on "floating status" for a period not exceeding six months under prevailing jurisprudence. Temporary "off-detail" or the
period of time security guards are made to wait until they are transferred or assigned to a new post or client does not constitute constructive
dismissal as their assignments primarily depend on the contracts entered into by the security agencies with third parties. The continued failure of
Megaforce to offer him a new assignment during the proceedings of the case before the LA and beyond the reasonable six-month period makes it
liable for constructive dismissal.
Art. 128(c)
DISTINGUISH FROM STOPPAGE OF WORK OR SUSPENSION OF OPERATION
The Secretary of Labor and Employment may likewise order stoppage of work or suspension of operations of any unit or department of an
establishment when there is non-compliance with the law or implementing rules and regulations poses grave and imminent danger to the health and
safety of workers in the workplace.
Within twenty-four hours, a hearing shall be conducted to determine whether an order for the stoppage of work or suspension of operations shall be
lifted or not.
In case the violation is attributable to the fault of the employer, he shall pay the employees concerned their salaries or wages during the period of
such stoppage of work or suspension of operation.
Paragraph (c) of this Article authorizes the Secretary of Labor to suspend the operations of an establishment whose non-compliance
with law or regulations poses grave and imminent danger to workers.
Enforcement orders under this Article are beyond injunctive power of an inferior court.
Q: Is the power of SOLE to order suspension of operation similar to Article 286 on bona fide suspension of operations?
A: NO. They are different. In Article 286, it is the employer who suspends the operations while on the other hand, Article 128 speaks
of suspension by the Secretary of Labor. Under Art. 128(c), if the fault is attributable to the employer, the employees are paid their
salaries or wages during the period of stoppage of work by the SOLE. A bona fide suspension of operation under Art. 286, on the
other hand, does not entitle the employees to their salaries and wages.
What is being inquired in Article 128 is whether or not the employer complies with labor standards laws, rules and regulations, as
well as social legislations.
IRR Rule IV, Book III
TEMPORARY OR PERIODIC SHUTDOWN AND TEMPORARY CESSATION OF WORK
Section 7. Temporary or periodic shutdown and temporary cessation of work.

(a)
In cases of temporary or periodic shutdown and temporary cessation of work of an establishment, as when a yearly inventory or when the
repair or cleaning of machineries and equipment is undertaken, the regular holidays falling within the period shall be compensated in
accordance with this Rule.
(b)
The regular holiday during the cessation of operation of an enterprise due to business reverses as authorized by the Secretary of Labor and
Employment may not be paid by the employer.
The difference of temporary shutdown in the IRR from article 286 is that temporary shutdown may be due to yearly inventory or
there is repair or cleaning of machineries and equipment
Page 71
TOPIC 7: DISEASE AS GROUND FOR TERMINATION

REQUIREMENTS TO TERMINATE EMPLOYMENT
Article 284. Disease as ground for termination. An employer may terminate the services of an employee who has been found to be suffering from
any disease and whose continued employment is prohibited by law or is prejudicial to his health as well as the health of his co-employees: Provided,
That he is paid separation pay equivalent to at least one month salary or to one-half month salary for every year of service, whichever is greater, a
fraction of at least six months being considered as one whole year.
IRR Book VI Rule I
SECTION 8. Disease as a ground for dismissal. Where the employee suffers from a disease and his continued employment is prohibited by law or
prejudicial to his health or to the health of his co-employees, the employer shall not terminate his employment unless there is a certification by
competent public health authority that the disease is of such nature of at such a stage that it cannot be cured within a period of six (6) months even
with proper medical treatment. If the disease or ailment can be cured within the period, the employer shall not terminate the employee but shall ask
the employee to take a leave of absence. The employer shall reinstate such employee to his former position immediately upon the restoration of his
normal health.
Requisites:
(1) The employee is found to be suffering from any disease and whose continued employment is prohibited by law or is
prejudicial to his health as well as the health of his co-employees.
(2) There is a certification by a competent public health authority that the disease is of such a nature or at such stage that it
cannot be cured within a period of 6 months.
(3) EE is paid separation pay equivalent to at least 1 month salary or month salary for every year of service, whichever is
higher.
Disease is curable within 6 months the employer shall ask the employee to take a leave of absence
Disease NOT curable within 6 months employer shall procure a certification by competent public health authority; employer has
the right to terminate him but he is entitled to separation pay
30 day prior notice may be given but NOT REQUIRED because it will not anymore serve its purpose for the employee to be able to
look for work
HIV-STATUS AND AIDS
"Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)" a condition characterized by a combination of signs and symptoms, caused by
HIV contracted from another person and which attacks and weakens the body's immune system, making the afflicted individual
susceptible to other life-threatening infections.
"Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)" refers to the virus which causes AIDS.
Sec. 16. Prohibitions on compulsory HIV testing. Compulsory HIV testing as a precondition to employment, admission to educational institutions,
the exercise of freedom of abode, entry or continued stay in the country, or the right to travel, the provision of medical service or any other kind of
service, or the continued enjoyment of said undertakings shall be deemed unlawful.
Sec. 35. Discrimination in the workplace. Discrimination in any form from pre-employment to post-employment, including hiring, promotion or
assignment, based on the actual, perceived or suspected HIV status of an individual is prohibited. Termination from work on the sole basis of actual,
perceived or suspected HIV status is deemed unlawful.
SEVERE ACUTE RESPIRATORY SYNDROME

SARS
A newly identified respiratory illness characterizes by fever and pneumonia which rapidly becomes severe and some cases may lead
to death.
DO NO. 47-03 GUIDELINES ON SARS PREVENTION AND CONTROL AT THE WORKPLACE
For workers who are requested by their employers to stay at home or who are served quarantine order for reasons related to SARS, the following
arrangements may be considered during the period of absence:
1.
Workers leave of absence may be charged to their annual sick/vacation leave credits under the company policy or practice or as stipulated
in their collective bargaining agreement. If the workers leave credits have been used up, employers could consider granting leave of
absence without pay. However employers are urged to exercise flexibility and compassion in granting additional leave with pay, if possible,
considering that the worker may be facing financial hardship.
2.
By mutual agreement, employers and workers/unions could also agree on other arrangements for the employees leave of absence.
For workers who need to take leave to take care of their children or parents or choose to stay away from work on their own accord, employers are
encouraged to adopt a flexible and enlightened approach in granting time-off, implementing flexible work arrangements as well as allowing workers
Page 72
to take their annual leave. For workers who have used up their annual vacation/sick leave credits, employers could consider granting them leave of
absence without pay.
DISABILITY UNDER MAGNA CARTA FOR DISABLES PERSON (RA 7277)

Disability - shall mean (1) a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more psychological, physiological or
anatomical function of an individual or activities of such individual; (2) a record of such an impairment; or (3) being regarded as
having such an impairment;
Disabled Persons are those suffering from restriction of different abilities, as a result of a mental, physical or sensory impairment, to
perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered normal for a human being;
Impairment is any loss, diminution or aberration of psychological, physiological, or anatomical structure of function;
Handicap - refers to a disadvantage for a given individual resulting from an impairment or a disability, that limits or prevents the
functions or activity, that is considered normal given the age and sex of the individual;
Qualified Individual with a Disability shall mean an individual with a disability who, with or without reasonable accommodations, can
perform the essential functions of the employment position that such individual holds or desires. However, consideration shall be
given to the employer's judgment as to what functions of a job are essential, and if an employer has prepared a written description
before advertising or interviewing applicants for the job, this description shall be considered evidence of the essential functions of
the job;
TITLE III - PROHIBITION ON DISCRIMINATION AGAINST DISABLED PERSONS
CHAPTER I - DISCRIMINATION ON EMPLOYMENT
Sec. 32. Discrimination on Employment. No entity, whether public or private, shall discriminate against a qualified disabled person by reason of
disability in regard to job application procedures, the hiring, promotion, or discharge of employees, employee compensation, job training, and other
terms, conditions, and privileges of employment. The following constitute acts of discrimination:
(a)
Limiting, segregating or classifying a disabled job applicant in such a manner that adversely affects his work opportunities;
(b)
Using qualification standards, employment tests or other selection criteria that screen out or tend to screen out a disabled person unless
such standards, tests or other selection criteria are shown to be job-related for the position in question and are consistent with business
necessity;
(c)
Utilizing standards, criteria, or methods of administration that:

(1)
have the effect of discrimination on the basis of disability; or
(2)
perpetuate the discrimination of others who are subject to common administrative control.
(d)
Providing less compensation, such as salary, wage or other forms of remuneration and fringe benefits, to a qualified disabled employee, by
reason of his disability, than the amount to which a non-disabled person performing the same work is entitled;
(e)
Favoring a non-disabled employee over a qualified disabled employee with respect to promotion, training opportunities, study and
scholarship grants, solely on account of the latter's disability;
(f)
Re-assigning or transferring a disabled employee to a job or position he cannot perform by reason of his disability;
(g)
Dismissing or terminating the services of a disabled employee by reason of his disability unless the employer can prove that he impairs
the satisfactory performance of the work involved to the prejudice of the business entity: Provided, however, That the employer first
sought to provide reasonable accommodations for disabled persons;
(h)
Failing to select or administer in the most effective manner employment tests which accurately reflect the skills, aptitude or other factor of
the disabled applicant or employee that such tests purports to measure, rather than the impaired sensory, manual or speaking skills of
such applicant or employee, if any; and
(i)
Excluding disabled persons from membership in labor unions or similar organizations.
DOLE Department Advisory No. 05 s. 2010

C. Social Policy
HEPATITIS B STATUS
1. Non-discriminatory Policy and Practices

a.
There shall be no discrimination of any form against workers on the basis of their Hepatitis B status consistent with international
agreements on non-discrimination ratified by the Philippines (ILO C111). Workers shall not be discriminated against, from pre- to postemployment, including hiring, promotion or assignment, because of their Hepatitis B status.
b.
Individuals found to be Hepatitis B positive shall not be declared unfit to work without appropriate medical evaluation and counseling.
c.
Workers shall not be terminated on the basis of actual, perceived or suspected Hepatitis B status.
d.
Workplace management of sick employees shall not differ from that of any other illness. Persons with Hepatitis B-related illnesses should
be able to work for as long as medically fit.
Sanitation Code of the Philippines PD 856
HEALTH CERTIFICATE REQUIREMENT
Page 73
Section 15. Health Certificates. No person shall be employed in any food establishment without a Health Certificate issued by the local health
authority. This certificate shall be issued only after the required physical and medical examinations are performed and immunizations are
administered at prescribed intervals.
Section 19. Food Handlers
(a) No person shall be employed in any food establishment without a health certificate issued by the local health authority.
The requirement for a medical certificate under Article 284 of the Labor Code cannot be dispensed with; otherwise, it would sanction
the unilateral and arbitrary determination by the employer of the gravity or extent of the employees illness and thus defeat the
public policy in the protection of labor. (Sy vs. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 142293 February 27, 2003)
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TOPIC 8: OTHER CAUSES OF SEVERANCE OF EMPLOYMENT RELATION

RESIGNATION
DEFINITION
Resignation is the voluntary act of an employee who finds himself in a situation where he believes that personal reason cannot be
sacrificed in favor of the exigency of the service, and then he has no other choice but to dissociate himself from his employment.
Example of personal reason: health
BASIS
ART. 285. Termination by employee.

(a)
(b)
An employee may terminate without just cause the employee-employer relationship by serving a written notice on the employer at least
one (1) month in advance. The employer upon whom no such notice was served may hold the employee liable for damages.
An employee may put an end to the relationship without serving any notice on the employer for any of the following just causes:
(1)
Serious insult by the employer or his representative on thehonor and person of the employee;
(2)
Inhuman and unbearable treatment accorded the employee by the employer or his representative;
(3)
Commission of a crime or offense by the employer or his representative against the person of the employee or any of the immediate
members of his family; and
(4)
Other causes analogous to any of the foregoing.
TYPES OF RESIGNATION
VOLUNTARY RESIGNATION
Concept
The key is that resignation must be a voluntary act, and that the employee must have knowingly and voluntarily dissociate himself
from his employment for his own personal reasons. It does not cover cases where the employee is forced to resign with the use of
threats, intimidation, coercion or manipulation, or where resignation is imposed as a penalty for an offense.
The common practice of allowing an employee to resign, instead of terminating him for just cause so as not to smear his employment
record, also fall under the category of voluntary resignation.
Resignation Notice
The Labor Code requires the employee to give an advance notice to the employer of his intention to resign. The notice of resignation
must be in writing and must be served to the employer at least one month prior to the effective date of his resignation.
Resignation notice usually takes the form of a letter (commonly called resignation letter) addressed to the employer, expressing the
employees intention to terminate his employment. It must state the date when resignation is to take effect because of the 30-day
notice requirement under the law. It may also contain the reason or justification of the employee for filing his resignation, although
legally, this is not important. The employee may resign for whatever reason, or even for no reason at all. Thus, in legal parlance,
voluntary resignation is also called termination by employee without just cause.
Resignation letter normally contains explicit words expressing employees intention to terminate his employment. However, lack of
explicit words stating the employees intention to resign is deemed not crucial, as long as the employees intention to resign can be
deduced from letter itself. In one case, the Supreme Court held that a memorandum written by the employee containing his deep
resentment towards his superior juridically constituted a letter of resignation. Even if the employee did not expressly indicate his
intention to resign (neither of the words resign or resignation was mentioned), the resentful and sarcastic tone of the
memorandum was held to be sufficiently indicative of such intention.
Notice of Resignation is to be given 1 month advance.

The notice is for the benefit of the employer
The one month period before notice is given is for the benefit of the employer.
It is discretionary on the part of the ER to shorten the period (instead of 1 month prior to effectivity) because the period is
basically for the benefit of the ER.
Effect of Failure to Tender Resignation Notice

If NO notice is given, employee will be liable for damages for losses.
Eviota vs. CA
Jurisdiction on Damages Arising from Lack of Resignation Notice Rests in the RTC
Page 75
In this case, the private respondents first cause of action for damages is anchored on the petitioners employment of deceit and of making the
private respondent believe that he would fulfill his obligation under the employment contract with assiduousness and earnestness. The
petitioner volte face when, without the requisite thirty-day notice under the contract and the Labor Code of the Philippines, as amended, he
abandoned his office and rejoined his former employer; thus, forcing the private respondent to hire a replacement. The private respondent was
left in a lurch, and its corporate plans and program in jeopardy and disarray. Moreover, the petitioner took off with the private respondents
computer diskette, papers and documents containing confidential information on employee compensation and other bank matters. On its
second cause of action, the petitioner simply walked away from his employment with the private respondent sans any written notice, to the
prejudice of the private respondent, its banking operations and the conduct of its business. Anent its third cause of action, the petitioner made
false and derogatory statements that the private respondent reneged on its obligations under their contract of employment; thus, depicting the
private respondent as unworthy of trust.
It is evident that the causes of action of the private respondent against the petitioner do not involve the provisions of the Labor Code of the
Philippines and other labor laws but the New Civil Code. Thus, the said causes of action are intrinsically civil. There is no causal relationship
between the causes of action of the private respondents causes of action against the petitioner and their employer-employee relationship. The
fact that the private respondent was the erstwhile employer of the petitioner under an existing employment contract before the latter
abandoned his employment is merely incidental. In fact, the petitioner had already been replaced by the private respondent before the action
was filed against the petitioner.
Instances Where Notice is Not Required

The employee may resign even without serving any notice on the employer for any of the following reasons:
(1) Serious insult by the employer or his representative on the honor and person of the employee;
(2) Inhuman and unbearable treatment accorded the employee by the employer or his representative;
(3) Commission of a crime or offense by the employer or his representative against the person of the employee or any of the
immediate members of his family; and
(4) Other causes analogous to any of the foregoing.
Resignation under any of the instance enumerated above is also called termination by employee with justcause.
Acceptance of Resignation
Acceptance of resignation is not necessary for an employee to resign. The significance to acceptance by the ER comes in only when
the EE decides to withdraw his tendered resignation. The burden of proof to show that the resignation was voluntarily tendered lies
with the employer. However, resignation is effective upon the acceptance by the employer of the resignation.
Withdrawal of Resignation
Resignation is Withdrawable. This is true even if the employee called it as IRREVOCABLE. But after it is accepted and approved by the
employer, its withdrawal needs the employers consent.
Intertrod Maritime vs. NLRC
Resignations, once accepted and being the sole act of the employee, may not be withdrawn without the consent of the employer. In the instant
case, the Master had already accepted the resignation and, although the private respondent was being required to serve the thirty (30) days
notice provided in the contract, his resignation was already approved. Private respondent cannot claim that his resignation ceased to be
effective because he was not immediately discharged in Port Pylos, Greece, for he could no longer unilaterally withdraw such resignation. When
he later signified his intention of continuing his work, it was already up to the petitioners to accept his withdrawal of his resignation. The mere
fact that they did not accept such withdrawal did not constitute illegal dismissal for acceptance of the withdrawal of the resignation was their
(petitioners') sole prerogative.
Once an employee resigns and his resignation is accepted, he no longer has any right to the job. If the employee later changes his mind, he must
ask for approval of the withdrawal of his resignation from his employer, as if he were re-applying for the job. It will then be up to the employer
to determine whether or not his service would be continued. If the employer accepts said withdrawal, the employee retains his job. If the
employer does not, as in this case, the employee cannot claim illegal dismissal for the employer has the right to determine who his employees
will be. To say that an employee who has resigned is illegally dismissed, is to encroach upon the right of employers to hire persons who will be of
service to them.
Effect of Resignation
General Rule
An employee who voluntarily resigns from his work is not entitled to separation pay. There is no provision in the Labor Code which
grants separation pay to voluntarily resigning employees.
Separation pay as a rule is paid only in those instances where the severance of employment is due to factors beyond the control of
the employee. Thus, in case of retrenchment to prevent losses where the employee is forced to depart from the company due to no
fault on his part, separation pay is required by law to be paid to the dismissed employee.
The case is totally different in case of voluntary resignation where severance of employment is due to employees own initiative. The
law does not oblige the employer to give separation pay if the initiative to terminate employment comes from employee himself.
Exception
However, by way of exceptions, there are at least two instances where an employee who voluntarily resign is entitled to receive
separation pay, as follows:
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(1) When payment of separation pay is stipulated in the employment contract or Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA, for
companies with existing bargaining agent or union);
(2) When it is sanctioned by established employer practice or policy.
INVOLUNTARY RESIGNATION
Involuntary Resignation occurs when the intent of the employee is vitiated. This results to illegal dismissal. It is also known as
COURTESY RESIGNATION or FORCED RESIGNATION. If the resignation is involuntary that amounts to illegal dismissal and you are
entitled to the reliefs of illegally dismissed worker.
BMG Records vs. Aparecio
Vitiation of Intent to Resign Must Be Proved
In a nutshell, Aparecio submits that fraud, undue influence, intimidation, and/or mistake were attendant upon her resignation from BMG. As her
consent was allegedly vitiated, the act of resigning became involuntary; hence, petitioners are guilty of illegal dismissal.
The argument is not tenable.
Resignation is the voluntary act of an employee who is in a situation where one believes that personal reasons cannot be sacrificed in favor of the
exigency of the service, and one has no other choice but to dissociate oneself from employment. It is a formal pronouncement or relinquishment of an
office, with the intention of relinquishing the office accompanied by the act of relinquishment. As the intent to relinquish must concur with the overt
act of relinquishment, the acts of the employee before and after the alleged resignation must be considered in determining whether in fact, he or she
intended to sever from his or her employment.
Thus, this Court agrees with petitioners' contention that the circumstances surrounding Aparecio's resignation should be given due weight in
determining whether she had intended to resign. In this case, such intent is very evident:
First, Aparecio already communicated to other people that she was about to resign to look for a better paying job since she had been complaining that
employees like her in other companies were earning much more;
Second, prior to the submission of her resignation letter, Aparecio and two other promo girls, Soco and Mutya, approached their supervisor, intimated
their desire to resign, and requested that they be given financial assistance, which petitioners granted on the condition that deductions would be
made in case of shortage after inventory;
Third, Aparecio, Soco, and Mutya submitted their duly signed resignation letters, which were accepted by petitioners; and
Fourth, Aparecio already initiated the processing of her clearance; thus, she was able to receive her last salary, 13th month pay, and tax refund but
refused to receive the financial assistance less the deductions made.
The foregoing facts were affirmatively narrated and attested to in the notarized affidavit of Soco and Cinco and have remained incontrovertible as
they were never denied by Aparecio. The NLRC, thus, erred when it did not give probative weight to their testimonies even if belatedly presented in
petitioners' motion for reconsideration.
San Miguel Properties Inc. vs. Gucaban

Corporate Reorganization; When Involuntary Resignation
It is not difficult to see that, shortly prior to and at the time of Gucabans alleged resignation, there was actually no genuine corporate restructuring
plan in place as yet. In other words, although the company might have been suffering from losses due to market decline as alleged, there was still no
concrete plan for a corporate reorganization at the time Gonzalez presented to Gucaban the seemingly last available alternative options of voluntary
resignation and termination by abolition of her office. Certainly, inasmuch as the necessity of corporate reorganization generally lies within the
exclusive prerogative of management, Gucaban at that point had no facility to ascertain the truth behind it, and neither was she in a position to
question it right then and there. Indeed, she could not have chosen to file for resignation had SMPI not broached to her the possibility of her being
terminated from service on account of the supposed reorganization.
It is then understandable for Gucaban, considering the attractive financial package which SMPI admittedly offered to her, to opt for resignation
instead of suffer termination a consequence the certainty of which she was made to believe. As rightly noted by the Court of Appeals, that there
was no actual reorganization plan in place when Gucaban was induced to resign, and that she had been excluded from the meetings of the
management committee since she refused to sign her resignation letter followed by the soured treatment that caused her humiliation and alienation,
are matters which SMPI has not directly addressed and successfully refuted.
Bilbao vs. Saudi Arabian Airlines

Words of Appreciation and Gratitude Negates Forced Resignation
In the instant case, Bilbao tendered her resignation letter a week after her transfer to the Jeddah office. In the said letter, Bilbao expressed her
gratitude for the support which Saudia had given her for her eighteen years of service. Clearly, her use of words of appreciation and gratitude negates
the notion that she was forced and coerced to resign. Besides, the resignation letter was hand-written by Bilbao on a Saudia form and was in English, a
language she is conversant in.
Blue Angel Manpower and Security Services vs. CA

A Complaint for Illegal Dismissal Negates Forced Resignation
We are more inclined to believe the dismissed guards. Other circumstances have been aptly pointed out by respondents-guards in their Comment
that we are wont to agree that they were forced into a situation where to refuse to sign the resignation letters and quitclaims meant loss of money for
the immediate and urgent basic needs of their family. To buttress the conclusion that the resignation letters were involuntary on the part of the
guards, we find convincing the circumstances mentioned in the Comment of respondents-guards. For one, it seemed unlikely and improbable that
Garces and Ciriaco would voluntarily resign on April 26, 1999 when they had 15 and 12 days earlier, or on April 11 and 12, 1999, already been
terminated. Then again, it was likewise inconsistent and implausible that Castillo would voluntarily tender his resignation and sign a quitclaim on April
28, 1999, when Mercader and he had in fact already filed a complaint against Blue Angel with the NLRC regarding illegal deductions of their salary
Page 77
eight days earlier, or on April 20, 1999. Lastly, there is nothing on record showing that Blue Angel provided any proof that Castillo, Ciriaco, and Garces
had indeed committed the infractions attributed to them. Blue Angel merely enumerated the offenses without providing particulars as to the date
and place these infractions were committed. Neither did Blue Angel present written notices, warnings, and affidavits of the OIC to support its
allegations against the guards.
We are not unaware that the execution of the resignation letters was undisputed, but the aforementioned circumstances of this case and the fact that
private respondents filed a complaint for illegal dismissal from employment against Blue Angel completely negate the claim that private respondents
voluntarily resigned. Well-entrenched is the rule that resignation is inconsistent with the filing of a complaint for illegal dismissal. To constitute
resignation, the resignation must be unconditional with the intent to operate as such. There must be clear intention to relinquish the position. In this
case, private respondents actively pursued their illegal dismissal case against Blue Angel such that they cannot be said to have voluntarily resigned
from their jobs.
EXPRESS RESIGNATION
Resignation that is made in writing, with the reasons for resignation stated therein. Even if the employee writes a letter of resignation
without indicating the reasons therefore, the same is still valid. It is however advisable that a notice of his intention to resign must be
given by the EE to his ER at least one month in advance in order for the ER to find a replacement, and to prevent his resignation from
disrupting work.
Skippers United Pacific vs. Doza
Absence of Resignation Letter
Article 285 of the Labor Code recognizes termination by the employee of the employment contract by serving written notice on the employer at least
one (1) month in advance. Given that provision, the law contemplates the requirement of a written notice of resignation. In the absence of a written
resignation, it is safe to presume that the employer terminated the seafarers. In addition, the telex message relied upon by the Labor Arbiter and
NLRC bore conflicting dates of 22 January 1998 and 22 January 1999, giving doubt to the veracity and authenticity of the document. In 22 January
1998, De Gracia, et al. were not even employed yet by the foreign principal. For these reasons, the dismissal of De Gracia, et al. was illegal.
IMPLIED RESIGNATION
This is also called constructive resignation. This kind of resignation is implied from antecedent, contemporaneous and subsequent
acts indicating that the EE no longer desires to continue employment.
DOLE D.O. No. 9, s. 1997

Rule XXIII
ISSUANCE OF CERTIFICATE OF EMPLOYMENT
Section 6. Certification of employment. A dismissed worker shall be entitled to receive, on request, a certificate from the employer specifying the
dates of his engagement and termination of his employment and the type or types of work on which he is employed.
RETIREMENT
DEFINITION
It is a result of a bilateral act of the parties, a voluntary agreement between the ER and EE whereby the latter, after reaching a certain
age, agrees and/or consents to sever his employment with the former.
Title II
RETIREMENT FROM THE SERVICE
BASIS
ART. 287. Retirement. Any employee may be retired upon reaching the retirement age established in the collective bargaining agreement or other
applicable employment contract.
In case of retirement, the employee shall be entitled to receive such retirement benefits as he may have earned under existing laws and any collective
bargaining agreement and other agreements: Provided, however, That an employee's retirement benefits under any collective bargaining and other
agreements shall not be less than those provided herein.
every year of service, a fraction of at least six (6) months being considered as one whole year.
Unless the parties provide for broader inclusions, the term one-half (1/2) month salary shall mean fifteen (15) days plus one-twelfth (1/12) of the 13th
month pay and the cash equivalent of not more than five (5) days of service incentive leaves.
An underground mining employee upon reaching the age of fifty (50) years or more, but not beyond sixty (60) years which is hereby declared the
compulsory retirement age for underground mine workers, who has served at least five (5) years as underground mine worker, may retire and shall be
entitled to all the retirement benefits provided for in this Article.
Retail, service and agricultural establishments or operations employing not more than ten (10) employees or workers are exempted from the coverage
of this provision.
Page 78

Violation of this provision is hereby declared unlawful and subject to the penal provisions provided under Article 288 of this Code.
Nothing in this Article shall deprive any employee of benefits to which he may be entitled under existing laws or company policies or practices. (As
amended by RA 8558)
Rules Implementing RA 7641

RULE II
Retirement Benefits
SECTION 1. General Statement on Coverage. This Rule shall apply to all employees in the private sector, regardless of their position, designation, or
status and irrespective of the method by which their wages are paid, except to those specifically exempted under Section 2 hereof. As used herein,
the term "Act" shall refer to Republic Act No. 7641, which took effect on January 7, 1993.
SECTION 7. Penal Provision. It shall be unlawful for any person or entity to circumvent or render ineffective the provisions of the Act. Violations
thereof shall be subject to the penal provisions provided under Article 288 of the Labor Code of the Philippines.
TYPES OF RETIREMENT
Article 287, as amended provides for two types of retirement A) compulsory and B) optional. The first takes place at age 65, while
the second is primarily determined by the collective bargaining agreement or other employment contract or employer's retirement
plan. In the absence of any provision on optional retirement, an employee may optionally retire upon reaching the age of 60 years or
more.
Implementing Rules of RA 7641 (Retirement Pay Law)
SECTION 3. Retirement Under CBA/Contract.
3.1 Any employee may retire or be retired by his employer upon reaching the retirement age established in the collective bargaining
agreement or other applicable employment contract, subject to the provisions of Section 5 hereof on the payment of retirement benefits.
3.2 In case of retirement under this Section, the employee shall be entitled to receive such retirement benefits as he may have earned under
existing laws and any collective bargaining agreement and other agreements; provided, however, that an employee's retirement benefits
under any collective bargaining and other agreements shall not be less than those provided under this Rule; and provided further that if
such benefits are less, the employer shall pay the difference between the amount due the employee under this Rule and that provided
under the collective bargaining agreement or other applicable employment contract.
3.3 Where both the employer and the employee contribute to a retirement fund in accordance with a collective bargaining agreement or other
applicable employment contract, the employer's total contribution thereto shall not be less than the total retirement benefits to which the
employee would have been entitled had there been no such retirement fund. In case the employer's contribution is less than the
retirement benefits provided under this Rule, the employer shall pay the deficiency.
SECTION 4. Optional/Compulsory Retirement.
4.1 Optional Retirement In the absence of a retirement plan or other applicable agreement providing for retirement benefits of employees
in an establishment, an employee may retire upon reaching the age of sixty (60) years or more if he has served for at least five (5) years in
said establishment.
4.2 Compulsory Retirement Where there is no such plan or agreement referred to in the immediately preceding sub-section, an employee
shall be retired upon reaching the age of sixty-five (65) years.
4.3 Upon retirement of an employee, whether optional or compulsory, his services may be continued or extended on a case to case basis upon
agreement of the employer and employee.
4.4 Service Requirement The minimum length of service of at least five (5) years required for entitlement to retirement pay shall include
authorized absences and vacations, regular holidays, and mandatory fulfillment of a military or civic duty.
Korean Air vs. Yuson

An Employees Claim of Optional Retirement After Claiming for Early Retirement Renders the Latter Moot
Yusons claim for benefit under the ERP became moot when she availed of the optional retirement under Article 287 and accepted the benefit. By her
acceptance of the benefit, Yuson is deemed to have opted to retire under Article 287.
Labor Code
RETIREMENT AGE AND PAY
every year of service, a fraction of at least six (6) months being considered as one whole year.
Unless the parties provide for broader inclusions, the term one-half (1/2) month salary shall mean fifteen (15) days plus one-twelfth (1/12) of the 13th
month pay and the cash equivalent of not more than five (5) days of service incentive leaves. (Art. 287, As Amended)
Rules Implementing the Retirement Pay Law

SECTION 5. Retirement Benefits.
Page 79
5.1 In the absence of an applicable employment contract, an employee who retires pursuant to the Act shall be entitled to retirement pay
equivalent to at least one-half (1/2) month salary for every year of service, a fraction of at least six (6) months being considered as one
whole year.
5.2 Components of One-half (1/2) Month Salary. For the purpose of determining the minimum retirement pay due an employee under this
Rule, the term "one-half month salary" shall include all of the following:
5.3
(a)
Fifteen (15) days salary of the employee based on his latest salary rate. As used herein, the term "salary" includes all
remunerations paid by an employer to his employees for services rendered during normal working days and hours, whether
such payments are fixed or ascertained on a time, task, piece or commission basis, or other method of calculating the same, and
includes the fair and reasonable value, as determined by the Secretary of Labor and Employment, of food, lodging or other
facilities customarily furnished by the employer to his employees. The term does not include cost of living allowances, profitsharing payments and other monetary benefits which are not considered as part of or integrated into the regular salary of the
employees;
(b)
The cash equivalent of five (5) days of service incentive leave;
(c)
One-twelfth of the 13th month pay due the employee; and
(d)
All other benefits that the employer and employee may agree upon that should be included in the computation of the
employee's retirement pay.
One-half Month Salary of Employees Who Are Paid by Results. For covered workers who are paid by results and do not have a fixed
monthly rate, the basis for determination of the salary for fifteen days shall be their average daily salary (ADS), subject to the
provisions of Rule VII-A, Book III of the rules implementing the Labor Code on the payment of wages of workers who are paid by
results. The ADS is the average salary for the last twelve (12) months reckoned from the date of their retirement, divided by the
number of actual working days in that particular period.
Retirement Age
Optional: 60 with 5 years of service
Compulsory: 65
Exception: Underground Mining Industry optional 50; compulsory 60, with at least 5 years of service
Pantranco North Express vs. NLRC, 259 SCRA 161
Retirement age could be lower than 65 years old if stipulated in the CBA or in the employment contract.
Art. 287 of the Labor Code as worded permits employers and employees to fix the applicable retirement age at below 60 years. Moreover,
providing for early retirement does not constitute diminution of benefits. In almost all countries today, early retirement, i.e., before age 60, is
considered a reward for services rendered since it enables an employee to reap the fruits of his labor particularly retirement benefits,
whether lump-sum or otherwise at an earlier age, when said employee, in presumably better physical and mental condition, can enjoy them
better and longer. As a matter of fact, one of the advantages of early retirement is that the corresponding retirement benefits, usually consisting
of a substantial cash windfall, can early on be put to productive and profitable uses by way of income-generating investments, thereby affording
a more significant measure of financial security and independence for the retiree who, up till then, had to contend with life's vicissitudes within
the parameters of his fortnightly or weekly wages. Thus we are now seeing many CBA's with such early retirement provisions. And the same
cannot be considered a diminution of employment benefits.
PAL vs. APAOP

Consultation of an Employee Prior to Retirement Not Needed So Long As Employee has Reached Retirable Age
Surely, the requirement to consult the pilots prior to their retirement defeats the exercise by management of its option to retire the said
employees. It gives the pilot concerned an undue prerogative to assail the decision of management. Due process only requires that notice be
given to the pilot of petitioner's decision to retire him. Hence, the Secretary of Labor overstepped the boundaries of reason and fairness when
he imposed on petitioner the additional requirement of consulting each pilot prior to retiring him.
Jaculbe vs. Silliman University

Early Retirement Without Provision in CBA Invalid
In this case, neither the CA nor the respondent cited any agreement, collective or otherwise, to justify the latters imposition of the early
retirement age in its retirement plan, opting instead to harp on petitioners alleged "voluntary" contributions to the plan, which was simply
untrue. The truth was that petitioner had no choice but to participate in the plan, given that the only way she could refrain from doing so was to
resign or lose her job. It is axiomatic that employer and employee do not stand on equal footing, a situation which often causes an employee to
act out of need instead of any genuine acquiescence to the employer. This was clearly just such an instance.
Not only was petitioner still a good eight years away from the compulsory retirement age but she was also still fully capable of discharging her
duties as shown by the fact that respondents board of trustees seriously considered rehiring her after the effectivity of her "compulsory
retirement."
As already stated, an employer is free to impose a retirement age less than 65 for as long as it has the employees consent. Stated conversely,
employees are free to accept the employers offer to lower the retirement age if they feel they can get a better deal with the retirement plan
presented by the employer. Thus, having terminated petitioner solely on the basis of a provision of a retirement plan which was not freely
assented to by her, respondent was guilty of illegal dismissal.
Progressive Development Corporation v. NLRC

Although the retirement plan was not embodied in a CBA, its provisions were made known to the employees union. The validity of the
retirement plan was sustained on the basis of the finding of the Director of the Bureau of Working Conditions of the Department of Labor and
Employment that it was expressly made known to the employees and accepted by them.
Page 80

Applicability of Art. 287
Art. 287 is applied when there is NO retirement plan or an agreement providing for retirement benefits
Retirement pay
At least one-half (1/2) month salary for every year of service, a fraction of at least six (6) months being considered as one whole year
or 22.5 days per every year of service.
One-half Month Salary of Employees Who Are Paid by Results
Basis: average daily salary (ADS), subject to the provisions of Rule VII-A, Book III of the rules implementing the Labor Code on the
payment of wages of workers who are paid by results. The ADS is the average salary for the last twelve (12) months reckoned from
the date of their retirement, divided by the number of actual working days in that particular period.
Retirement Pay vs. Separation Pay
th
Retirement pay month pay includes 15 days plus 1/12 of the 13 month pay and the cash equivalent of not more than 5 days of
service incentive leave. (22.5 days)
Separation pay just 15 days
Guerzon vs. Pasig Industries
Evidently, petitioners entitlement to retirement benefits in addition to the separation pay they already received would depend upon the
provisions of respondents retirement plan and its CBA with NASLU-FFW.
Contrary to the stance taken by petitioners, the retirement plan of respondent company reveals that an employee who was terminated for cause
is not entitled to retirement benefits
Computation of retirement pay

Daily rate x 22.5 days x Number of years of service
EXEMPTION FROM RETIREMENT LAW
SECTION 2. Exemptions. This Rule shall not apply to the following employees:
2.1 Employees of the National Government and its political subdivisions, including Government-owned or controlled corporations, if they are
covered by the Civil Service Law and its regulations.
2.2 Domestic helpers and persons in the personal service of another.
2.3 Employees of retail, service and agricultural establishments or operations regularly employing not more than ten (10) employees. As used
in this sub-section:
(a)
"Retail establishment" is one principally engaged in the sale of goods to end-users for personal or household use. It shall lose its
retail character qualified for exemption if it is engaged in both retail and wholesale of goods.
(b)
"Service establishment" is one principally engaged in the sale of service to individuals for their own or household use and is
generally recognized as such.
(c)
"Agricultural establishment/operation" refers to an employer which is engaged in agriculture. This term refers to all farming
activities in all its branches and includes, among others, the cultivation and tillage of the soil, production, cultivation, growing
and harvesting of any agricultural or horticultural commodities, dairying, raising of livestock or poultry, the culture of fish and
other aquatic products in farms or ponds, and any activities performed by a farmer or on a farm as an incident to or in
conjunction with such farming operations, but does not include the manufacture or processing of sugar, coconut, abaca,
tobacco, pineapple, aquatic or other farm products.
RETROACTIVE EFFECT
Retirement Law could be given retroactive effect:
1. The claimant for retirement benefits was still the employee of the employer at the time the statute took effect; and
2. The claimant has complied with the requirements for eligibility under the statute for such retirement benefits.
The benefits to which the retiree may be entitled to could be higher if so provided in the employment contract or CBA. If the benefits
provided are lesser than that provided for by law, the employer shall pay the difference between the amount due to the employee
under this Rule and that provided in the CBA or in any other employment contract.
An employee who is dismissed for just causes and qualified to receive retirement pay at the time of dismissal is entitled to received
retirement pay but only on a case-to-case basis, since there is no provision in the labor code for forfeiture of retirement pay, then the
liberal interpretation of the law in favor of labor should be applied.
However, with the enactment of RA 7641 considering there is no provision for forfeiture of retirement pay, then an employee
dismissed shall be entitled to retirement pay provided that the legal requisites are complied with.
Page 81
TOPIC 9: PRESCRIPTION OF CLAIMS

ILLEGAL DISMISSAL
ARTICLE 1146. The following actions must be instituted within four years:
(1)
Upon an injury to the rights of the plaintiff;
(2)
Upon a quasi-delict;
However, when the action arises from or out of any act, activity, or conduct of any public officer involving the exercise of powers or authority arising
from Martial Law including the arrest, detention and/or trial of the plaintiff, the same must be brought within one (1) year. (As amended by P.D. No.
1755, Dec. 24, 1980.)
Victory Liner vs. Race

The four-year prescriptive period shall commence to run only upon the accrual of a cause of action of the worker. It is settled that in illegal dismissal
cases, the cause of action accrues from the time the employment of the worker was unjustly terminated. Thus, the four-year prescriptive period shall
be counted and computed from the date of the employees dismissal up to the date of the filing of complaint for unlawful termination of
employment.
The four-year prescriptive period shall commence to run only upon the accrual of a cause of action of the worker. It is settled that in illegal dismissal
cases, the cause of action accrues from the time the employment of the worker was unjustly terminated. Thus, the four-year prescriptive period shall
be counted and computed from the date of the employees dismissal up to the date of the filing of complaint for unlawful termination of
employment.
It is error to conclude that the employment of the respondent was unjustly terminated on 10 November 1994 because he was, at that time, still
confined at the Specialist Group Hospital, Dagupan City, for further treatment of his fractured left leg. He must be considered as merely on sick leave
at such time. Likewise, the respondent cannot also be deemed as illegally dismissed from work upon his release from the said hospital in December
1994 up to December 1997 since the records show that the respondent still reported for work to the petitioner and was granted sick and disability
leave by the petitioner during the same period.
The respondent must be considered as unjustly terminated from work in January 1998 since this was the first time he was informed by the petitioner
that he was deemed resigned from his work. During that same occasion, the petitioner, in fact, tried to convince the respondent to accept an amount
of P50,000.00 as a consolation for his dismissal but the latter rejected it. Thus, it was only at this time that the respondents cause of action accrued.
Consequently, the respondents filing of complaint for illegal dismissal on 1 September 1999 was well within the four-year prescriptive period.
It is also significant to note that from 10 November 1994 up to December 1997, the petitioner never formally informed the respondent of the fact of
his dismissal either through a written notice or hearing. Indeed, it cannot be gainfully said that respondent was unlawfully dismissed on 10 November
1994 and that the cause of action accrued on that date.
Reyes vs. NLRC

In illegal dismissal cases, the employee concerned is given a period of four years from the time of his illegal dismissal within which to institute the
complaint. This is based on Article 1146 of the New Civil Code which states that actions based upon an injury to the rights of the plaintiff must be
brought within four years. The four-year prescriptive period shall commence to run only upon the accrual of a cause of action of the worker. Here,
petitioner was dismissed from service on 15 September 2001. He filed his complaint for illegal dismissal on 14 June 2004. Clearly, then, the instant
case was filed within the prescriptive period.
MONEY CLAIMS
Article 291. Money claims. All money claims arising from employer-employee relations accruing during the effectivity of this Code shall be filed within
three (3) years from the time the cause of action accrued; otherwise they shall be forever barred.
All money claims accruing prior to the effectivity of this Code shall be filed with the appropriate entities established under this Code within one (1)
year from the date of effectivity, and shall be processed or determined in accordance with the implementing rules and regulations of the Code;
otherwise, they shall be forever barred.
Workmens compensation claims accruing prior to the effectivity of this Code and during the period from November 1, 1974 up to December 31, 1974,
shall be filed with the appropriate regional offices of the Department of Labor not later than March 31, 1975; otherwise, they shall forever be barred.
The claims shall be processed and adjudicated in accordance with the law and rules at the time their causes of action accrued.
Meaning of cause of action accrues
Art. 1150. The time for prescription for all kinds of actions, when there is no special provision which ordains otherwise, shall be counted from the day
they may be brought.
From the day they may be brought which means from the day a claim started as a legal possibility
Degamo vs. Avantgarde Shipping Co.
Article 291 provides that all money claims arising from employer-employee relations shall be filed within three years from the time the cause of action
accrued, otherwise, these shall be forever barred. A cause of action accrues upon the categorical denial of claim. Petitioners cause of action accrued
only on January 6, 1998, when Avantgarde denied his claim and so breached its obligation to petitioner. Petitioner could not have a cause of action
prior to this because his earlier requests were warded off by indefinite promises. The complaint filed on March 2, 2001 is beyond the three-year
period mandated by the Labor Code.
Far East Agricultural Supply vs. Lebatigue

Note that all money claims arising from an employer-employee relationship shall be filed within three years from the time the cause of action accrued;
otherwise, they shall be forever barred. Further, if it is established that the benefits being claimed have been withheld from the employee for a period
Page 82
longer than three years, the amount pertaining to the period beyond the three-year prescriptive period is therefore barred by prescription. The
amount that can only be demanded by the aggrieved employee shall be limited to the amount of the benefits withheld within three years before the
filing of the complaint.
Lebatique timely filed his claim for service incentive leave pay, considering that in this situation, the prescriptive period commences at the time he
was terminated. On the other hand, his claim regarding nonpayment of overtime pay since he was hired in March 1996 is a different matter. In the
case of overtime pay, he can only demand for the overtime pay withheld for the period within three years preceding the filing of the complaint on
March 20, 2000.
J.K. Mercado & Sons Agricultural Enterprises vs. Sto. Tomas

Money Claim vs. Judgment
Art. 291 of the Labor Code applies to money claims in general and provides for a 3-year prescriptive period to file them.
On the other hand, respondent employees money claims in this case had been reduced to a judgment, in the form of a Wage Order, which has
become final and executory. The prescription applicable, therefore, is not the general one that applies to money claims, but the specific one applying
to judgments. Thus, the right to enforce the judgment, having been exercised within five years, has not yet prescribed.
Stated otherwise, a claimant has three years to press a money claim. Once judgment is rendered in her favor, she has five years to ask for execution of
the judgment, counted from its finality. This is consistent with the rule on statutory construction that a general provision should yield to a specific one
and with the mandate of social justice that doubts should be resolved in favor of labor.
UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICE
Article 290. Offenses. Offenses penalized under this Code and the rules and regulations issued pursuant thereto shall prescribe in three (3) years.
All unfair labor practice arising from Book V shall be filed with the appropriate agency within one (1) year from accrual of such unfair labor practice;
otherwise, they shall be forever barred.
SUMMARY OF PRESCRIPTIVE PERIODS:
(1) Illegal dismissal- 4 years
(2) Money claims- 3 years from the time the action accrued
(3) Unfair Labor Practice- 1 year from accrual
(4) Penal provisions of Labor Code- 3 years
RULE ON COUNTING AND INTERRUPTION OF PRESCRIPTIVE PERIOD
Art. 1155. The prescription of actions is interrupted when they are filed before the court, when there is a written extrajudicial demand by the
creditors, and when there is any written acknowledgment of the debt by the debtor
If there is a claim for illegal dismissal with money claims since they have different prescriptive periods, the action for money
claim, whether principal action or not, shall prescribe in 3 years. The action for illegal dismissal, whether principal action or
not, shall prescribe in 4 years.
On the issue of backwages as a relief for illegal dismissal, there is no prescriptive period.
On the issue of separation pay, this follows the same prescriptive period as money claims. Thus, 3-year period applies.
Intercontinental Broadcasting Corp. vs. Panganiban
Thus, the prescription of an action is interrupted by (a) the filing of an action, (b) a written extrajudicial demand by the creditor, and (c) a written
acknowledgment of the debt by the debtor. On this point, the Court ruled thatalthough the commencement of a civil action stops the running of the
statute of prescription or limitations, its dismissal or voluntary abandonment by plaintiff leaves the parties in exactly the same position as though
no action had been commenced at all.
Hence, while the filing of Civil Case No. Q-89-2244 could have interrupted the running of the three-year prescriptive period, its consequent dismissal
by the CA in CA-G.R. SP No. 23821 due to lack of jurisdiction effectively canceled the tolling of the prescriptive period within which to file his money
claim, leaving respondent in exactly the same position as though no civil case had been filed at all. The running of the three-year prescriptive period
not having been interrupted by the filing of Civil Case No. Q-89-2244, respondent's cause of action had already prescribed on September 2, 1991,
three years after his cessation of employment on September 2, 1988. Consequently, when respondent filed his complaint for illegal dismissal,
separation pay, retirement benefits, and damages in July 24, 1996, his claim, clearly, had already been barred by prescription.
LWV Construction Corp. vs. Dupo

As a general rule, a foreign procedural law will not be applied in the forum. Procedural matters, such as service of process, joinder of actions, period
and requisites for appeals, and so forth, are governed by the laws of the forum. This is true even if the action is based upon a foreign substantive law.
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TOPIC 12: JURISDICTION OF THE LABOR ARBITER

ORIGINAL AND EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION
Article 217. Jurisdiction of the Labor Arbiters and the Commission.
LABOR CODE
Except as otherwise provided under this Code, the Labor Arbiters shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction to hear and decide, within thirty (30)
calendar days after the submission of the case by the parties for decision without extension, even in the absence of stenographic notes, the following
cases involving all workers, whether agricultural or non-agricultural:
Unfair labor practice cases;
Termination disputes;
If accompanied with a claim for reinstatement, those cases that workers may file involving wages, rates of pay, hours of work and other terms and
conditions of employment;
Claims for actual, moral, exemplary and other forms of damages arising from the employer-employee relations;
Cases arising from any violation of Article 264 of this Code, including questions involving the legality of strikes and lockouts; and
Except claims for Employees Compensation, Social Security, Medicare and maternity benefits, all other claims arising from employer-employee
relations, including those of persons in domestic or household service, involving an amount exceeding five thousand pesos (P5,000.00) regardless of
whether accompanied with a claim for reinstatement.
The Commission shall have exclusive appellate jurisdiction over all cases decided by Labor Arbiters.
Cases arising from the interpretation or implementation of collective bargaining agreements and those arising from the interpretation or enforcement
of company personnel policies shall be disposed of by the Labor Arbiter by referring the same to the grievance machinery and voluntary arbitration as
may be provided in said agreements.
MIGRANT WORKERS AND OVERSEAS FILIPINO ACT (RA 8042, as amended)
Section 10. Money Claims. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the LA of the NLRC shall have the original and exclusive jurisdiction
to hear and decide, within ninety (90) calendar days after the filing of the complaint, the claims arising out of an employer-employee relationship or
by virtue of any law or contract involving Filipino workers for overseas deployment including claims for actual, moral, exemplary and other forms of
damages.
RULE V, 2011 NLRC RULES OF PROCEDURE
SECTION 1. Jurisdiction of Labor Arbiters. Labor Arbiters shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction to hear and decide the following cases
involving all workers, whether agricultural or non-agricultural:
a) Unfair labor practice cases;
b) Termination disputes;
c)
If accompanied with a claim for reinstatement, those cases that workers may file involving wages, rates of pay, hours of work and other
terms and conditions of employment;
d) Claims for actual, moral, exemplary and other forms of damages arising from employer-employee relations;
e) Cases arising from any violation of Article 264 of the Labor Code, as amended, including questions involving the legality of strikes and
lockouts;
f)
Except claims for employees compensation not included in the next succeeding paragraph, social security, medicare, and maternity
benefits, all other claims arising from employer-employee relations, including those of persons in domestic or household service, involving
an amount exceeding Five Thousand Pesos (P5,000.00), whether or not accompanied with a claim for reinstatement;
g) Wage distortion disputes in unorganized establishments not voluntarily settled by the parties pursuant to Republic Act No. 6727;
h) Enforcement of compromise agreements when there is non-compliance by any of the parties pursuant to Article 227 of the Labor Code, as
amended;
i)
Money claims arising out of employer-employee relationship or by virtue of any law or contract, involving Filipino workers for overseas
deployment, including claims for actual, moral, exemplary and other forms of damages as provided by Section 10 of RA 8042, as amended
by RA 10022; and
j)
Other cases as may be provided by law.
ORIGINAL EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION OF THE LA:

1. Unfair labor practice cases;
2. Termination disputes;
3. Cases involving wages, rates of pay, hours of work and other terms and conditions of employment, provided, that it is with a
claim for reinstatement
4. Claims for actual, moral, exemplary and other forms of damages arising from employer-employee relations;
5. All other claims involving an amount exceeding P5000, regardless of whether accompanied by a claim for reinstatement, except
claims for Employees Compensation, Social Security, Medicare and maternity benefits.
6. Wage distortion disputes not voluntary settled by the parties;
7. Enforcement of compromise agreements when there is non-compliance by any of the parties pursuant to Article 227 of the
Labor Code, as amended
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8.
Money claims arising out of employer-employee relationship or by virtue of any law or contract, involving Filipino workers for
overseas deployment, including claims for actual, moral, exemplary and other forms of damages
REASONABLE CAUSAL CONNECTION RULE
Eviota vs. CA
A money claim by the worker against the employer or vice-verse is within the exclusive jurisdiction of the labor arbiter only if there is a reasonable
causal connection between the claim asserted and the employee relation. Absent such a link, the complaint will be cognizable by the regular court of
justice. An employer claiming damages from lack of 30-day resignation notice is within the jurisdiction of the regular courts since there is no
reasonable causal connection rule.
It is evident that the causes of action of the private respondent against the petitioner do not involve the provisions of the Labor Code of the
Philippines and other labor laws but the New Civil Code. Thus, the said causes of action are intrinsically civil. There is no causal relationship between
the causes of action of the private respondent's causes of action against the petitioner and their employer-employee relationship. The fact that the
private respondent was the erstwhile employer of the petitioner under an existing employment contract before the latter abandoned his employment
is merely incidental. In fact, the petitioner had already been replaced by the private respondent before the action was filed against the petitioner.
Yusen Air and Sea Service Phils vs. Villamor

Action by employer to enjoin employee who resigned from joining competitor is with the regular court.
Tolosa vs. NLRC

A claim for damages due to death of employee aboard vessel is withtn regular courts jurisdiction
Note:
If the court had no jurisdiction but the case was tried and decided upon the theory that it had jurisdiction, the parties are not barred,
on appeal, from assailing the jurisdiction, for the same must exist as a matter of law and may not be conferred by the consent of the
parties or by estoppels.
However, if the lower court had jurisdiction, and the case was heard and decided upon the theory that the court had no jurisdiction,
the party who induced it to adopt such theory will not be permitted, on appeal, to assume an inconsistent position, ie., that the
lower court had jurisdiction. Here the principle of estoppels applies.
CONCURRENT JURISDICTION OF OTHER AGENCIES
DOLE REGIONAL DIRECTORS
Article 129. Recovery of wages, simple money claims and other benefits. Upon complaint of any interested party, the Regional Director of the
Department of Labor and Employment or any of the duly authorized hearing officers of the Department is empowered, through summary proceeding
and after due notice, to hear and decide any matter involving the recovery of wages and other monetary claims and benefits, including legal interest,
owing to an employee or person employed in domestic or household service or househelper under this Code, arising from employer-employee relations:
Provided, That such complaint does not include a claim for reinstatement: Provided further, That the aggregate money claims of each employee or
househelper does not exceed Five thousand pesos (P5,000.00).
VOLUNTARY ARBITRATORS
Article 261. Jurisdiction of Voluntary Arbitrators or panel of Voluntary Arbitrators. The Voluntary Arbitrator or panel of Voluntary Arbitrators shall
have original and exclusive jurisdiction to hear and decide all unresolved grievances arising from the interpretation or implementation of the
Collective Bargaining Agreement and those arising from the interpretation or enforcement of company personnel policies referred to in the
immediately preceding article. Accordingly, violations of a Collective Bargaining Agreement, except those which are gross in character, shall no longer
be treated as unfair labor practice and shall be resolved as grievances under the Collective Bargaining Agreement. For purposes of this article, gross
violations of Collective Bargaining Agreement shall mean flagrant and/or malicious refusal to comply with the economic provisions of such agreement.
The Commission, its Regional Offices and the Regional Directors of the Department of Labor and Employment shall not entertain disputes, grievances
or matters under the exclusive and original jurisdiction of the Voluntary Arbitrator or panel of Voluntary Arbitrators and shall immediately dispose and
refer the same to the Grievance Machinery or Voluntary Arbitration provided in the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Article 262. Jurisdiction over other labor disputes. The Voluntary Arbitrator or panel of Voluntary Arbitrators, upon agreement of the parties, shall
also hear and decide all other labor disputes including unfair labor practices and bargaining deadlocks.
DOLE SECRETARY
Art. 263. (g). When, in his opinion, there exists a labor dispute causing or likely to cause a strike or lockout in an industry indispensable to the
national interest, the SOLE may assume jurisdiction over the dispute and decide it or certify the same to the Commission for compulsory arbitration.
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Such assumption or certification shall have the effect of automatically enjoining the intended or impending strike or lockout as specified in the
assumption or certification order. If one has already taken place at the time of assumption or certification, all striking or locked out employees shall
immediately return to work and the employer shall immediately resume operations and readmit all workers under the same terms and conditions
prevailing before the strike or lockout. The SOLE may seek the assistance of law enforcement agencies to ensure compliance with this provision as
well as with such orders as he may issue to enforce the same.
In labor disputes adversely affecting the continued operation of such hospitals, clinics or medical institutions, it shall be the duty of the striking union
or locking-out employer to provide and maintain an effective skeletal workforce of medical and other health personnel, whose movement and
services shall be unhampered and unrestricted, as are necessary to insure the proper and adequate protection of the life and health of its patients,
most especially emergency cases, for the duration of the strike or lockout.
In such cases, therefore, the SOLE may immediately assume, within 24 hours from knowledge of the occurrence of such a strike or lockout, jurisdiction
over the same or certify it to the Commission for compulsory arbitration. For this purpose, the contending parties are strictly enjoined to comply with
such orders, prohibitions and/or injunctions as are issued by the SOLE or the Commission, under pain of immediate disciplinary action, including
dismissal or loss of employment status or payment by the locking-out employer of backwages, damages and other affirmative relief, even criminal
prosecution against either or both of them.
The foregoing notwithstanding, the President of the Philippines shall not be precluded from determining the industries that, in his opinion, are
indispensable to the national interest, and from intervening at any time and assuming jurisdiction over any labor dispute in such industries in order to
settle or terminate the same.
Q: how is the Jurisdiction of the SOLE invoked?

A: Through a petition for assumption of jurisdiction filed before the office of the SOLE.
If SOLE assumes jurisdiction, he shall issue an assumption order; if not, a certification order to the Commission, certifying the urgency
of the situation and enjoining the Commission to make its priority.
Q: if SOLE decides to assume jurisdiction, what can be inquired into and resolved by him?
A: All matters incidental to the labor dispute, cf. St. Scholasticas College case.
Bar Q: may he provide for the retroactivity of his arbitral award?
A: Yes, there is no provision of law prohibiting it. (St. Luke Medical Center vs. Torres, June 30, 1993)
LABOR DISPUTES
LABOR DISPUTE includes any controversy or matter concerning terms and conditions of employment or the association or
representation of persons in negotiating, fixing, maintaining, changing or arranging the terms and conditions of employment,
regardless of whether the disputants stand in the proximate relation of employer and employee.
Kinds of Labor Disputes:
Labor Standards Disputes
eg. Disputes on the compensation, benefits, working standards
Labor Relations Disputes

1. Unfair Labor Practices coercion, company unionism, members complaint against union officers;
2. Representation disputes;
3. Bargaining disputes refusal to bargain, strike/ lockout;
4. CBA administration/ personnel policy disputes- noncompliance with grievance machinery;
5. Employment Tenure dispute non-regularization of employees, illegal termination.
Austria vs. NLRC
Under the Labor Code, the provision which governs the dismissal of employees, is comprehensive enough to include religious corporations, such as
the SDA, in its coverage. Article 278 of the Labor Code on post-employment states that "the provisions of this Title shall apply to all establishments or
undertakings, whether for profit or not." Obviously, the cited article does not make any exception in favor of a religious corporation. This is made
more evident by the fact that the Rules Implementing the Labor Code, particularly, Section 1, Rule 1, Book VI on the Termination of Employment and
Retirement, categorically includes religious institutions in the coverage of the law. Hence, the SDA cannot hide behind the mantle of protection of
the doctrine of separation of church and state to avoid its responsibilities as an employer under the Labor Code.
CIVIL DISPUTES
It is settled in jurisprudence that a cause of action has three elements, to wit:
(1) a right in favor of the plaintiff by whatever means and under whatever law it arises or is created;
(2) an obligation on the part of the defendant to respect or not to violate such right; and
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(3) an act or omission on the part of the defendant violative of the right of the plaintiff or constituting a breach of the obligation of
the defendant to the plaintiff.
INTRA-CORPORATE DISPUTES
INTRA-CORPORATE CONTROVERSY one which pertains to any of the following relationships:
(1) between the corporation, partnership or association and the public;
(2) between the corporation, partnership or association and the State in so far as its franchise, permit or license to operate is
concerned;
(3) between the corporation, partnership or association and its stockholders, partners, members or officers; and
(4) among the stockholders, partners or associates themselves.
INSTANCES WHERE THE LABOR ARBITER DOES NOT HAVE JURISDICTION
Where the controversy involves an intra-corporate dispute as defined above, the jurisdiction belongs to the Regional Trial Courts in
view of RA 8799 transferring such jurisdiction from the Securities and Exchange Commission to the RTCs.
To determine whether a case involves an intra-corporate controversy, and is to be heard and decided by the branches of the RTC
specifically designated by the Court to try and decide such cases, two elements must concur:
The status or relationship of the parties (relationship test); and
The nature of the question that is subject of the controversy (nature of the controversy test).
The Relationship test is the test where the controversy pertains to the relationships enumerated above.
The Nature of the Controversy test, on the other hand, the incidents of that relationship must also be considered for the purpose of
ascertaining whether the controversy itself is intra-corporate. The controversy must not only be rooted in the existence of an intracorporate relationship, but must pertain to the enforcement of the parties correlative rights and obligations under the Corporation
Code and the internal and intra-corporate regulatory rules of the corporation. If the relationship and its incidents are merely
incidental to the controversy or if there will still be conflict even if the relationship does not exist, then no intra- corporate
controversy exists.
Easycall Communications Phils, Inc. vs. King, Gr. No. 145901, Dec. 15, 2005
SC held that under Section 5 of PD 902-A, the law applicable at the time this controversy arose, the SEC, not the NLRC, had original and exclusive
jurisdiction over cases involving the removal of corporate officers. Section 5(c) of PD 902-A applied to a corporate officers dismissal for his dismissal
was a corporate act and/or an intra-corporate controversy.
However, it had to be first established that the person removed or dismissed was a corporate officer before the removal or dismissal could properly
fall within the jurisdiction of the SEC and not the NLRC. Here, aside from its bare allegation, petitioner failed to show that respondent was in fact a
corporate officer.
Corporate officers in the context of PD 902-A are those officers of a corporation who are given that character either by the Corporation Code or by
the corporations by-laws. Under Section 25 of the Corporation Code, the corporate officers are the president, secretary, treasurer and such other
officers as may be provided for in the by-laws.
The burden of proof is on the party who makes the allegation. Here, petitioner merely alleged that respondent was a corporate officer. However, it
failed to prove that its by-laws provided for the office of vice president for nationwide expansion. Since petitioner failed to satisfy the burden of
proof that was required of it, we cannot sanction its claim that respondent was a corporate officer whose removal was cognizable by the SEC under
PD 902-A and not by the NLRC under the Labor Code.
Note: An office is created by the charter of the corporation and the officer is elected by the directors or stockholders. On the other hand, an
employee occupies no office and generally is employed not by the action of the directors or stockholders but by the managing officer of the
corporation who also determines the compensation to be paid to such employee.
A corporate officers dismissal is always a corporate act and/or intra-corporate controversy and that nature is not altered by the reason or wisdom
which the Board of directors may have in taking such actions.
The fact that petitioner sought payment of backwages, other benefits as well as moral and exemplary damages and attorneys fees in his complaint for
illegal dismissal will not operate to prevent the SEC from exercising its jurisdiction. While the affirmative reliefs and monetary claims sought to by
petitioner in his complaint may, at first glance, mislead one into placing the case under the jurisdiction of the LA, a closer examination reveals that
they are actually part of the prerequisites if his elective position,; hence intimately linked with his relations with the Corporation.
NOTE: The Regional Trial Courts (not SEC) now have jurisdiction under R. A. 8799 (Securities Regulation Act of 2000). Jurisdiction of
RTC includes adjudication of monetary claims of the corporate officer who was dismissed, (such as unpaid salaries, leaves, 13th
month pay, bonuses, etc.), damages and attorney's fees. (Lozon vs. NLRC, G. R. No. 107660, Jan. 02, 1995, 240 SCRA 1)
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TOPIC 13: THE 2011 NLRC RULES OF PROCEDURE

COMPULSORY ARBITRATION AND VOLUNTARY ARBITRATION
COMPULSORY ARBITRATION
It is where the law declares the dispute subject to arbitration, regardless of the consent of the parties.
A disinterested person or party is usually appointed by the state.
Done by the Regional Arbitration Branch of NLRC [refer to Art 217]
It is the Labor Arbiter who is clothed with the original and exclusive authority to conduct compulsory arbitration under Art.
217.
It is an adversarial proceeding initiated by a complaint [usually by a union] for wage distortion before the Labor Arbiter.
The other party is required to answer.
Process of settlement of labor disputes by a government agency [or by other means provided by the government] which
has the authority to investigate and to make award which is binding on all the parties.
Parties are compelled to forgo their right to strike
Proceedings after a labor arbiter's decision is brought up to the National Labor Relations Commission cannot be considered
as part of the arbitration proceedings. This is because in the appeal stage, the Commission merely re-views the Labor
Arbiter's decision for errors of fact or law. It does not duplicate the proceedings held at the Labor Arbiter's level. Thus, the
clause "pending final resolution of the case by arbitration" should be understood to be limited only to the proceedings
before the Labor Arbiter, so that when the latter rendered his decision, the case could be considered finally resolved by
arbitration. [See Philippine Airlines, Inc. vs. National Labor Relations Commission, G.R. No. 55159, Dec. 22, 1989.]
The Commission itself, through any of its divisions, also conducts compulsory arbitration, but only in "national interest
cases" certified or referred to it by the DOLE secretary under Art. 263(g).
VOLUNTARY ARBITRATION
Defined as a contractual proceeding whereby the parties to any dispute, in order to obtain a speedy and inexpensive final
disposition of the matter, select a judge of their own choice and by consent, submit their controversy to him for
determination.
It is the policy of the State to encourage voluntary arbitration on all labor-management disputes.
Before or at any stage of the compulsory arbitration process, the parties may opt to submit their dispute to voluntary
arbitration. (Implementing Rules, Book V, Rule XIX, SECTION 5.)
Under voluntary arbitration, the "judge" is named by the parties, pursuant to a voluntary arbitration clause in their
collective agreement. He is an impartial third person authorized by the parties to make a final and binding decision or
award.
A voluntary arbitrator is not a public tribunal imposed upon the parties by a superior authority which the parties are obliged
to accept. He has no general character to administer justice for a community. He is rather part of a system of selfgovernment created by and confined to the parties. [Maurice S. Trotta, Arbitration of Labor Management Disputes,
American Management Association, New York, 1974, p. 73.]
Voluntary arbitration, indeed, is a private judicial system.
The judge is called a VOLUNTARY ARBITRATOR.
The power of voluntary arbitrator to try and decide the case is the same as that of a Labor Arbiter.
The parties can agree to select a Labor Arbiter as a voluntary arbitrator because it is as to the agreement of the parties.
Arbitration may be initiated either by 1) a Submission Agreement or 2) by a Demand or Notice invoking a collective
agreement arbitration clause. Sometimes both instruments are used in a case.
Although the contract may establish the breadth of the arbitrators power and the limits of his authority, his power may be
more sharply defined in the submission agreement.
In Philippine context, the "judge" in voluntary arbitration is called voluntary arbitrator, while that in compulsory arbitration
is labor arbiter.
Proceedings are non-litigious in nature, not governed by technical rules of procedure used in courts but due process is
always observed.
VOLUNTARY ARBITRATOR
Any person accredited by the Board as such; or
Any person named or designated in the CBA by the parties to act as their voluntary arbitrator; or
One chosen, with or without the assistance of the NCMB, pursuant to selection procedure agreed upon in the CBA; or
Any official that may be authorized by the Sec of Labor to act as voluntary arbitrator upon the written request and
agreement of the parties to a labor dispute.
AGENCIES OF GOVERNMENT EXERCISING COMPULSORY ARBITRATION
1.
DOLE Regional Offices;
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2.
3.
4.
DOLE Secretary;
Bureau of Labor Relations
National Labor Relations Comission and the Labor Arbiters.
DOLE REGIONAL OFFICES
Article 129. Recovery of wages, simple money claims and other benefits. Upon complaint of any interested party, the Regional Director of the
Department of Labor and Employment or any of the duly authorized hearing officers of the Department is empowered, through summary proceeding
and after due notice, to hear and decide any matter involving the recovery of wages and other monetary claims and benefits, including legal interest,
owing to an employee or person employed in domestic or household service or househelper under this Code, (1) arising from employer-employee
relations: Provided, That such (2) complaint does not include a claim for reinstatement: Provided, further, That the (3) aggregate money claims of each
employee or househelper do not exceed five thousand pesos (P5,000). The Regional Director or hearing officer shall decide or resolve the complaint
within thirty (30) calendar days from the date of the filing of the same. Any sum thus recovered on behalf of any employee or househelper pursuant to
this Article shall be held in a special deposit account, and shall be paid, on order of the Secretary of Labor and Employment or the Regional Director
directly to the employee or househelper concerned. Any such sum not paid to the employee or househelper, because he cannot be located after
diligent and reasonable effort to locate him within a period of three (3) years, shall be held as a special fund of the Department of Labor and
Employment to be used exclusively for the amelioration and benefit of workers.
Any decision or resolution of the Regional Director or hearing officer pursuant to this provision may be appealed on the same grounds provided in
Article 223 of this Code, within five (5) calendar days from receipt of a copy of said decision or resolution, to the National Labor Relations Commission
which shall resolve the appeal within ten (10) calendar days from the submission of the last pleading required or allowed under its rules.
The Secretary of Labor and Employment or his duly authorized representative may supervise the payment of unpaid wages and other monetary claims
and benefits, including legal interest, found owing to any employee or househelper under this Code. (As amended by RA 6715)
JURISDICTION OF THE DOLE REGIONAL DIRECTORS / DULY AUTHORIZED HEARING OFFICERS.
The Regional Director or any of the duly authorized hearing officers of DOLE have jurisdiction over claims for recovery of wages, simple money claims
and other benefits, provided that:
1. The claim must arise from employer-employee relationship;
2. The claimant does not seek reinstatement; and
3. The aggregate money claim of each employee does not exceed P5,000
Article 256. Representation issue in organized establishments. In organized establishments, when a verified petition questioning the majority status
of the incumbent bargaining agent is filed before the Department of Labor and Employment within the sixty-day period before the expiration of a
collective bargaining agreement, the Med-Arbiter shall automatically order an election by secret ballot when the verified petition is supported by the
written consent of at least twenty-five percent (25%) of all the employees in the appropriate bargaining unit. To have a valid election, at least a
majority of all eligible voters in the unit must have cast their votes. The labor union receiving the majority of the valid votes cast shall be certified as
the exclusive bargaining agent of all the workers in the unit. When an election which provides for three or more choices results in no choice receiving
a majority of the valid votes cast, a run-off election shall be conducted between the labor unions receiving the two highest number of votes: Provided,
That the total number of votes for all contending unions is at least fifty percent (50%) of the number of votes cast.
At the expiration of the freedom period, the employer shall continue to recognize the majority status of the incumbent bargaining agent where no
petition for certification is filed. (As amended by RA 6715)
Article 257. Petitions in Unorganized Establishments. In any establishment where there is no certified bargaining agent, a certification election shall
automatically be conducted by the Med-Arbiter upon the filing of a petition by any legitimate labor organization, including a national union or
federation which has already issued a charter certificate to its local/chapter participating in the certification election or a local/chapter which has been
issued a charter certificate by the national union or federation. In cases where the petition was filed by a national union or federation, it shall not be
required to disclose the names of the local chapter's officers and members.
DOLE SECRETARY
Article 128. Visitorial and enforcement powers.

(a) The Secretary of Labor and Employment or his duly authorized representatives, including labor regulations officers, shall have access to
employer's records and premises at any time of the day or night whenever work is being undertaken therein, and the right to copy
therefrom, to question any employee and to investigate any fact, condition or matter which may be necessary to determine violations or
which may aid in the enforcement of this Code and of any labor law, wage order or rules and regulations issued pursuant thereto.
(b)
(c)
(d)
The provisions of Article 217 of this Code to the contrary notwithstanding and in cases where the relationship of employer-employee still
exists, the Secretary of Labor and Employment or his duly authorized representatives shall have the power to order and administer, after
due notice and hearing, compliance with the labor standards provisions of this Code and other labor legislation based on the findings of
labor regulation officers or industrial safety engineers made in the course of inspection, and to issue writs of execution to the appropriate
authority for the enforcement of their order, except in cases where the employer contests the findings of the labor regulation officer and
raises issues which cannot be resolved without considering evidentiary matters that are not verifiable in the normal course of inspection.
The Secretary of Labor and Employment may likewise order stoppage of work or suspension of operations of any unit or department of an
establishment when non-compliance with the law or implementing rules and regulations poses grave and imminent danger to the health
and safety of workers in the workplace. Within twenty-four hours, a hearing shall be conducted to determine whether an order for the
stoppage of work or suspension of operations shall be lifted or not. In case the violation is attributable to the fault of the employer, he shall
pay the employees concerned their salaries or wages during the period of such stoppage of work or suspension of operation.
It shall be unlawful for any person or entity to obstruct, impede, delay or otherwise render ineffective the order of the Secretary of Labor
and Employment or his duly authorized representatives issued pursuant to the authority granted under this Article, and no inferior court or
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entity shall issue temporary or permanent injunction or restraining order or otherwise assume jurisdiction over any case involving the
enforcement orders issued in accordance with this Article.
(e)
Any government employee found guilty of violation of, or abuse of authority under this Article shall, after appropriate administrative
investigation, be subject to summary dismissal from the service.
(f)
The Secretary of Labor and Employment may by appropriate regulations require employers to keep and maintain such employment records
as may be necessary in aid of his visitorial and enforcement powers under this Code.
POWERS OF THE DOLE SECRETARY AND HIS DULY AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVES

What is the visitorial and enforcement power of the DOLE Secretary and his duly authorized representatives under Article 128 of the Labor Code?
1. Power to inspect employers records and premises at any time of the day or night whenever work is being undertaken, and the right to
copy therefrom, to question any employee and investigate any fact, condition or matter which may be necessary to determine violations or
which may aid in the enforcement of the Labor Code and of any labor law, wage order or rules and regulations issued pursuant thereto.
2. Power to issue compliance orders to give effect to the labor standards provisions of this Code and other labor legislation based on the
findings of labor employment and enforcement officers or industrial safety engineers made in the course of inspection.
3. Power to issue writs of execution to the appropriate authority for the enforcement of their orders, except in cases where the employer
contests the findings of the labor employment and enforcement officer and raises issues supported by documentary proofs which were not
considered in the course of inspection.
4. Power to order stoppage of work or suspension of operations of any unit or department of an establishment when non-compliance with
the law or implementing rules and regulations poses grave and imminent danger to the health and safety of workers in the workplace.
BUREAU OF LABOR RELATIONS
Article 226. Bureau of Labor Relations. The Bureau of Labor Relations and the labor relations divisions in the regional offices of the Department of
Labor and Employment shall have original and exclusive authority to act, at their own initiative or upon request of either or both parties, on all interunion and intra-union conflicts, and all disputes, grievances or problems arising from or affecting labor-management relations in all workplaces
whether agricultural or non-agricultural, except those arising from the implementation or interpretation of collective bargaining agreements which
shall be the subject of grievance procedure and/or voluntary arbitration.
The Bureau shall have fifteen (15) calendar days to act on labor cases before it, subject to extension by agreement of the parties. (As amended by RA
6715)
JURISDICTION OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR RELATIONS (BLR)/MED-ARBITERS
What are the cases falling under the jurisdiction of the BLR?
The BLR has original and exclusive jurisdiction over the following:
1. Inter-union disputes or representation disputes which refer to cases involving petition for certification election filed by a duly registered
labor organization which is seeking to be recognized as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent of the rank-and-file employees in the
appropriate bargaining unit of a company, firm or establishment.
2. Intra-union disputes or internal union disputes which refer to disputes or grievances arising from any violation of or disagreement over any
provision of the constitution and by-laws of the union, including any violation of the rights and conditions of union membership provided for in
the Labor Code.
3.
All disputes, grievances or problems arising from or affecting labor-management relations in all workplaces; except those arising from the
interpretation or implementation of the CBA which are subject of grievance procedure and/or voluntary arbitration.
NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS COMMISSION
Article 218. Powers of the Commission. The Commission shall have the power and authority:
XXX
(e) To enjoin or restrain any actual or threatened commission of any or all prohibited or unlawful acts or to require the performance of a
particular act in any labor dispute which, if not restrained or performed forthwith, may cause grave or irreparable damage to any party: Provided,
That no temporary or permanent injunction in any case involving or growing out of a labor dispute as defined in this Code shall be issued except
after hearing the testimony of witnesses, with opportunity for cross-examination, in support of the allegations of a complaint made under oath,
and testimony in opposition thereto, if offered, and only after a finding of fact by the Commission, to the effect:
(1) That prohibited or unlawful acts have been threatened and will be committed unless restrained, or have been committed and will be
continued unless restrained, but no injunction or temporary restraining order shall be issued on account of any threat, prohibited or
unlawful act, except against the person or persons, association or organization making the threat or committing the prohibited or
unlawful act or actually authorizing or ratifying the same after actual knowledge thereof;
(2) That substantial and irreparable injury to complainant's property will follow;
(3) That, as to each item of relief to be granted, greater injury will be inflicted upon complainant by the denial of relief than will be
inflicted upon defendants by the granting of relief;
(4) That complainant has no adequate remedy at law; and
(5) That the public officers charged with the duty to protect complainant's property are unable or unwilling to furnish adequate
protection.
Such hearing shall be held after due and personal notice thereof has been served, in such manner as the Commission shall direct, to all known persons
against whom relief is sought, and also to the Chief Executive and other public officials of the province or city within which the unlawful acts have
been threatened or committed charged with the duty to protect complainant's property: Provided, however, That if a complainant shall also allege
that, unless a temporary restraining order shall be issued without notice, a substantial and irreparable injury to complainant's property will be
unavoidable, such a temporary restraining order may be issued upon testimony under oath, sufficient, if sustained, to justify the Commission in issuing
a temporary injunction upon hearing after notice. Such a temporary restraining order shall be effective for no longer than twenty (20) days and shall
become void at the expiration of said twenty (20) days. No such temporary restraining order or temporary injunction shall be issued except on
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condition that complainant shall first file an undertaking with adequate security in an amount to be fixed by the Commission sufficient to recompense
those enjoined for any loss, expense or damage caused by the improvident or erroneous issuance of such order or injunction, including all reasonable
costs, together with a reasonable attorney's fee, and expense of defense against the order or against the granting of any injunctive relief sought in the
same proceeding and subsequently denied by the Commission.
The undertaking herein mentioned shall be understood to constitute an agreement entered into by the complainant and the surety upon which an
order may be rendered in the same suit or proceeding against said complainant and surety, upon a hearing to assess damages, of which hearing
complainant and surety shall have reasonable notice, the said complainant and surety submitting themselves to the jurisdiction of the Commission for
that purpose. But nothing herein contained shall deprive any party having a claim or cause of action under or upon such undertaking from electing to
pursue his ordinary remedy by suit at law or in equity: Provided, further, That the reception of evidence for the application of a writ of injunction may
be delegated by the Commission to any of its Labor Arbiters who shall conduct such hearings in such places as he may determine to be accessible to
the parties and their witnesses and shall submit thereafter his recommendation to the Commission. (As amended by RA 6715)
JURISDICTION OF THE NLRC
What are the two kinds of jurisdiction of the NLRC?
The National Labor Relations Commission exercises two (2) kinds of jurisdiction:
1. Original jurisdiction; and
2. Exclusive appellate jurisdiction
Original Jurisdiction.
a) Injunction in ordinary labor disputes to enjoin or restrain any actual or threatened commission of any or all prohibited or unlawful acts or to
require the performance of a particular act in any labor dispute which, if not restrained or performed forthwith, may cause grave or irreparable
damage to any party;
b) Injunction in strikes or lockouts under Article 264 of the Labor Code;
c)
Certified labor disputes causing or likely to cause a strike or lockout in an industry indispensable to the national interest, certified to it by the
Secretary of Labor and Employment for compulsory arbitration.
Exclusive Appellate Jurisdiction.
a) All cases decided by the Labor Arbiters including contempt cases;
b) Cases decided by the DOLE Regional Directors or his duly authorized Hearing Officers (under Article 129) involving recovery of wages,
simple
LABOR ARBITERS
See topic 10
DOLE POLICY INSTRUCTION NO. 56-93
CLARIFYING THE JURISDICTION BETWEEN VOLUNTARY ARBITRATORS AND LABOR ARBITERS OVER TERMINATION CASES AND PROVIDING
GUIDELINES FOR THE REFERRAL OF SAID CASES ORIGINALLY FILED WITH THE NLRC TO THE NCMB
In line with the policy of the Labor Code of the Philippines to promote and emphasize the primacy of free collective bargaining and negotiations,
including voluntary arbitration, mediation and conciliation, as modes of settling labor of industrial disputes, the following guidelines are hereby
promulgated:
1.
Termination cases arising in or resulting from the interpretation and implementation of collective bargaining agreements and of company
personnel policies which were initially processed at the various steps of the plant-level Grievance Procedures under the parties collective
bargaining agreements fall within the original and exclusive jurisdiction of the voluntary arbitrator pursuant to Article 217 (c) and Article
261 of the Labor Code.
2.
Said cases, shall be dismissed by the Labor Arbiter for lack of jurisdiction and referred to the concerned NCMB Regional Branch for
appropriate action towards an expeditious selection by the parties of voluntary arbitrator or panel of arbitrators based on the procedures
agreed upon in the CBA
GUIDELINES ON THE SINGLE-ENTRY APPROACH PRESCRIBING A 30 DAY MANDATORY CONCIILIATION-MEDIATION SERVICES FOR
ALL LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES (DOLE Department Order No, 107-10, Series of 2010)
Section 1. Guiding Principles. The Single Entry Approach 30-day mandatory conciliation-mediation in all regional offices shall complement the existing labor dispute
settlement mechanism and processes in the DOLE offices and attached agencies to: (1) provide a speedy, impartial, inexpensive and accessible settlement services for
unresolved issues/complaints arising from employer-employee relations; (2) encourage the use of conciliation-mediation in the settlement of all labor cases and only
unresolved issues shall be referred either for voluntary arbitration, if both parties so agree, or compulsory arbitration to the NLRC or appropriate agency or office of the
DOLE as the case may be; and (3) strengthen cooperation and coordination between and among DOLE agencies involved n dispute settlement.
Section 2. Scope and Coverage. The Single Entry Approach 30-day mandatory conciliation-mediation shall be applicable to cases falling under administrative and quasijudicial functions of all DOLE offices and attached agencies including the NLRC except:
1.
Notices of strikes or lockouts, or preventive mediation cases which shall remain with the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB); and
2.
Issues arising from the interpretation or implementation of the collective bargaining agreement and those arising from interpretation or enforcement of
company personnel policies which should be processed through the Grievance Machinery.
The 30-day conciliation-mediation services shall be made operational through the Single Entry Approach Desk (SEAD) either in the Regional Branch of the National
Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) and in the Regional Arbitration Branch of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC), or with the two or more regional
offices/branches of the DOLE as may be determined appropriate by the DOLE Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) based on the number of Desk Officers and volume of
cases in the region. Single Entry Approach Desk shall also be established in all Provincial and District Offices of the DOLE.
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Section 3. Definition of Terms. The following terms as used in this Guidelines shall mean:
(a) Single Entry Approach or SEnA refers to an administrative approach to provide a speedy, impartial, inexpensive and accessible settlement procedure of all
labor issues or conflicts to prevent them from ripening in to full blown disputes. Conciliation-mediation process shall be utilized as immediate intervention to
effect amicable settlement among the differing parties.
(b) Single Entry Assistance Desk Officer or Desk Officer refers to person designated to provide assessment, evaluation, and counseling services before the filing
of any labor complaint or dispute.
(c)
Single Entry Assistance Desk or SEAD refers to Single Entry Approach Desk established by the DOLE Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) in the Regional
Branch of the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) and in the Regional Arbitration Branch of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC), or
with two or more regional offices/branches of the DOLE as appropriate. It also reers to the Single Entry Approach Desk established in all Provincial and District
Offices of the DOLE.
(d) Referral refers to the document issued by the Desk Officer referring the unresolved issue/s to the appropriate DOLE Office or Agency that has jurisdiction
over the dispute. It contains the names and addresses of the parties, the stipulated and admitted facts, summary of unresolved issues, causes of action and the
relief sought without prejudice to amendments on the complaint by the parties before the Office or Agency having jurisdiction over the dispute.
(e) 30-day mandatory conciliation-mediation period refers to 30 calendar days within which to conduct the mandatory conciliation-mediation period.
Section 4. Who may file. Any aggrieved worker, union, group of workers or the employer may file a request for assistance.
Section 5. Where to file. The request for assistance may be filed at any SEAD in the region where the employer principally operates.
In case of a union or federation representing a local chapter, the request shall be made at the regional/provincial/district office where the union or local chapter is
registered.
Section 6. Issues Subject of the 30-day Mandatory Conciliation-Mediation. Except as expressly excluded herein, all issues arising from labor and employment shall be
subject to the 30-day mandatory conciliation-mediation, which may include the following:
a)
Termination or suspension of employment issues;
b)
Claims for any sum of money, regardless of amount;
c)
Intra-union and inter-union issues, after exhaustion of administrative remedies;
d)
Unfair Labor Practice;
e)
Closures, retrenchments, redundancies, temporary lay-offs;
f)
OFW cases; and
g)
Any other claims arising from employer-employee relationship.
Section 7. Receiving and Recording. All requests for assistance, wherever filed, shall be reduced into writing using SEAD Entry Form No. 1, which will be filled-up by the
requesting party with the assistance of the Receiving Clerk.
The SEAD shall have a separate recording and monitoring data system and shall maintain a separate logbook for this purpose. SEAD matters per region per province or
district shall be numbered chronologically. The Desk Officer shall cause the entry of a request for assistance in the logbook provided for this purpose. The entry should
indicate the following:
a)
Reference number;
b)
Date of filing;
c)
Name and address of requesting party/s;
d)
Pendency of similar or related cases;
e)
Nature and subject of the grievance/request; and
f)
Disposition.
Upon receipt of SEAD Form No. 1, the Desk Officer shall record the request as SEAD (Name Regional Office)-(Province Field Office/District)-(No. of Request under the
Region)-(Month)-(Year).
Section 8. Assignment and Handling.
a)
Upon receipt of the complaint or request for conciliation-mediation services, the designated Desk Officer shall initiate a pre-conference assessment,
evaluation, counseling and conciliation-mediation services.
b)
In regions or offices where there are more than one designated Desk Officers, the request shall immediately be raffled by the Agency Head or Head of Office
for assignment and conduct of pre-conference assessment, evaluation, counseling and conciliation-mediation services on the same day of receipt thereof.
Section 9. Conduct of Conciliation-Mediation. The Desk Officer shall exert best efforts to assist the parties arrive at a settlement. In facilitating the conciliation meeting,
he/she shall:
a)
Clarify the issues and narrow down the disagreements;
b)
Validate the positions and the relief sought;
c)
Encourage parties to generate options and enter into stipulations;
d)
Offer proposals and options toward mutually acceptable solutions and voluntary settlement.
Section 10. Settlement Agreement. In case of voluntary settlement, the Desk Officer shall reduce the agreement into writing, have the parties understand the contents
thereof, sign the same in his/her presence, and attest the document to be true and voluntary act of the parties. Any settlement agreement reached by the parties before
the Desk Officer shall be final and binding.
In case of partial settlement and/or partial execution of certain issues, all unresolved issues shall be referred pursuant to Section 15.
Section 11. Monitoring and Enforcement of the Settlement Agreement. The Desk Officer shall monitor the voluntary and faithful compliance with the Agreement by
causing the parties to make a report of compliance or non-compliance within two weeks from the date of agreement or agreed period of compliance. Failure of the parties
to make a report within the prescribed period shall render the Agreement deemed duly complied with absent proof to the contrary.
In case of non-compliance by the other party, the Agreement shall be endorsed by the Desk Officer to the NLRC for enforcement.
Section 12. Limitations in the Conduct of Conciliation Meetings and Appearance of Parties. Unless the parties agree otherwise, conciliation-mediation services shall be
carried out and terminated within the prescribed 30-day period.
The parties are required to appear at all times. Lawyers may be allowed to join the conference only to render advice to parties.
Failure of the complaining party to appear in two (2) scheduled meetings shall result in the issuance of Referral to the appropriate DOLE Office or Agency that has
jurisdiction over the dispute.
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In case of non-appearance of the employer or the party complained of despite due notice, the complaining party may request for the issuance of the Referral or for a resetting of the conciliation-mediation conference at any day within the 30-day period.
Section 13. Pre-termination of the 30-day Mandatory Conciliation-Mediation Proceedings; Option for Voluntary/Compulsory Arbitration. Any or both parties within the
30-day period, may pre-terminate the proceedings and request Referral to the appropriate DOLE Office or Agency which has jurisdiction over the dispute, or if both parties
so agree, refer the unresolved issues to voluntary arbitration.
Section 14. Non-Settlement. In case of failure to reach an agreement within the 30-day mandatory conciliation-mediation period, the Desk Officer shall issue a Referral to
the appropriate DOLE Agency or Office which has jurisdiction over the dispute, or if both parties so agree, refer the unresolved issues to voluntary arbitration.
Section 15. Contents of the Referral. The Referral must contain the names and addresses of the parties, summary of unresolved issues, causes of action and the relief
sought without prejudice to amendments on the complaint by the parties before the Office or Agency having jurisdiction over the dispute. For voluntary arbitration, the
Referral should specify the issues to be arbitrated.
Section 16. Issuance of the Referral. The Desk Officer shall issue the Referral on the date of termination of the conciliation-mediation services either motu-proprio, in
instances provided in Sections 12 and 14, or upon request of any or both parties to the proceedings. Failure of the Desk Officer to observe the period to issue the Referral
shall be dealt with accordingly as an administrative offense.
Section 17. Confidentiality of Proceedings. Information and statements given in confidence at the conciliation-mediation proceedings shall be treated as privileged
communication and shall not be used as evidence in any arbitration proceedings, except the stipulation of facts voluntarily entered into by the parties pursuant to Section
9(c) hereof. The Desk Officer shall not be required to testify in any court or body regarding any confidential matter and information taken during the conciliation
proceedings conducted by them.
Section 20. Public Assistance Conciliation Unit (PACU) and Free Legal Assistance and Voluntary Arbitration Services (FLAVAS). The services rendered through the Legal
Services Public Assistance and Conciliation Unit (PACU) and the NCMB Free Legal Assistance and Voluntary Arbitration Services (FLAVAS) shall form part of the Single Entry
Approach.
Section 21. National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB). Conciliation-mediation services on notices of strikes or lock-outs, or on preventive mediation cases shall
remain with the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) and are excluded from the scope and coverage of this issuance.
Section 22. Grievance Machinery and Voluntary Arbitration. Issues arising from the interpretation or implementation of the collective bargaining agreement and those
arising from interpretation or enforcement of company personnel policies shall not be subject to the 30-day mandatory conciliation-mediation. It shall be processed
through the grievance machinery as established in the collective bargaining agreement or pursuant to Sections 1 and 2, Rule XIX of Department Order No. 40, Series of
2003, as amended, and all unresolved grievance or issues shall be submitted to voluntary arbitration.
Section 23. Regional Coordinating Council (RCC). The RCC shall immediately establish the SEAD. At the regional level, the SEAD shall be established in the Regional Branch
of the NCMB and in the Regional Arbitration Branch of the NLRC, or with two or more regional offices/branches of the DOLE as it may deem appropriate based on the
number of Desk Officers and volume of cases in the region. However, at the provincial and district levels, only one SEAD shall be established in every Provincial and District
Offices of the DOLE.
The RCC shall ensure tripartite participation in the establishment of the SEAD and in the effective implementation of this Guidelines.
DOLE RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE SINGLE ENTRY APPROACH (February 25, 2011)
SECTION 2. DEFINITION OF TERMS. For purposes of this Rules, the following terms are defined as follows:
a)
Conciliation-Mediation refers to the process of dispute management conducted by the SEADO, in accordance with this Rules, to facilitate an amicable
settlement of labor disputes.
b)
Labor Dispute refers to all issues or conflicts that are covered by this Rules.
c)
Referral refers to the indorsement of unsettled issues through a document issued by the SEAD referring the unresolved issue/s to appropriate DOLE Office or
Agency that has jurisdiction over the dispute. It contains the names and addresses of the parties, the stipulated and admitted facts, summary of unresolved
issues, causes of action and the relief sought without prejudice to amendments on the complaint by the parties before the Office or Agency having jurisdiction
over the dispute.
d)
Request for Assistance (RFA) refers to the request for the conduct of conciliation-mediation under SEnA to assist the parties to arrive at a settlement
agreement.
e)
Requesting Party refers to an employee, group of employees, employer or union who files an RFA.
f)
Responding Party refers to an employee, group of employees, employer or union requested to appear for conciliation-mediation under SEnA.
SECTION 3. COVERAGE. As far as practicable, this Rules shall be applicable to the following:
a)
Termination or suspension of employment issues;
b)
Claims for any sum of money, regardless of amount;
c)
Intra-union and inter-union issues except petition for certification election, after exhaustion of administrative remedies;
d)
Unfair Labor Practice;
e)
Closures, retrenchments, redundancies, temporary lay-offs;
f)
OFW cases;
g)
Occupational safety and health standards issues except those involving imminent danger situation;
h)
Issues arising from other labor and related issuances (ORLI)
i)
Any other claims arising from employer-employee relationship; and
j)
Cases falling under the administrative and quasi-judicial jurisdiction of all DOLE offices and attached agencies, including NLRC, except:
i.
Alien Employment Permit (AEP);
ii.
PRPA authority or license;
iii.
Working child permit (WCP) and violations of RA 9231 (Anti-Child Labor Law);
iv.
Registration under DO No. 18-02;
v.
POEA issued licenses under the Migrant Workers Act, as amended;
vi.
Professional license issued by the PRC;
vii.
TESDA accreditations; and
viii.
Other similar permits, licenses or registrations issued by the DOLE or its attached agencies.
RULE II
REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE (RFA)
SECTION 1. WHERE TO FILE. The request for assistance shall be filed at any SEAD or unit in the region/provincial/district/field office where the employer principally
operates.
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In case of a union or federation representing a local chapter, the request shall be made at the regional/provincial/district/field office where the union or local chapter is
registered.
Where two or more RFAs involving the same responding party are filed before different SEADs within the same region, the requests shall be endorsed to the SEAD where
the employer principally operates or where the union/local chapter is registered, as the case may be.
If the request for assistance is filed with the SEAD most convenient to the requesting party but outside the region where the employer principally operates, the SEADO may
entertain the same and proceed with the conciliation-mediation provided the same is not objected to by the employer. In case of objection, the SEADO shall immediately
refer the request to the appropriate agency.
SECTION 3. NOTICE OF CONFERENCE. Using the SEnA Notice Form, the SEADO may utilize any of the following modes of service of notice:
a)
Personal;
b)
Registered mail;
c)
Electronic mail;
d)
Courier;
e)
Facsimile; or
f)
Any other fast, economical and effective mode of notifying the parties taking into consideration the prevailing circumstances within the SEADOs area or
responsibility.
SECTION 4. COMPLAINT/REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE THROUGH LETTER. Where a complaint/request for assistance is accounted through a letter, e-mail or referral, the
Head of Office shall respond by explaining the procedures of the SENA Program and require the personal appearance of the complainant to the SEAD pursuant to the
provision of Section 1, Rule II.
SECTION 5. ANONYMOUS COMPLAINT/REQUEST. In case of anonymous complaint/request for assistance, the SEADO shall verify the same by requesting an interview
with the responding party to facilitate compliance or correction if there are violations.
Refusal or non-appearance of the responding party on the scheduled interview would automatically result to a directive by the Head of Office to conduct inspection in the
establishment. Compliance or correction of violations uncovered during the inspection shall be facilitated through conciliation-mediation services.
RULE III
THE SINGLE ENTRY APPROACH DESK OFFICERS (SEADO)
SECTION 1. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES. The SEADO shall exert best efforts to assist the parties arrive at a settlement. In facilitating the conciliation meeting, he/she
shall:
a)
Clarify the issues and narrow down the disagreements;
b)
c)
Encourage parties to generate options and enter into stipulations;
d)
Offer proposals and options toward mutually acceptable solutions and voluntary settlement; and
e)
Facilitate the preparation of the settlement documents.
SECTION 2. NORM AND CONDUCT. The SEADO must at all times conduct him/herself with utmost courtesy and in an upright manner whose first and primary duty is to
implement the provisions of Department Order No. 107, Series of 2010, taking into consideration the following guiding principles:
a)
Provision of speedy, impartial, inexpensive and accessible settlement services; and
b)
Promotion of the use of conciliation-mediation as the primary mode in the settlement of all labor cases with only unresolved issues for referral to either
voluntary arbitration, if both parties so agree, or compulsory arbitration to the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) or appropriate agency or office of
the DOLE, as the case may be.
RULE IV
CONDUCT OF CONCILIATION-MEDIATION
SECTION 1. SCHEDULE OF CONFERENCES.

a)
The SEADO may hold as many conferences he/she deems necessary within the 30-day mandatory conciliation-mediation period to facilitate a settlement
agreement.
b)
The resetting of the scheduled conference shall only be allowed on meritorious grounds and if the other party concurred to the resetting. In such a case, the
conference shall be held not later than three (3) days from the original scheduled conference, and
c)
The 30-day period may be extended for only a maximum of seven (7) days when the parties mutually agree to such extension.
SECTION 2. SEnA GUIDING PRINCIPLES IN LABOR STANDARDS AND INTER-INTRA UNION CASES. Conciliation-mediation services by the SEADO in labor standards and
inter-intra union cases shall observe the following guiding principles:
a)
In labor standards, including occupational safety and health standards issues, the conciliation-mediation services shall be towards facilitating an expeditious
and non-litigious compliance by the responding party and ensuring the implementation of corrective measures on the identified violations in the
establishment.
b)
In inter-intra union issues, the conciliation-mediation services shall be towards facilitating a settlement or an agreed expeditious process to resolve the issue/s.
It should not in any way be made as an added layer to the periods set forth in Department Order No. 40, Series of 2003, as amended.
SECTION 3. APPEARANCE OF PARTIES.
a)
The parties, as far as practicable, shall personally appear at all times.
b)
Lawyers may be allowed to join the conference only to render advice to their clients.
c)
Lawyers, agents or attorneys-in-fact may appear in behalf of any of the parties provided they could show a special power of attorney granting them authority
to represent and enter into a binding agreement for their principal.
SECTION 4. PRE-TERMINATION OF THE 30-DAY MANDATORY CONCILIATION-MEDIATION PROCEEDINGS. Any or both parties, within the 30-day period, may or cause to
pre-terminate the proceedings by:
a)
Verbal or written withdrawal by the requesting party;
b)
Withdrawal due to disinterest caused by non-appearance of the requesting party in two (2) scheduled consecutive conferences despite due notice;
c)
Request for Referral by the requesting party to the appropriate DOLE Office or Agency which has jurisdiction over the dispute;
d)
Non-appearance of the responding party in two (2) scheduled consecutive conferences despite due notice; or
e)
Non-submission/resistance of the responding party to conciliation-mediation.
SECTION 5. TERMINATION OF SEnA PROCEEDINGS. Any of the following shall render the SEnA proceedings closed and terminated:
1.
Pre-termination of the 30-day mandatory conciliation-mediation proceedings as defined in Section 4 hereof;
2.
Expiration of the 30-day mandatory period unless both parties mutually request for extension; or
3.
Upon compliance with the settlement agreement as defined in the succeeding Section.
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SECTION 6. COMPLIANCE WITH SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT. Upon full compliance of the settlement agreement, the SEnA proceeding is automatically terminated.
Any of the party may submit a written report of non-compliance by the other within two (2) weeks from the date of agreement or agreed period of compliance. The
absence of the same shall render the settlement agreement deemed duly complied with absent of proof to the contrary.
SECTION 7. ISSUANCE OF REFERRAL. The Referral shall be issued without delay on the date of the termination of the conciliation-mediation services to the party who
filed the RFA. The Referral shall be submitted to the appropriate DOLE office or agency named therein, or to voluntary arbitration, if both parties so agree to submit their
unresolved issues, as compliance to the 30-day mandatory conciliation-mediation process.
The issuance of the Referral shall be motu proprio on the part of the SEADO in the following circumstances:
a)
Expiration of the 30-day mandatory conciliation-mediation period, unless there is a request for extension;
b)
Failure of the parties to reach an agreement within the 30-day mandatory conciliation-mediation period; or
c)
Failure of the requesting party to appear in two (2) scheduled consecutive conferences despite due notice.
However, in case of pre-termination of the proceedings, the issuance of the Referral shall be upon the request of any of both parties.
Delay in the issuance of the Referral by the SEADO shall be dealt with accordingly as an administrative offense.
SECTION 8. CONTENTS OF REFERRAL. The Referral must contain the names and addresses of the parties, summary of unresolved issues, causes of action and the relief
sought without prejudice to amendments on the complaint by the parties before the Office or Agency having jurisdiction over the dispute. For voluntary arbitration, the
Referral should specify the issues to be arbitrated.
SECTION 9. CONFIDENTIALITY OF PROCEEDINGS; MINUTES.
a)
Information and statements given in confidence at the conciliation-mediation proceedings shall be treated as privileged communication and shall not be used
as evidence in any arbitration proceedings, except:
1)
Stipulation of facts which form part of the settlement in accordance with Rule V hereof;
2)
Facts which are of common knowledge; or
3)
Waiver of confidentiality
b)
Any contents appearing in the minutes of the proceedings (SENA Minutes Form) or personal notes taken by the SEADO or the parties during the proceedings
are subject to the limitations provided under paragraph (a).
c)
Voice or video recorders or any electronic recording device shall be prohibited during the proceedings.
RULE V
SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTE
SECTION 1. SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT.

a)
In case of voluntary settlement, the SEADO shall reduce the agreement into writing using the SENA Settlement Form, indicating all stipulations agreed upon by
the parties.
b)
Where the settlement agreement involves monetary claims, the SEADO shall endeavor to facilitate the settlement in full and shall attach a duly accomplished
waiver and quitclaim to the settlement agreement as proof of full compliance
c)
Where the payment of monetary claims is agreed to be in several installments or tranches, the waiver and quitclaim shall be executed only upon payment of
the last installment.
d)
In case of partial settlement, only those stipulations relating to issues settled shall be stated in the agreement while the unresolved issues shall be referred to
appropriate DOLE Office or Agency.
e)
The SEADO shall, as far as practicable, make us of the language or dialect understood by both parties.
f)
The SEADO is duty bound to explain to the parties the contents of their settlement agreement before they sign the same. He/she shall also sign the settlement
agreement in the parties presence and attest the document to be the true and voluntary act of the parties.
SECTION 2. EFFECT OF SETTLEMENT. Any settlement agreement reached by the parties before the SEADO shall be final and binding.
SECTION 3. SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTS ON MONETARY CLAIMS. Where the parties entered into a compromise of monetary claims arising from violation of labor
standards law, the amount of the compromise shall be fair and reasonable, and not contrary to law, public morals and public policy.
The fairness/reasonableness of settlement agreements shall depend on the totality of the circumstances, the degree of voluntariness and credibility of the consideration.
The insistence of the requesting party to accept a given amount despite having knowledge of his/her rightful claims shall give rise to the presumption of absence of fraud,
violence or coercion and his/her voluntariness to accept the settlement agreement
The foregoing circumstances shall be fully disclosed in the settlement agreement.
SECTION 4. MONITORING AND ENFORCEMENT OF THE SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT. The SEADO shall monitor the voluntary and faithful compliance with the settlement
agreement by requiring the parties to submit, under oath, a written report of compliance or non-compliance within two (2) weeks from the date of agreement or agreed
period of compliance. A copy of the settlement agreement shall be submitted to the appropriate office/agency having jurisdiction over the issue/s therein.
Where the settlement agreement or part thereof involves payment of monetary claims, the same shall be made in the SEAD and in the presence of the SEADO.
In case of report of settlement for a show or where the settlement amount is reported to have been retrieved or confiscated by the responding party, both parties shall
be summoned by the Head of Office where the settlement was effected. The Head of Office shall verify the report and should there be prima facie proof that the
settlement was for a show, the responding party shall be required to pay the requesting party the full settlement amount with legal interest reckoned from the date of
settlement.
SECTION 5. RETALIATORY ACTION. Any retaliatory action/s against the requesting party by the responding party shall be strictly construed against the responding party.
SECTION 6. NON-COMPLIANCE WITH SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT; EXECUTION. In case of non-compliance by the responding party, the requesting party has the option to
disregard the settlement agreement and file the appropriate case before the appropriate forum, or enforce the terms of the agreement. In case of the latter, he/she shall
request a Referral from the SEADO to the proper Regional Arbitration Branch (RAB) of the NLRC for enforcement of the agreement pursuant to Rule V, Sec. 1 (i) of the 2005
Revised NLRC Rules, as amended. The same shall be docketed by the RAB as an arbitration case for enforcement of settlement agreement.
Upon agreement of the parties, or when the cause of action is within the jurisdiction of the Office/Agency where the SEAD is lodged, the appropriate DOLE Office/Agency
may execute the settlement agreement.
Page 95

SINGLE ENTRY APPROACH FLOWCHART
Request for Assistance is
filed at any Desk Officer at
RCMB, RO, RAB, and PFODistrict Offices
Reduce to writing
using SEAD Form
Receiving Officer Records

RFA/CM and forwards to
Desk Officer or Agency
Head
PFO-District
Head Assigns
the RFA/CM to
SEAO
Desk Officer initiates a preconference assessment,

evaluation, counseling and
schedules conciliationmediation
Desk Officer
notifies both
parties
Conciliation-mediation by the Desk Officer

Clarify the issues and narrow down the
disagreements;
Encourage parties to generate options and
enter into stipulations;
Offer proposals and options toward
mutually acceptable solutions and voluntary
settlement; and
Facilitate the preparation of the settlement
documents.
Pre-termination
Verbal or written withdrawal by the
requesting party;
Withdrawal due to disinterest caused by nonappearance of the requesting party in two (2)
scheduled consecutive conferences despite
due notice;
Request for Referral by the requesting party
to the appropriate DOLE Office or Agency
which has jurisdiction over the dispute;
Non-appearance of the responding party in
two (2) scheduled consecutive conferences
despite due notice; or
Non-submission/resistance of the responding
party to conciliation-mediation.
N
Voluntarily
Settled
RFA/CM
Closed
Desk Officer prepares

Reports to RO
Desk Officer advises the parties and issues a Referral

to the appropriate DOLE Agency or Office
The Referral must contain the names and
addresses of the parties, summary of unresolved
issues, causes of action and the relief sought
without prejudice to amendments on the
complaint by the parties before the Office or
Agency having jurisdiction over the dispute. For
voluntary arbitration, the Referral should specify
the issues to be arbitrated
Page 96
COMPLAINT; CAUSE OF ACTION/S; REAL PARTIES-IN-INTEREST; AMENDMENT OF COMPLAINT; CERTIFICATE OF NON-FORUM

SHOPPING
COMPLAINT
A complaint or petition is a pleading alleging the cause or causes of action of the complainant or petitioner. The names and addresses
of all complainants or petitioners and respondents must be stated in the complaint or petition. It shall be signed under oath by the
complainant or petitioner, with a declaration of non-forum shopping. (Rule III, Section 1(a), 2011 NLRC Rules of Procedure)
CAUSE OF ACTION
A cause of action is the act or omission by which a party violates a right of another (Rule II, Section 2, Rules of Court). A party having
more than one cause of action against the other party, arising out of the same relationship, shall include all of them in one complaint
or petition (Rule III, Section 1(b), 2011 NLRC Rules of Procedure).
REAL PARTIES IN INTEREST
A real party in interest is the party who stands to be benefited or injured by the judgment in the suit, or the party entitled to the
avails of the suit (Rule III, Section 2, Rules of Court). The full names of all the real parties in interest, whether natural or juridical
persons or entities authorized by law, shall be stated in the caption of the complaint or petition, as well as in the decisions,
resolutions or orders of the Labor Arbiter or the Commission (Rule III, Section 2, 2011 NLRC Rules of Procedure).
AMENDMENT OF COMPLAINT
No amendment of the complaint or petition shall be allowed after the filing of position papers, unless with leave of the Labor Arbiter
(Rule III, Section 11(b), 2011 NLRC Rules).
ART. 129 OF THE LABOR CODE
VENUE AND JURISDICTION
Upon complaint of any interested party, the Regional Director of the Department of Labor and Employment or any of the duly authorized hearing officers of the
Department is empowered, through summary proceeding and after due notice, to hear and decide any matter involving the recovery of wages and other monetary claims
and benefits, including legal interest, owing to an employee or person employed in domestic or household service or househelper under this Code, arising from employeremployee relations: Provided, That such complaint does not include a claim for reinstatement: Provided further, That the aggregate money claims of each employee or
househelper does not exceed Five thousand pesos (P5,000.00). The Regional Director or hearing officer shall decide or resolve the complaint within thirty (30) calendar days
from the date of the filing of the same.
RULE V, SECTION 1, NLRC RULES OF PROCEDURE
SECTION 1. Jurisdiction of Labor Arbiters. Labor Arbiters shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction to hear and decide the following cases involving all workers,
whether agricultural or non-agricultural:
a)
Unfair labor practice cases;
b)
Termination disputes;
c)
If accompanied with a claim for reinstatement, those cases that workers may file involving wages, rates of pay, hours of work and other terms and conditions
of employment;
d)
Claims for actual, moral, exemplary and other forms of damages arising from employer-employee relations;
e)
Cases arising from any violation of Article 264 of the Labor Code, as amended, including questions involving the legality of strikes and lockouts;
f)
Except claims for employees compensation not included in the next succeeding paragraph, social security, medicare, and maternity benefits, all other claims
arising from employer-employee relations, including those of persons in domestic or household service, involving an amount exceeding Five Thousand Pesos
(P5,000.00), whether or not accompanied with a claim for reinstatement;
g)
Wage distortion disputes in unorganized establishments not voluntarily settled by the parties pursuant to Republic Act No. 6727;
h)
Enforcement of compromise agreements when there is non-compliance by any of the parties pursuant to Article 227 of the Labor Code, as amended;
i)
Money claims arising out of employer-employee relationship or by virtue of any law or contract, involving Filipino workers for overseas deployment, including
claims for actual, moral, exemplary and other forms of damages as provided by Section 10 of RA 8042, as amended by RA 10022; and
j)
Other cases as may be provided by law.
Cases arising from the interpretation or implementation of collective bargaining agreements and those arising from the interpretation or enforcement of company
personnel policies shall be disposed of by the Labor Arbiter by referring the same to the grievance machinery and voluntary arbitration, as may be provided in said
agreements. (1a)
RULE IV, SECTION 5, 2011 NLRC RULES OF PROCEDURE
SECTION 1. Venue.
a)
All cases which Labor Arbiters have authority to hear and decide may be filed in the Regional Arbitration Branch having jurisdiction over the workplace of the
complainant or petitioner.
For purposes of venue, the workplace shall be understood as the place or locality where the employee is regularly assigned at the time the cause of action
arose. It shall include the place where the employee is supposed to report back after a temporary detail, assignment, or travel. In case of field employees, as
well as ambulant or itinerant workers, their workplace is where they are regularly assigned, or where they are supposed to regularly receive their salaries and
wages or work instructions from, and report the results of their assignment to, their employers.
b)
Where two (2) or more Regional Arbitration Branches have jurisdiction over the workplace of the complainant or petitioner, the Branch that first acquired
jurisdiction over the case shall exclude the others.
c)
When venue is not objected to before the filling of position papers such issue shall be deemed waived.
Page 97

d)
The venue of an action may be changed or transferred to a different Regional Arbitration Branch other than where the complaint was filed by written
agreement of the parties or when the Commission of Labor Arbiter before whom the case is pending so orders, upon motion by the proper party in meritorious
cases.
e)
Cases involving overseas Filipino workers may be filed before the Regional Arbitration Branch having jurisdiction over the place where the complainant resides
or where the principal office of any of the respondents is situated, at the option of the complainant.
SERVICE OF SUMMONS; NATURAL & JURIDICAL PERSON/S; MODE OF SERVICE OF NOTICES, RESOLUTION, ORDER OF DECISION
SERVICE OF SUMMONS
SECTION 4. Service of Summons. Summons shall be served personally upon the parties by the bailiff or a duly authorized public
officer within three (3) days from his/her receipt thereof, or by registered mail, or by private courier authorized by the Commission;
Provided that in special circumstances, service of summons may be effected in accordance with the pertinent provisions of the Rules
of Court.
The bailiff or officer serving the summons shall submit his/her return within two (2) days from date of service thereof, stating legibly
in his/her return his/her name, the names of the persons served and the date of receipt, which return shall be immediately attached
to the records and shall be part thereof. If no service was effected, the reason thereof shall be stated in the return.
In case of service by registered mail or by private courier, the names of the addressees and the dates of receipt of the summons shall
be written in the return card or in the proof of service issued by the private courier. If no service was effected, the reason thereof
shall be so stated. (n)
NATURAL & JURIDICAL PERSONS
Only natural or juridical persons, or entities authorized by law may be parties in a civil action. The term "plaintiff" may refer to the
claiming party, the counter-claimant, the cross-claimant, or the third (fourth, etc.) party plaintiff. The term "defendant" may refer to
the original defending party, the defendant in a counterclaim, the cross-defendant, or the third (fourth, etc.) party defendant. (Rule 3,
Section 1, Rules of Court)
MODE OF SERVICE OF NOTICE
Notices and copies of resolutions or orders:
a) personally upon the parties by the bailiff or duly authorized public officer within 3 days from his receipt thereof; or
b) by registered mail; or
c) private courier
Decisions and final awards:
a) copies shall be served on both parties and their counsel or representative by registered mail; or
b) private courier.
Provided:
In cases where a party to a case or his counsel personally seeks service of the decision upon inquiry thereon, service to
said party shall be deemed effected
Where parties are numerous, service shall be made on counsel and upon such number of complainants, as may be
practicable and shall be considered substantial compliance with Art. 224 (a) of the Labor Code
Appeal the period shall be counted from the receipt of such decisions, resolutions, or orders by the counsel or
representative of record
Duty of the Bailiff or Officer Serving the Notice, Order or Resolution:
Submit his return within 2days from date of service thereof, stating legibly in his return:
(1) His name
(2) Names of the persons served; and
(3) the date of receipt, which return shall be immediately attached and shall form part of the records of the case
In case of service by registered mail or private courier (1) name of the addressee and (2) date of receipt of notice, order
or resolution shall be written in the (3) return card or in the proof of service issued by the private courier. If no service was
effected, the reason thereof shall be stated.
PROOF AND COMPLETENESS OF SERVICE
SECTION 5. Proof and Completeness of Service. The return is prima facie proof of the facts indicated therein. Service by registered mail or by private
courier is complete upon receipt by the addressee or his/her agent. If the addressee fails to claim his/her mail from the post office within five (5) days
from the date of first notice of the postmaster, service shall take effect after such time. (7a)
Page 98

RAFFLE AND ASSIGNMENT OF CASES
SECTION 2. Raffle and Assignment of Cases.

a) All complaints and petitions filed with the docket unit of the Regional Arbitration Branch shall be immediately raffled and assigned to a
Labor Arbiter from receipt thereof.
b) The Executive Labor Arbiter shall be responsible for the immediate raffle and assignment of all complaints and petitions filed with his/her
Regional Arbitration Branch, and the immediate forwarding of all subsequent pleadings and motions.
c)
All pleadings and motions subsequent to the filing of the complaint shall be forwarded to the Labor Arbiter before whom the case is
pending within twenty-four (24) hours from receipt thereof.
APPEARANCES OF LAWYERS AND NON-LAWYERS

LABOR CODE
Article 222. Appearances and Fees.

Non-lawyers may appear before the Commission or any Labor Arbiter only:
If they represent themselves; or
If they represent their organization or members thereof.
No attorneys fees, negotiation fees or similar charges of any kind arising from any collective bargaining agreement shall be imposed on any individual
member of the contracting union: Provided, However, that attorneys fees may be charged against union funds in an amount to be agreed upon by
the parties. Any contract, agreement or arrangement of any sort to the contrary shall be null and void. (As amended by Presidential Decree No. 1691,
May 1, 1980)
RULE III, 2011 NLRC RULES OF PROCEDURE
SECTION 6. Appearances.
a) A lawyer appearing for a party is presumed to be properly authorized for that purpose. In every case, he/she shall indicate in his/her
pleadings and motions his/her Attorney's Roll Number, as well as his/her PTR 3 and IBP numbers for the current year and MCLE compliance.
b)
A non-lawyer may appear in any of the proceedings before the Labor Arbiter or Commission only under the following conditions:
(1)
he/she represents himself/herself as party to the case;
(2)
he/she represents a legitimate labor organization, as defined under Article 212 and 242 of the Labor Code, as amended, which is
a party to the case: Provided, that he/she presents to the Commission or Labor Arbiter during the mandatory conference or
initial hearing
1. a certification from the Bureau of Labor Relations (BLR) or Regional Office of the Department of Labor and
Employment attesting that the organization he/she represents is duly registered and listed in the roster of legitimate
labor organizations;
2. a verified certification issued by the secretary and attested to by the president of the said organization stating that
he/she is authorized to represent the said organization in the said case; and
3. a copy of the resolution of the board of directors of the said organization granting him such authority;
(3)
he/she represents a member or members of a legitimate labor organization that is existing within the employer's establishment,
who are parties to the case: Provided, that he/she presents;
4. a verified certification attesting that he/she is authorized by such member or members to represent them in the
case; and
5. a verified certification issued by the secretary and attested to by the president of the said organization stating that
the person or persons he/she is representing are members of their organization which is existing in the employer's
establishment;
(4)
he/she is a duly-accredited member of any legal aid office recognized by the Department of Justice or Integrated Bar of the
Philippines: Provided, that he/she:
6. presents proof of his/her accreditation; and
7. represents a party to the case;
(5)
he/she is the owner or president of a corporation or establishment which is a party to the case: Provided, that he/she presents:
8. a verified certification attesting that he/she is authorized to represent said corporation or establishment; and
9. a copy of the resolution of the board of directors of said corporation, or other similar resolution or instrument issued
by said establishment, granting him/her such authority.
Professional Tax Receipt
Page 99

c)
Appearances of a non-lawyer in contravention of this section shall not be recognized in any proceedings before the Labor Arbiter or the
Commission.
d)
Appearances may be made orally or in writing. In both cases, the complete name and office address of counsel or authorized
representative shall be made of record and the adverse party or his counsel or authorized representative properly notified.
e)
In case of change of address, the counsel or representative shall file a notice of such change, copy furnished the adverse party and counsel
or representative, if any.
f)
Any change or withdrawal of counsel or authorized representative shall be made in accordance with the Rules of Court. (8a)
SUMMARY:
A lawyer must indicate in his/her pleadings and motions his/her:
(1) Attorneys Roll Number;
(2) Professional Tax Receipt;
(3) IBP numbers for the current year; and
(4) MCLE compliance
A non lawyer may appear in any of the following instances (note requisites):
(1) he/she represent himself/herself as a party to the case;
(2) he/she represents a legitimate labor organization which is a party to the case;
(3) he/she represents a member of a legitimate labor organization existing in the employers establishment which is a
party to the case;
(4) he/she is a duly-accredited member of any legal aid office recognized by the DOJ or IBP;
(5) he/she is the owner/president of a corporation or establishment which is a party to the case
SECTION 7. Authority to Bind Party. Counsel or other authorized representatives of parties shall have authority to bind their clients in all matters of
procedure; but they cannot, without a special power of attorney or express consent, enter into a compromise agreement with the opposing party in
full or partial discharge of a client's claim. (9a)
PERMISSIBLE GROUNDS TO DISMISS COMPLAINT; PROHIBITED PLEADINGS & MOTIONS

RULE V
SECTION 5. Prohibited Pleadings and Motions. The following pleadings and motions shall not be allowed and acted upon nor
elevated to the Commission:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
Motion to dismiss the complaint except on the ground of lack of jurisdiction over the subject matter, improper venue, res
judicata, prescription and forum shopping;
Motion for a bill of particulars;
Motion for new trial;
Petition for Relief from Judgment;
Motion to declare respondent in default;
Motion for reconsideration of any decision or any order of the Labor Arbiter;
Appeal from any interlocutory order of the Labor Arbiter, such as but not limited to, an order:
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
h)
i)
j)
denying a motion to dismiss;

denying a motion to inhibit;
denying a motion for issuance of writ of execution; or
denying a motion to quash writ of execution.
Appeal from the issuance of a certificate of finality of decision by the Labor Arbiter;
Appeal from orders issued by the Labor Arbiter in the course of execution proceedings.
Such other pleadings, motions and petitions of similar nature intended to circumvent above provisions. (5a, RIII)
SECTION 6. Motion to Dismiss. Before the date set for the mandatory conciliation and mediation conference, the respondent may
file a motion to dismiss on grounds provided under Section 5, paragraph (a) hereof. Such motion shall be immediately resolved by the
Labor Arbiter through a written order. An order denying the motion to dismiss, or suspending its resolution until the final
determination of the case, is not appealable.
Q: What are the permissible grounds to dismiss a complaint?
Answer: [J-I-R-P-F]
(1) lack of Jurisdiction;
(2) Improper venue;
(3) Res judicata;
(4) Prescription; and
(5) Forum shopping
Page 100
MANDATORY CONCILIATION & MEDIATION CONFERENCE

SECTION 8. Mandatory Conciliation and Mediation Conference.
a) The mandatory conciliation and mediation conference shall be called for the purpose of:
(1)
amicably settling the case upon a fair compromise;
(2)
determining the real parties in interest;
(3)
determining the necessity of amending the complaint and including all causes of action;
(4)
defining and simplifying the issues in the case;
(5)
entering into admissions or stipulations of facts; and
(6)
threshing out all other preliminary matters.
The Labor Arbiter shall personally preside over and take full control of the proceedings and may be assisted by the Labor Arbitration
Associate in the conduct thereof.
b)
Conciliation and mediation efforts shall be exerted by the Labor Arbiters all throughout the mandatory conferences. Any agreement
entered into by the parties whether in partial or full settlement of the dispute shall be reduced into writing and signed by the parties and
their counsel or the parties' authorized representatives, if any.
c)
In any case, the compromise agreement shall be approved by the Labor Arbiter, if after explaining to the parties, particularly to the
complainants, the terms, conditions and consequences thereof, he/she is satisfied that they understand the agreement, that the same was
entered into freely and voluntarily by them, and that it is not contrary to law, morals, and public policy.
d)
A compromise agreement duly entered into in accordance with this Section shall be final and binding upon the parties and shall have the
force and effect of a judgment rendered by the Labor Arbiter.
e)
The mandatory conciliation and mediation conference shall, except for justifiable grounds, be terminated within thirty (30) calendar days
from the date of the first conference.
f)
No motion for postponement shall be entertained except on meritorious grounds and when filed at least three (3) days before the
scheduled hearing. (3a)
CONCEPT OF CONCILIATION AND MEDIATION

The concept of mandatory conciliation and mediation is to explore the possibility of compromise since there are some petty issues
which may be voluntarily settled without need of filing a case in the LA
PURPOSE
The purpose of the mandatory conciliation and mediation is to:
(1) amicably settle the case upon a fair compromise;
(2) determine the real parties in interest;
(3) determine the necessity of amending the complaint and including all causes of action;
(4) define and simplify the issues in the case;
(5) enter into admissions or stipulations of facts; and
(6) thresh out all other preliminary matters.
SECTION 9. Effect of Failure of Settlement. If the parties fail to agree on an amicable settlement, either in whole or in part, during the mandatory
conciliation and mediation conference, the Labor Arbiter shall proceed to the other purposes of the said conference as enumerated in Section 8 (a)
hereof. (4a)
SECTION 10. Non-Appearance of Parties. The non-appearance of the complainant or petitioner during the two (2) settings for mandatory
conciliation and mediation conference scheduled in the summons, despite due notice thereof, shall be a ground for the dismissal of the case without
prejudice.
In case of non-appearance by the respondent during the first scheduled conference, the second conference as scheduled in the summons shall
proceed. If the respondent still fails to appear at the second conference despite being duly served with summons, he/she shall be considered to have
waived his/her right to file position paper. The Labor Arbiter shall immediately terminate the mandatory conciliation and mediation conference and
direct the complainant or petitioner to file a verified position paper and submit evidence in support of his/her causes of action and thereupon render
his/her decision on the basis of the evidence on record. (5a)
WAIVER OF RIGHT TO FILE POSITION PAPER & LIFTING OF ORDER OF WAIVER

SECTION 10. Non-Appearance of Parties. The non-appearance of the complainant or petitioner during the two (2) settings for mandatory
conciliation and mediation conference scheduled in the summons, despite due notice thereof, shall be a ground for the dismissal of the case without
prejudice.
In case of non-appearance by the respondent during the first scheduled conference, the second conference as scheduled in the summons shall
proceed. If the respondent still fails to appear at the second conference despite being duly served with summons, he/she shall be considered to
have waived his/her right to file position paper. The Labor Arbiter shall immediately terminate the mandatory conciliation and mediation conference
Page 101
and direct the complainant or petitioner to file a verified position paper and submit evidence in support of his/her causes of action and thereupon
render his/her decision on the basis of the evidence on record. (5a)
Waiver of right to file position paper can happen if respondent still fails to appear at the second conference despite served
with summons
The LA should immediately terminate the conciliation and direct the petitioner to file a position paper and submit evidence
The LA should thereupon render his/her decision on the basis of the evidence on record
SECTION 20. Revival and Re-Opening or Re-Filing of Dismissed Case and Lifting of Waiver. A party may file a motion to revive or re-open a case
dismissed without prejudice, within ten (10) calendar days from receipt of notice of the order dismissing the same; otherwise, the only remedy shall
be to re-file the case. A party declared to have waived his/her right to file position paper may, at any time after notice thereof and before the case
is submitted for decision, file a motion under oath to set aside the order of waiver upon proper showing that his/her failure to appear was due to
justifiable and meritorious grounds. (16a)
An order of waiver may be lifted:

(1) at any time after notice;
(2) before the case is submitted for decision; and
(3) upon showing that his/her failure to appear was due to justifiable and meritorious grounds
COMPROMISE BEFORE REGIONAL DIRECTOR AND LABOR ARBITER
Art. 227 of the Labor Code
Any compromise settlement, including those involving labor standard laws, voluntarily agreed upon by the parties with the assistance of the Bureau or
the regional office of the Department of Labor, shall be final and binding upon the parties. The National Labor Relations Commission or any court,
shall not assume jurisdiction over issues involved therein except in case of non-compliance thereof or if there is prima facie evidence that the
settlement was obtained through fraud, misrepresentation, or coercion.
Art. 2028 of the Civil Code
A compromise is a contract whereby the parties, by making reciprocal concessions, avoid a litigation or put an end to one already commenced.
A judgment rendered in accordance with a compromise agreement is not appealable, and is immediately executory unless a
motion is filed to set aside the agreement on the ground of fraud, mistake, or duress, in which case an appeal may be taken
against the order denying the motion. Under A2037 of the Civil Code, a compromise has upon the parties the effect and
authority of res judicata, even when effected without judicial approval; and under the principle of res judicata, an issue which
has already been laid to rest by the parties themselves can no longer be relitigated. (Phil. Journalist Inc. vs. NLRC, G.R. No.
166421, Sept. 5, 2006)
All that is required for the compromise to be deemed voluntarily entered into is personal and specific individual consent. Thus,
contrary to respondents contention, the employees counsel need not be present at the time of the signing of the compromise
agreement. (J.Phil. Marine Inc. vs. NLRC, G.R. No. 168339, Oct. 10, 2008)
SIMULTANEOUS FILING OF POSITION PAPER; CONTENTS OF POSITION PAPER; REPLY POSITION PAPER & CONTENTS
RULE V
SECTION 11. Submission of Position Paper and Reply.

a) Subject to Sections 9 and 10 of this Rule, the Labor Arbiter shall direct the parties to submit simultaneously their verified position papers
with supporting documents and affidavits, if any, on a date set by him/her within ten (10) calendar days from the date of termination of
the mandatory conciliation and mediation conference.
b)
No amendment of the complaint or petition shall be allowed after the filing of position papers, unless with leave of the Labor Arbiter.
c)
The position papers of the parties shall cover only those claims and causes of action stated in the complaint or amended complaint,
accompanied by all supporting documents, including the affidavits of witnesses, which shall take the place of their direct testimony,
excluding, those that may have been amicably settled.
d)
Within ten (10) days from receipt of the position paper of the adverse party, a reply may be filed on a date agreed upon and during a
schedule set before the Labor Arbiter. The reply shall not allege and/or prove facts and any cause or causes of action not referred to or
included in the original or amended complaint or petition or raised in the position paper. (7a)
SIMULTANEOUS FILING OF POSITION PAPERS

On a date set within 10 calendar days from the date of termination of the mandatory conciliation and mediation conference, the LA
should direct the parties to simultaneously submit their verified position papers with supporting documents
CONTENTS OF POSITION PAPER
The position papers shall cover:
(1) Only claims and causes of action stated in the complaint;
Page 102

(2) Supporting documents, including affidavits of witnesses;
(3) But excludes claims and causes of action that may have been amicably settled.
REPLY POSITION PAPER AND CONTENTS

A reply may be filed on a date agreed upon and set by the LA:
(1) Within 10 days from receipt of the adverse position paper;
(2) Such reply shall not allege or prove facts and any cause of action not included in the original petition or is not raised in the
position paper.
QUANTUM OF EVIDENCE & BURDEN OF PROOF
In labor cases as in other administrative proceedings, substantial evidence or such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind
might accept as sufficient to support a conclusion is required.
The burden of proof lies on he who asserts, not he who denies
TECHNICAL RULES OF PROCEDURE
Article 221. Technical rules not binding and prior resort to amicable settlement. In any proceeding before the Commission or any of the Labor Arbiters,
the rules of evidence prevailing in courts of law or equity shall not be controlling, and it is the spirit and intention of this Code that the Commission and
the Labor Arbiters shall use every and all reasonable means to ascertain the facts in each case speedily and objectively, without regard to technicalities
of law or procedure, all in the interest of due process. In any proceeding before the Commission or any Labor Arbiter, the parties may be represented
by legal counsel but it shall be the duty of the Chairman, any Presiding Commissioner or Commissioner or any Labor Arbiter to exercise complete
control of the proceedings at all stages.
Any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, the Labor Arbiter shall exert all efforts towards the amicable settlement of a labor dispute
within his jurisdiction on or before the first hearing. The same rule shall apply to the Commission in the exercise of its original jurisdiction. (As
amended by RA 6715)
CONDUCT OF HEARING OR CLARIFICATORY CONFERENCE

RULE V
SECTION 12. Determination of Necessity of Hearing or Clarificatory Conference. Immediately after the submission by the parties of their position
paper or reply, as the case may be, the Labor Arbiter shall, motu proprio, determine whether there is a need for a hearing or clarificatory conference.
At this stage, he/she may, at his/her discretion and for the purpose of making such determination, ask clarificatory questions to further elicit facts or
information, including but not limited to the subpoena of relevant documentary evidence, if any, from any party or witness.
LA may ask clarificatory questions to further elicit facts or information

SECTION 13. Role of the Labor Arbiter in Hearing and Clarificatory Conference
a) The Labor Arbiter shall take full control and personally conduct the hearing or clarificatory conference and may ask questions for the
purpose of clarifying points of law or facts involved in the case. The Labor Arbiter may allow the presentation of testimonial evidence with
right of cross-examination by the opposing party and shall limit the presentation of evidence to matters relevant to the issue before
him/her and necessary for a just and speedy disposition of the case.
b)
The Labor Arbiter shall make a written summary of the proceedings, including the substance of the evidence presented, in consultation
with the parties. The written summary shall be signed by the parties and shall form part of the records. (9a)
SECTION 14. Non-Appearance of Parties, and Postponement of Hearings and Clarificatory Conferences.
a) The parties and their counsels appearing before the Labor Arbiter shall be prepared for continuous hearing or clarificatory conference. No
postponement or continuance shall be allowed by the Labor Arbiter, except upon meritorious grounds and subject to the requirement of
expeditious disposition of cases. The hearing or clarificatory conference shall be terminated within thirty (30) calendar days from the date
of the initial clarificatory conference.
b)
In case of non-appearance of any of the parties during the hearing or clarificatory conference despite due notice, proceedings shall be
conducted ex-parte. Thereafter, the case shall be deemed submitted for decision.
c)
Paragraph (a) of this Section notwithstanding, in cases involving overseas Filipino workers, the aggregate period for conducting the
mandatory conciliation and mediation conference, including hearing on the merits or clarificatory conference, shall not exceed sixty (60)
days, which shall be reckoned from the date of acquisition of jurisdiction by the Labor Arbiter over the person of the respondents. (10a)
SECTION 15. Submission of the Case for Decision. Upon the submission by the parties of their position papers or replies, or the lapse of the period
to submit the same, the case shall be deemed submitted for decision unless the Labor Arbiter calls for a hearing or clarificatory conference in
accordance with Section 12 and 14(a) of this Rule, in which case, notice of hearing or clarificatory conference shall be immediately sent to the parties.
Upon termination of the said hearing or conference, the case is deemed submitted for decision.
Page 103

INHIBITION
SECTION 16. Inhibition. A Labor Arbiter may voluntarily inhibit himself/herself from the resolution of a case and shall so state in
writing the legal justifications therefor. Upon motion of a party, either on the ground of relationship within the fourth civil degree of
consanguinity or affinity with the adverse party or counsel, or on question of partiality or other justifiable grounds, the Labor Arbiter
may inhibit himself/herself from further hearing and deciding the case. Such motion shall be resolved within five (5) days from the
filing thereof. An order denying or granting a motion for inhibition is inappealable. (12a)
VOLUNTARY INHIBITION
A Labor Arbiter may voluntary inhibit from the resolution of a case and shall state in writing the legal justifications thereof
UPON MOTION OF A PARTY
On the ground of:
(1) Relationship within the fourth civil degree of consanguinity or affinity with the adverse party or counsel;
(2) Question of partiality;
(3) Other justifiable grounds.
Such motion shall be resolved within 5 days from filing and is inappealable.
CONTEMPT
SECTION 1. Direct Contempt. The Chairman or any Commissioner or Labor Arbiter may summarily adjudge guilty of direct contempt any person
committing any act of misbehavior in the presence of or so near the Chairman or any Commissioner or Labor Arbiter as to obstruct or interrupt the
proceedings before the same, including disrespect toward said officials, offensive acts toward others, or refusal to be sworn or to answer as a witness
or to subscribe to an affidavit or deposition when lawfully required to do so. If the offense is committed against the Commission or any member
thereof, the same shall be punished by a fine not exceeding Five Hundred Pesos (P500.00) or imprisonment not exceeding five (5) days, or both; and, if
the offense is committed against any Labor Arbiter, the same shall be punished by a fine not exceeding One Hundred Pesos (P100.00) or
imprisonment not exceeding one (1) day, or both.
Any person adjudged guilty of direct contempt by a Labor Arbiter may, within a period of five (5) calendar days from notice of the judgment, appeal
the same to the Commission and the execution of said judgment shall be suspended pending resolution of the appeal upon the filing by said person of
a bond on condition that he will abide by and perform the judgment should the appeal be decided against him/her. A judgment of the Commission on
direct contempt shall be immediately executory and inappealable.
SECTION 2. Indirect Contempt. The Commission or any Labor Arbiter pursuant to Article 218 (d) of the Labor Code may cite any person for indirect
contempt and impose the appropriate penalty under any of the following grounds:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
Misbehavior of any officer or employee in the performance of his/her official duties or in his/her official
transaction;
Disobedience of, or resistance to, a lawful writ, order or decision;
Any abuse of, or any unlawful interference with the processes or proceedings not constituting direct contempt;
Any improper conduct tending, directly or indirectly, to impede, obstruct or degrade the administration of justice;
Assuming to be an attorney or a representative of party without authority;
Failure to obey a subpoena duly served; or
Other grounds analogous to the foregoing.
A.
Where charge to be filed. Where the charge for indirect contempt has been committed against the Commission or against an Officer
appointed by it, the charge may be filed with the Commission. Where such contempt has been committed against the Labor Arbiter, the
charge may be filed with the Regional Arbitration Branch subject to appeal to the Commission in the same manner as provided in Section 1
of this Rule.
B.
How proceedings commenced. Proceedings for indirect contempt may be initiated motu proprio by the Commission or any Labor Arbiter
by an order or any other formal charge requiring the respondent to show cause why he/she should not be punished for contempt.
In all other cases, a charge for indirect contempt shall be commenced by a verified petition with supporting particulars and certified true
copies of documents or papers involved therein, and upon full compliance with the requirements for filing initiatory pleadings in the
Commission. If the contempt charge arose out of or is related to a principal action pending in the Commission or Regional Arbitration
Branch, the petition for contempt shall allege that fact but said petition shall be consolidated, heard, and decided separately, unless the
Commission or Labor Arbiter in its/his/her discretion, orders the consolidation of the contempt charge and the principal action for joint
hearing and decision.
C.
Hearing. Upon the date set for hearing, the Commission or Labor Arbiter shall proceed to investigate the charge and consider such
comment, answer, defense or testimony as the respondent may make or offer. Failure to attend the scheduled hearing and to give a
satisfactory explanation in writing to the Commission or Labor Arbiter will result in the waiver of the respondent to be present during the
hearing.
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D.
Punishment for indirect contempt. If the respondent is adjudged guilty of indirect contempt committed against the Commission or any
member thereof, he/she may be punished by a fine of One Thousand (P1,000.00) Pesos per day for every act of indirect contempt; and, if
the offense is committed against any Labor Arbiter, the same may be punished by a fine of Five Hundred (P500.00) Pesos per day for every
act of indirect contempt. Each day of defiance of, or disobedience to, or non-enforcement of a final order, resolution, decision, ruling,
injunction, or processes, shall constitute an indirect contempt of the Commission. If the contempt consists of the violation of an injunction
or omission to do an act which is within the power of the respondent to perform, the respondent shall, in addition, be made liable for
damages as a consequence thereof. The damages shall be measured by the extent of the loss or injury sustained by the aggrieved party by
reason of the acts or omissions of which the contempt is being prosecuted, and the costs of the proceedings, including payment of interest
on damages.
E.
A writ of execution may be issued to enforce the decision imposing such fine and/or consequent damages as punishment for indirect
contempt. (2a)
APPEAL PROCEDURE
Article 223. Appeal. Decisions, awards, or orders of the Labor Arbiter are final and executory unless appealed to the Commission by any or both
parties within ten (10) calendar days from receipt of such decisions, awards, or orders. Such appeal may be entertained only on any of the following
grounds:
If there is prima facie evidence of abuse of discretion on the part of the Labor Arbiter;
If the decision, order or award was secured through fraud or coercion, including graft and corruption;
If made purely on questions of law; and
If serious errors in the findings of facts are raised which would cause grave or irreparable damage or injury to the appellant.
In case of a judgment involving a monetary award, an appeal by the employer may be perfected only upon the posting of a cash or surety bond issued
by a reputable bonding company duly accredited by the Commission in the amount equivalent to the monetary award in the judgment appealed from.
In any event, the decision of the Labor Arbiter reinstating a dismissed or separated employee, insofar as the reinstatement aspect is concerned, shall
immediately be executory, even pending appeal. The employee shall either be admitted back to work under the same terms and conditions prevailing
prior to his dismissal or separation or, at the option of the employer, merely reinstated in the payroll. The posting of a bond by the employer shall not
stay the execution for reinstatement provided herein.
To discourage frivolous or dilatory appeals, the Commission or the Labor Arbiter shall impose reasonable penalty, including fines or censures, upon
the erring parties.
In all cases, the appellant shall furnish a copy of the memorandum of appeal to the other party who shall file an answer not later than ten (10)
calendar days from receipt thereof.
The Commission shall decide all cases within twenty (20) calendar days from receipt of the answer of the appellee. The decision of the Commission
shall be final and executory after ten (10) calendar days from receipt thereof by the parties.
Any law enforcement agency may be deputized by the Secretary of Labor and Employment or the Commission in the enforcement of decisions,
awards or orders. (As amended by Section 12, Republic Act No. 6715, March 21, 1989)
RULE VI
SECTION 1. Periods of Appeal. Decisions, awards, or orders of the Labor Arbiter shall be final and executory unless appealed to the Commission by
any or both parties within ten (10) calendar days from receipt thereof; and in case of decisions or resolutions of the Regional Director of the
Department of Labor and Employment pursuant to Article 129 of the Labor Code, within five (5) calendar days from receipt thereof. If the 10th or 5th
day, as the case may be, falls on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday, the last day to perfect the appeal shall be the first working day following such
Saturday, Sunday or holiday.
No motion or request for extension of the period within which to perfect an appeal shall be allowed. (1a)
SECTION 2. Grounds. The appeal may be entertained only on any of the following grounds:
a) If there is prima facie evidence of abuse of discretion on the part of the Labor Arbiter or Regional Director;
b) If the decision, award or order was secured through fraud or coercion, including graft and corruption;
c)
If made purely on questions of law; and/or
d) If serious errors in the findings of facts are raised which, if not corrected, would cause grave or irreparable damage or injury to the
appellant. (2a)
SECTION 3. Where Filed. The appeal shall be filed with the Regional Arbitration Branch or Regional Office where the case was heard and decided.
Page 105
FRIVOLOUS OR DILATORY APPEALS

SECTION 10. Frivolous or Dilatory Appeals. No appeal from an interlocutory order shall be entertained. To discourage frivolous or
dilatory appeals, including those taken from interlocutory orders, the Commission after hearing may censure or cite in contempt the
erring parties and their counsels, or subject them to reasonable fine or penalty. (10a)
An interlocutory order is one that does not dispose of the case completely but leaves something to be decided upon.
An order granting or denying an application for preliminary injunction is interlocutory in nature and, hence, not appealable.
Instead, the proper remedy is to file a Petition for Certiorari and/or Prohibition under Rule 65.
While the Court may dismiss a petition outright for being an improper remedy, it may in certain instances proceed to
review the substance of the petition. Thus, this Court will treat this Petition as if it were filed under Rule 65.
The evident reason for the rule proscribing appeal for an interlocutory order is to avoid multiplicity of appeals in a single
action.
NEW SCHEDULE OF LEGAL FEES (NLRC En Banc Resolution No. 08-07, Series of 2007)
WHEREFORE, RESOLVED AS IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED, to amend En Banc Resolution No. 01-05, Series of 2005, by adopting the following new schedule of legal fees or
deposits payable to the National Labor Relations Commission, to wit:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Certificate of Pending/No Pending Cases 500

Transcript of Stenographic Notes 15/page
Certified Machine Copies 15/page
Filing Fee for petition for Injunction/TRO 5,000
Filing Fee for Petition for Relief from judgment 5,000
Injunction Expenses Fund (Refundable) 5k minimum
Deposit Fee under BP 325
a.
1st P2,000 20
b.
P2,001 to P18,000 90
c.
Over P18,000 (x5%)
Filing Fee for Motion to Quash (re: Writ of Execution) 3,000
Filing Fee for Motion to Recompute Award 700
Filing Fee for Third party Claim/Complaint 7,000
Execution Fee (charged pro-rata)
a.
Awards less than 5,000 but less than 20,000 200
b.
P5,000 or more but less than 50,000 400
c.
20,000 or more but less than 50,000 600
d.
P50,000 or more but less than 100,000 800
e.
100,000 or more but less than 150,000 1,000
f.
150,000 or more 1,000 plus 10 for every 1,000 in excess of 150,000
Appeal Fee 500
Legal Research Fee (UP Law Center) 20
Attestation Fee on Quitclaim and Walk-in Settlement 500
Motion for Postponement Fee 500
Unless otherwise provided by law, rule or regulation, the imposition of the foregoing fees/charges is subject to the qualification that indigent litigants: (a) whose gross
income and that of their immediate family do not exceed an amount double the monthly minimum wage for an employee and (b) who do not own real property with a fair
market value as stated in the current tax declaration of more than Three Hundred Thousand (P300,000.00) pesos, shall be exempted from immediate payment of
fees/charges.
In such case, the fees/charges shall be a lien on any judgment rendered in the case favorable to the indigent litigant unless it is otherwise provided.
To be entitled to the exemption, the litigant shall execute and affidavit that he and his immediate family do not earn a gross income above-mentioned, nor do they own any
real property with the fair market value aforementioned.
Any falsity in the affidavit of litigant shall be sufficient cause to dismiss the complaint or action or to strike out the pleading of that party, in addition to whatever criminal
liability incurred.
REQUISITES TO PERFECT APPEAL
SECTION 4. Requisites for Perfection of Appeal.

a) The appeal shall be:
(1) filed within the reglementary period provided in Section 1 of this Rule;
(2) verified by the appellant himself/herself in accordance with Section 4, Rule 7 of the Rules of Court, as amended;
(3) in the form of a memorandum of appeal which shall state the grounds relied upon and the arguments in support thereof, the
relief prayed for, and with a statement of the date the appellant received the appealed decision, award or order;
(4) in three (3) legibly typewritten or printed copies; and
(5) accompanied by:
i. proof of payment of the required appeal fee and legal research fee;
ii. posting of a cash or surety bond as provided in Section 6 of this Rule; and
iii. proof of service upon the other parties.
Page 106

b)
A mere notice of appeal without complying with the other requisites aforestated shall not stop the running of the period for perfecting an
appeal.
c)
The appellee may file with the Regional Arbitration Branch or Regional Office where the appeal was filed, his/her answer or reply to
appellant's memorandum of appeal, not later than ten (10) calendar days from receipt thereof. Failure on the part of the appellee who was
properly furnished with a copy of the appeal to file his/her answer or reply within the said period may be construed as a waiver on his/her
part to file the same.
d)
Subject to the provisions of Article 218 of the Labor Code, once the appeal is perfected in accordance with these Rules, the Commission
shall limit itself to reviewing and deciding only the specific issues that were elevated on appeal. (4a)
SECTION 5. Appeal Fee. The appellant shall pay the prevailing appeal fee and legal research fee to the Regional Arbitration Branch or Regional
Office of origin, and the official receipt of such payment shall form part of the records of the case. (5a)
SECTION 6. Bond. In case the decision of the Labor Arbiter or the Regional Director involves a monetary award, an appeal by the employer may be
perfected only upon the posting of a bond, which shall either be in the form of cash deposit or surety bond equivalent in amount to the monetary
award, exclusive of damages and attorney's fees.
In case of surety bond, the same shall be issued by a reputable bonding company duly accredited by the Commission or the Supreme Court, and shall
be accompanied by original or certified true copies of the following:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
a joint declaration under oath by the employer, his/her counsel, and the bonding company, attesting that the bond posted is genuine, and
shall be in effect until final disposition of the case;
an indemnity agreement between the employer-appellant and bonding company;
proof of security deposit or collateral securing the bond: provided, that a check shall not be considered as an acceptable security;
a certificate of authority from the Insurance Commission;
certificate of registration from the Securities and Exchange Commission;
certificate of accreditation and authority from the Supreme Court; and
notarized board resolution or secretery's certificate from the bonding company showing its authorized signatories and their specimen
signatures.
The Commission through the Chairman may on justifiable grounds blacklist a bonding company, notwithstanding its accreditation by the Supreme
Court.
A cash or surety bond shall be valid and effective from the date of deposit or posting, until the case is finally decided, resolved or terminated, or the
award satisfied. This condition shall be deemed incorporated in the terms and conditions of the surety bond, and shall be binding on the appellants
and the bonding company.
The appellant shall furnish the appellee with a certified true copy of the said surety bond with all the above-mentioned supporting documents. The
appellee shall verify the regularity and genuineness thereof and immediately report any irregularity to the Commission.
Upon verification by the Commission that the bond is irregular or not genuine, the Commission shall cause the immediate dismissal of the appeal, and
censure the responsible parties and their counsels, or subject them to reasonable fine or penalty, and the bonding company may be blacklisted.
No motion to reduce bond shall be entertained except on meritorious grounds, and only upon the posting of a bond in a reasonable amount in
relation to the monetary award.
The mere filing of a motion to reduce bond without complying with the requisites in the preceding paragraphs shall not stop the running of the period
to perfect an appeal. (6a)
PROHIBITED APPEALS, INTERLOCUTORY ORDER & FINAL ORDER

PROHIBITED APPEALS
a) Appeal from any interlocutory order of the LA, such as but not limited to an order
1) Denying a motion to dismiss
2) Denying a motion to inhibit
3) Denying a motion for issuance of writ of execution, or
4) Denying a motion to quash writ of execution
b) Appeal from the issuance of a certificate of finality of decision by LA
c) Appeal from orders issued by LA in the course of execution proceedings
INTERLOCUTORY ORDER & FINAL ORDER
An interlocutory order is one that does not dispose of the case completely but leaves something to be decided upon.
A final order finally disposes of, adjudicates, or determines the rights, or some right or right of the parties, either on the
entire controversy or on some definite and separate branch thereof, and concludes them until it is reversed or set aside.
Where no issue is left for future consideration, except the fact or compliance or non-compliance with the terms of the
judgment or order, such judgment or order is final and appealable. In other words, a final order puts an end to litigation.
Page 107
The distinction between a final order and an interlocutory order is well known. The first disposes of the subject matter in
its entirety or terminates a particular proceeding or action, leaving nothing more to be done except to enforce by execution
what the court has determined, but the latter does not completely dispose of the case but leaves something else to be
decided upon. An interlocutory order deals with preliminary matters and the trial on the merits is yet to be held and the
judgment rendered. The test to ascertain whether or not an order or a judgment is interlocutory or final is: does the order
or judgment leave something to be done in the trial court with respect to the merits of the case? If it does, the order or
judgment is interlocutory; otherwise, it is final.
When the order or judgment does not dispose of the case completely but leaves something to be done upon the merits, it
is merely interlocutory.
RULES ON REINSTATEMENT PENDING APPEAL
SECTION 9. Execution of Reinstatement Pending Appeal. In case the decision includes an order of reinstatement, and the employer disobeys the
directive under the second paragraph of Section 18 of Rule V or refuses to reinstate the dismissed employee, the Labor Arbiter shall immediately issue
writ of execution, even pending appeal, directing the employer to immediately reinstate the dismissed employee either physically or in the payroll,
and to pay the accrued salaries as a consequence of such non-reinstatement in the amount specified in the decision.
The Sheriff shall serve the writ of execution upon the employer or any other person required by law to obey the same. If he/she disobeys the writ,
such employer or person may be cited for contempt in accordance with Rule IX. (6a)
THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS COMMISSION (NLRC)

ART. 213. National Labor Relations Commission. There shall be a National Labor Relations Commission which shall be attached to the Department
of Labor and Employment SOLELY for program and policy coordination only, composed of a Chairman and TWENTY-THREE (23) Members.
EIGHT (8) members each shall be chosen ONLY from among the nominees of the workers and employers organizations, respectively. The Chairman
and the SEVEN (7) remaining members shall come from the public sector, with the latter to be chosen PREFERABLY from among the INCUMBENT
LABOR ARBITERS.
Upon assumption into office, the members nominated by the workers and employers organizations shall divest themselves of any affiliation with or
interest in the federation or association to which they belong.
The Commission may sit en banc or in EIGHT (8) divisions, each composed of three (3) members. The Commission shall sit en banc only for purposes of
promulgating rules and regulations governing the hearing and disposition of cases before any of its divisions and regional branches and formulating
policies affecting its administration and operations. The Commission shall exercise its adjudicatory and all other powers, functions, and duties through
its divisions. Of the EIGHT (8) divisions, the first, second third, FOURTH, FIFTH AND SIXTH divisions shall handle cases coming from the National Capital
Region and other parts of Luzon; and the SEVENTH, AND EIGHT divisions, cases from the Visayas and Mindanao, respectively: Provided, That the
Commission sitting en banc may, on temporary or emergency basis, allow cases within the jurisdiction of any division to be heard and decided by any
other division whose docket allows the additional workload and such transfer will not expose litigants to unnecessary additional expenses. The
divisions of the Commission shall have exclusive appellate jurisdiction over cases within their respective territorial jurisdiction.
The concurrence of two (2) Commissioners of a division shall be necessary for the pronouncement of a judgment or resolution. Whenever the
required membership in a division is not complete and the concurrence of two (2) Commissioners to arrive at a judgment or resolution cannot be
obtained, the Chairman shall designate such number of additional Commissioners from the other divisions as may be necessary.
The conclusions of a division on any case submitted to it for decision shall be reached in consultation before the case is assigned to a member for the
writing of the opinion. It shall be mandatory for the division to meet for purposes of the consultation ordained therein. A certification to this effect
signed by the Presiding Commissioner of the division shall be issued, and a copy thereof attached to the record of the case and served upon the
parties.
"The Chairman shall be the Presiding Commissioner of the first division, and the SEVEN (7) other members from the public sector shall be the
Presiding Commissioners of the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eight divisions, respectively. In case of the effective absence or
incapacity of the Chairman, the Presiding Commissioner of the second division shall be the Acting Chairman.
The Chairman, aided by the Executive Clerk of the Commission, shall have administrative supervision over the Commission and its regional branches
and all its personnel, including the Labor Arbiters.
The Commission, when sitting en banc, shall be assisted by the same Executive Clerk, and, when acting thru its Divisions, by said Executive Clerk for its
first division and SEVEN (7) other Deputy Executive Clerks for the second, third, fourth fifth, sixth, seventh and eight divisions, respectively, in the
performance of such similar or equivalent functions and duties as are discharged by the Clerk of Court and Deputy Clerks of Court of the Court of
Appeals.
The Commission and its eight (8) divisions shall be assisted by the Commission Attorneys in its Appellate and adjudicatory functions whose term shall
be coterminous with the Commissioners with whom they are assigned. The Commission Attorneys shall be members of the Philippine Bar with at least
one (1) year experience or exposure in the field of labor-management relations. They shall receive annual salaries and shall be entitled to the same
Page 108
allowances and benefits as those falling under Salary Grade twenty-six (SG 26). There shall be as many Commission Attorneys as may be necessary for
the effective and efficient operations of the Commission but in no case more than three (3) assigned to the Office of the Chairman and each
Commissioner.
No Labor Arbiter shall be assigned to perform the functions of the Commission Attorney nor detailed to the office of any Commissioner.
ART. 214. Headquarters, Branches and Provincial Extension Units. The Commission and its first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth divisions shall
have their main offices in Metropolitan Manila, and the seventh and eight divisions in the cities of Cebu and Cagayan de Oro, respectively. The
Commission shall establish as many regional branches as there are regional offices of the Department of Labor and Employment, sub-regional
branches or provincial extension units. There shall be as many Labor Arbiters as may be necessary for the effective and efficient operation of the
Commission.
ART. 215. Appointment and Qualifications. The Chairmans and other Commissioners shall be members of the Philippine Bar and must have been
engaged in the practice of law in the Philippines for at least fifteen (15) years, with at least five (5) years experience or exposure in the field of labormanagement relations, and shall preferably be residents of the region where they SHALL hold office. The Labor Arbiters shall likewise be members of
the Philippine Bar and must have been engaged in the practice of law in the Philippines for at least ten (10) years, with at least five (5) years
experience or exposure in THE FIELD OF labor-management relations.
The Chairman, and the other Commissioners and the Labor Arbiters shall hold office during good behavior until they reach the age of sixty-five (65)
years, unless sooner removed for cause as provided by law or become incapacitated to discharge the duties of their office. Provided, however, That
the President of the Republic of the Philippines may extent the services of the Commissioners and Labor Arbiters up to the maximum age of seventy
(7) years upon the recommendation of the Commission en banc.
The Chairman, the Division Presiding Commissioners and other Commissioners shall all be appointed by the President. Appointment to any vacancy in
a specific division shall come only from the nominees of the sector which nominated the predecessor. The Labor Arbiters shall also be appointed by
the President, upon recommendation of the Commission en banc to a specific arbitration branch, preferably in the region where they are residents,
and shall be subject to the Civil Service Law, rules and regulations: Provided, that the labor arbiters who are presently holding office in the region
where they are residents shall be deemed appointed thereat.
The Chairman and the Commission, shall appoint the staff and employees of the Commission, and its regional branches as the needs of the service
may require, subject to the Civil Service Law, rules and regulations, and upgrade their current salaries, benefits and other emoluments in accordance
with law.
RULE VII
SECTION 2.Composition and Internal Functions of the Commission En Banc and its Divisions.
a) Composition. Unless otherwise provided by law, the Commission shall be composed of the Chairman and of twenty three (23)
Commissioners.
b) Commission En Banc. The Commission shall sit en banc only for purposes of promulgating rules and regulations governing the hearing
and disposition of cases before its Divisions and Regional Arbitration Branches, and for the formulation of policies affecting its
administration and operations. It may, on temporary or emergency basis, allow cases within the jurisdiction of any Division to be heard by
any other Division whose docket allows the additional workload and such transfer will not expose litigants to unnecessary additional
expense.
c)
Divisions. Unless otherwise provided by law, the Commission shall exercise its adjudicatory and all other powers, functions and duties
through its eight (8) Divisions. Each Division shall consist of one member from the public sector who shall act as the Presiding
Commissioner and one member each from the workers and employers sectors, respectively.
Of the eight (8) Divisions, the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Divisions shall have exclusive territorial jurisdiction over appealed
cases coming from Luzon; the Seventh Division, appealed cases from the Visayas Region; and the Eighth Division, appealed cases from
Mindanao including those from the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao.
d) Headquarters. As provided by law, the Commission and its First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Divisions for Luzon shall have their
main offices in the National Capital Region, and the Seventh and Eighth Divisions for Visayas and Mindanao, in the cities of Cebu and
Cagayan de Oro, respectively. (2a)
SECTION 3. The Chairman. The Chairman shall preside over all sessions of the Commission en banc. He/she is the Presiding Commissioner of the
First Division. In case of the effective absence or incapacity of the Chairman, the Presiding Commissioner of the Second Division shall be the Acting
Chairman.
The Chairman, aided by the Executive Clerk of the Commission, shall have administrative supervision over the Commission and its Regional Arbitration
Branches and all its personnel including the Executive Labor Arbiters and Labor Arbiters.
SECTION 4. Commission En Banc Session, Quorum and Vote.
a) Commission En Banc. The Chairman shall call the Commission to an en banc session at least twice a year, preferably on the first week of
June and the first week of December, to deliberate and decide on any matter before it. However, a majority of all the members of the
Commission may call a special en banc session to discuss and decide on urgent and vital matters which need immediate action.
b)
Quorum The presence of a majority of all the members of the Commission shall be necessary to constitute a quorum. The vote or
concurrence of the majority of the members constituting a quorum shall be the decision or resolution of the Commission en banc.
c)
Division. The presence of at least two (2) Commissioners of a Division shall constitute a quorum. The concurrence of two (2)
Commissioners of a Division shall be necessary for the pronouncement of a judgment or resolution.
Whenever the required membership in a Division is not complete and/or the concurrence of two (2) Commissioners cannot be obtained to
arrive at a judgment or resolution, the Chairman shall designate such number of additional Commissioners belonging to the same sector
Page 109
from the other Divisions as may be necessary. In the event that all the members of a division inhibit themselves from resolving a case, the
Chairman may create a Special Division or assign the case to any of the other Divisions.
d)
Role of Chairman in the Division. The Chairman of the Commission may convene and preside over the session of any Division to consider
any case pending before it and participate in its deliberations, if in his/her judgment, his/her presence therein will best serve the interests
of labor justice. He/she shall not however, participate in the voting by the Division, except when he/she is acting as Presiding Commissioner
of the Division in the absence of the regular Presiding Commissioner. (4a)
COMPOSITION OF THE NLRC

1 Chairman from Public Sector [PREFERABLY from among the INCUMBENT LABOR ARBITERS]
23 Members:
7 from Public Sectors
8 from Workers Organization
8 from Employers Organization
FUNCTION OF THE NLRC
The National Labor Relations Commission is a quasi-judicial body tasked to promote and maintain industrial peace by resolving labor
and management disputes involving both local and overseas workers through compulsory arbitration and alternative modes of
dispute resolution.
EO No. 204, Series of 2003 DELEGATING TO THE SECRETARY OF LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT THE POWER TO EXERCISE
ADMINISTRATIVE SUPERVISION OVER THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS COMMISSION
SECTION 1. Delegation to the Secretary of Labor. - The power of the President under Section 17, Article VII of the Constitution and as the
administrative head of the Government to exercise administrative supervision over the NLRC, its regional branches and all its personnel, including the
Executive Labor Arbiters and Labor Arbiters, is hereby delegated to the Secretary of Labor, with the objective of further improving the rate of
disposition of cases pending before it and its regional and sub-regional branches or provincial extension units and to enhance existing measures for
the prevention of graft and corruption within the said agency.
For this purpose, the Secretary of Labor, in the exercise of such delegated authority, shall, among others:
a.
b.
c.
d.
Generally oversee the operations of the NLRC and its regional and sub-regional branches or provincial extension units for the purpose of
insuring that cases pending before them are decided or resolved expeditiously;
Enhance existing measures within the agency, or initiate new ones, to prevent graft and corruption, including but not limited to, the
conduct of management audits, performance evaluations and inspections to determine compliance with established policies, standards
and guidelines;
To take such action as may be necessary for the proper performance of official functions, including rectification of violations, abuses and
other forms of maladministration; and
Investigate, on its own or upon complaint, matters involving disciplinary action against any of the Presidential appointees in the NLRC, in
accordance with existing laws, rules and regulations. After completing his/her investigation, the Secretary of Labor shall submit a report to
the President on the investigation conducted with a recommendation as to the penalty to be imposed or other action to be taken,
including referral to the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission [PAGC], the Office of the Ombudsman or any other office, committee,
commission, agency, department, instrumentality or branch of the government for appropriate action.
The delegation of authority conferred herein upon the Secretary of Labor shall not extend to the power to review, reverse, revise, or modify the
decisions of the NLRC in the exercise of its quasi-judicial functions [cf. Section 38(2)(b), Chapter 7, Book IV, Administrative Code].
SECTION 2. Report to the President. - The NLRC, through its Chairman, shall submit a report to the President, through the Secretary of Labor, within
thirty (30) days from issuance of this Executive Order, on the following matters:
a.
b.
c.
d.
Performance Report/Audit for the last five (5) years, including list of pending cases and cases disposed of within the said period by the
NLRC en banc, by Division and by the Labor Arbiters in each of its regional and sub-regional branches or provincial extension units;
Detailed Master Plan on how to liquidate its backlog of cases with clear timetables to clean up its dockets within six (6) months from the
issuance hereof;
Complete inventory of its assets and list of personnel indicating their present positions and stations; and
Such other matters as may be required by the President upon the recommendation of the Secretary of Labor.
POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF THE NLRC

SECTION 2.Composition and Internal Functions of the Commission En Banc and its Divisions.
a) Composition. Unless otherwise provided by law, the Commission shall be composed of the Chairman and of twenty three (23)
Commissioners.
b) Commission En Banc. The Commission shall sit en banc only for purposes of promulgating rules and regulations governing the hearing
and disposition of cases before its Divisions and Regional Arbitration Branches, and for the formulation of policies affecting its
administration and operations. It may, on temporary or emergency basis, allow cases within the jurisdiction of any Division to be heard by
Page 110
c)
d)
any other Division whose docket allows the additional workload and such transfer will not expose litigants to unnecessary additional
expense.
Divisions. Unless otherwise provided by law, the Commission shall exercise its adjudicatory and all other powers, functions and duties
through its eight (8) Divisions. Each Division shall consist of one member from the public sector who shall act as the Presiding
Commissioner and one member each from the workers and employers sectors, respectively.
Of the eight (8) Divisions, the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Divisions shall have exclusive territorial jurisdiction
over appealed cases coming from Luzon; the Seventh Division, appealed cases from the Visayas Region; and the Eighth Division, appealed
cases from Mindanao including those from the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao.
Headquarters. As provided by law, the Commission and its First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Divisions for Luzon shall have their
main offices in the National Capital Region, and the Seventh and Eighth Divisions for Visayas and Mindanao, in the cities of Cebu and
Cagayan de Oro, respectively. (2a)
SECTION 3. The Chairman. The Chairman shall preside over all sessions of the Commission en banc. He/she is the Presiding Commissioner of the
First Division. In case of the effective absence or incapacity of the Chairman, the Presiding Commissioner of the Second Division shall be the Acting
Chairman.
The Chairman, aided by the Executive Clerk of the Commission, shall have administrative supervision over the Commission and its Regional Arbitration
Branches and all its personnel including the Executive Labor Arbiters and Labor Arbiters.
POWERS OF THE NLRC (Art. 218 of the Labor Code)

1. Rule-making power (promulgate rules & regulations)
i.
Governing the hearing and disposition of cases before it and its regional branches
ii.
Pertaining to its internal functions
iii.
Those as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Code
2.
Power to issue compulsory processes

i.
Administer oaths
ii.
Summon parties
iii.
Issue subpoena duces tecum and ad testificandum
3.
Power to investigate matters and hear disputes within its jurisdiction

Conduct investigations for the determination of a question, matter or controversy within its jurisdiction
Proceed to hear and determine the dispute in the manner laid down under par. C of Art. 218
4.
5.
6.
7.
Contempt power
Power to issue injunctions and restraining orders involving or arising from any labor dispute before the Commission
Power to conduct ocular inspection
Appellate power
FINALITY OF NLRC & LABOR ARBITERS DECISION
SECTION 1. Periods of Appeal. Decisions, awards, or orders of the Labor Arbiter shall be final and executory unless appealed to the Commission by
any or both parties within ten (10) calendar days from receipt thereof; and in case of decisions or resolutions of the Regional Director of the
Department of Labor and Employment pursuant to Article 129 of the Labor Code, within five (5) calendar days from receipt thereof. If the 10th or 5th
day, as the case may be, falls on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday, the last day to perfect the appeal shall be the first working day following such
Saturday, Sunday or holiday.
No motion or request for extension of the period within which to perfect an appeal shall be allowed. (1a)
SECTION 19. Finality of the Decision or Order and Issuance of Certificate of Finality.
(a) Finality of the Decision or Order of the Labor Arbiter. If no appeal is filed with the Commission within the time provided under Article
223 of the Labor Code, as amended, and Section 1, Rule VI of these Rules, the decision or order of the Labor Arbiter shall become final and
executory after ten (10) calendar days from receipt thereof by the counsel or authorized representative or the parties if not assisted by
counsel or representative.
(b) Certificate of Finality Upon expiration of the period provided in paragraph (a) of this Section, the Labor Arbiter shall issue a certificate of
finality.
In the absence of return cards, certifications from the post office or courier or other proofs of service to the parties, the Labor Arbiter may issue a
certificate of finality after sixty (60) calendar days from date of mailing. (n)
SECTION 14. Finality of Decision of the Commission and Entry of Judgment.
a) Finality of the Decisions, Resolutions or Orders of the Commission. Except as provided in Section 9 of Rule X, the decisions, resolutions or
orders of the Commission shall become final and executory after ten (10) calendar days from receipt thereof by the counsel or authorized
representative or the parties if not assisted by counsel or representative.
b)
Entry of Judgment. Upon the expiration of the ten (10) calendar day period provided in paragraph (a) of this Section, the decision,
resolution, or order shall be entered in a book of entries of judgment.
Page 111
In the absence of return cards, certifications from the post office or the courier or other proofs of service to the parties, the Executive Clerk or Deputy
Executive Clerk shall consider the decision, resolution or order as final and executory after sixty (60) calendar days from date of mailing. (14a)
SECTION 15. Motions for Reconsideration. Motion for reconsideration of any decision, resolution or order of the Commission shall not be
entertained except when based on palpable or patent errors; provided that the motion is filed within ten (10) calendar days from receipt of decision,
resolution or order, with proof of service that a copy of the same has been furnished, within the reglementary period, the adverse party; and provided
further, that only one such motion from the same party shall be entertained. (15a)
Page 112

2011 NLRC RULES OF PROCEDURE FLOWCHART
Filing of
Complaint in
the LA
Filing of Complaint in
the RD (decided
within 30 calendar
days)
Raffled by Executive
LA; Assigned to LA
within 24 hrs; Issuance
of Summons
Motion to Dismiss
On or before the date set for
mandatory conciliation
Only on the grounds of lack of
jurisdiction over the subject
matter, improper venue, res
judicata, prescription and forum
shopping
Non-appearance of the parties

Non-appearance
by
the
petitioner during the 2 settings
ground for dismissal
Non-appearance
by
the
nd
respondent
at
the
2
conference waiver of right to
file position paper
Mandatory
Conciliation and
Mediation
N
Verified Position Paper
Submitted within an inextendible
period of 10 calendar days from
the date of termination
Reply may be filed by any party
within 10 calendar days from
receipt of the position paper of
the adverse party
Y
Revived?
END
Clarificatory
Hearing (At
discretion of LA)
PETITION FOR CERTIORARI IN

THE COURT OF APPEALS
(RULE 65)
Not later than 60 days from
notice of the judgment,
order or resolution
Settled?
END
APPEAL TO NLRC
within 10 calendar days from receipt of decision
if from LA; 5 days if RD; inextendible
Grounds:
o Prima facie evidence of GAD;
o If the decision, award or order was
secured through fraud or coercion,
including graft and corruption;
o Pure questions of law;
o Serious errors in the findings of facts
which would cause grave irreparable
damage if not corrected
Note the requisites for perfection
Decision is Unappealable
MR allowed within 10 days
APPEAL BY CERTIORARI IN THE

SUPREME COURT UNDER RULE
45
Within fifteen (15) days from
notice of the judgment or final
order or resolution
Decision by LA
Must be within 30
calendar
days
from
submission of the case by
the parties for decision
OFW cases within 90
calendar days after filing of
complainnt
Page 113

EXECUTION OF JUDGMENT
RULE XI
SECTION 1. Execution Upon Finality of Decision or Order.

a) A writ of execution may be issued motu proprio or on motion, upon a decision or order that has become final and executory.
b) If an appeal has been duly perfected and finally resolved by the Commission, a motion for execution may be filed before the Labor Arbiter,
when the latter has possession of the case records or upon submission of certified true copies of the decisions or final order/s sought to be
enforced including notice of decision or order and the entry of judgment, copy furnished the adverse party.
c)
Except that, as provided for in Section 18 of Rule V in relation to Section 9 of this Rule, and in those cases where partial execution is allowed
by law, the Labor Arbiter shall retain duplicate original copies of the decision to be implemented and proof of service thereof for the purpose
of immediate enforcement. (1a)
SECTION 2. Execution by Motion or by Independent Action. Pursuant to Art. 224 of the Labor Code, a decision or order may be executed on motion
within five (5) years from the date it becomes final and executory. After the lapse of such period, the judgment shall become dormant, and may only
be enforced by an independent action before the Regional Arbitration Branch of origin and within a period of ten (10) years from date of its finality.
(8a)
SECTION 3. Effect of Perfection of Appeal on Execution. The perfection of an appeal shall stay the execution of the decision of the Labor Arbiter
except execution for reinstatement pending appeal. (9a)
SECTION 4. Effect of Petition for Certiorari on Execution. A petition for certiorari with the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court shall not stay the
execution of the assailed decision unless a restraining order is issued by said courts. (10a)
SECTION 7. Enforcement of Writ of Execution. In executing a decision, resolution or order, the Sheriff, or other authorized officer acting as Sheriff of
the Commission, shall serve the writ within three (3) days from receipt of the same, subject to the requirements of Sections 12 and 13 of this Rule and
shall be guided strictly by these Rules and by the Manual on Execution of Judgment, which shall form part of these Rules. In the absence of
applicable rules, the Rules of Court, as amended, shall be applied in a suppletory manner. (7a)
SECTION 8. Manner of Execution of Monetary Judgment.
a) Immediate payment on demand. The Sheriff shall enforce a monetary judgment by demanding the immediate payment of the full
amount stated in the writ of execution and all legal fees from the losing party or any other person required by law to obey the same.
b)
In the event of failure or refusal of the losing party to pay the judgment award, the Sheriff shall immediately proceed against the cash
deposit or surety bond posted by the losing party, if any;
c)
If the bonding company refuses to pay or the bank holding the cash deposit of the losing party refuses to release the garnished amount
despite the order or pertinent processes issued by the Labor Arbiter or the Commission, the president or the responsible officers or
authorized representatives of the said bonding company or the bank who resisted or caused the non-compliance shall be either cited for
contempt, or held liable for resistance and disobedience to a person in authority or the agents of such person as provided under the
pertinent provision of the Revised Penal Code. This rule shall likewise apply to any person or party who unlawfully resists or refuses to
comply with the break open order issued by the Labor Arbiter or the Commission.
For this purpose, the Labor Arbiter or the Commission may issue an order directing the sheriff to request the assistance of law enforcement
agencies to ensure compliance with the writ of execution, orders or processes.
A bonding company cited for contempt, or for an offense defined and punishable under the pertinent provision of the Revised Penal Code
shall be barred from transacting business with the Commission.
d)
Should the cash deposit or surety bond be insufficient, or in case the surety bond cannot be proceeded against for any reason, the Sheriff
shall, within five (5) days from demand, execute the monetary judgment by garnishing bank deposits, credits, receivables, and other
personal property not capable of manual delivery, if the same is not enough, proceed to levy the personal property of the losing party, and
if still insufficient, against the real property not exempt from execution, sufficient to cover the judgment award, which may be disposed of
for value at a public auction to the highest bidder.
e)
Proceeds of execution shall be deposited with the Cashier of the concerned Division or Regional Arbitration Branch, or with an authorized
depositary bank. Where payment is made in the form of a check, the same shall be payable to the Commission.
f)
For monetary judgment on cases involving overseas Filipino workers, the manner of execution shall be in accordance with Republic Act No.
10022. (5a)
SECTION 12. Sheriff's Return and Report. The writ of execution shall be returned to the Commission or Labor Arbiter immediately after the full
satisfaction of the judgment award. In case of partial or non-satisfaction of the judgment, the sheriff enforcing the writ shall submit a report updating
the Commission or Labor Arbiter who issued the writ of execution on the status of the enforcement thereof, not later than thirty (30) days from
receipt of such writ and every thirty (30) days thereafter during the lifetime of the writ unless fully satisfied. A copy of the report shall be furnished the
Chairman and the Executive Labor Arbiter.
Failure on the part of the Sheriff to submit the report or return required under Section 12 of this Rule within the stated period shall subject him/her to
administrative fine under Rule XIV of this Rule, or suspension for fifteen (15) days without pay, or both. (13a, 14a)
SECTION 13. Designation of Special Sheriffs. The Chairman of the Commission may designate special Sheriffs and take any measure, under existing
laws, to ensure compliance with the decisions, resolutions or orders of the Commission and those of Labor Arbiters. (15a)
Page 114
SECTION 14. Effect of Reversal of Executed Judgment. Where the executed judgment is totally or partially reversed or annulled by the Court of
Appeals or the Supreme Court, the Labor Arbiter shall, on motion, issue such orders of restitution of the executed award, except wages paid during
reinstatement pending appeal.
NLRC MANUAL ON EXECUTION OF JUDGMENT
RULE I
TITLE AND CONSTRUCTION
SECTION 1. Title of the Manual. This Manual shall be known as the NLRC MANUAL ON EXECUTION OF JUDGMENT (Sheriffs Manual), hereafter referred to simply as the Manual.
SECTION 2. Construction. This Manual shall be construed in a manner that shall attain a just, expeditious and inexpensive execution of a judgment as defined herein.
SECTION 3. Suppletory Application of Rules of Court and Jurisprudence. In the absence of any applicable provision in this Manual, and in order to carry out its objectives, the pertinent provisions of
the Revised Rules of Court of the Philippines and prevailing jurisprudence may, in the interest of expeditious execution of a judgment, and whenever practicable and convenient, be applied by analogy
or in a suppletory character and effect.
SECTION 4. Definition of Terms. For purposes of this Manual, the following terms are defined as follows:
a)
SHERIFF any public officer tasked with the service or enforcement of writs and processes, including any judgment as defined herein, performing the duties of a sheriff, and shall include
one who has been designated as special sheriff in accordance with law;
b)
WRIT OF EXECUTION an Order directing the sheriff to enforce, implement or satisfy the final decisions, orders or awards of the National Labor Relations Commission or any of its Labor
Arbiters. The writ of execution is valid only for a period of ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY (180) days from receipt thereof by the sheriff or duly designated officer;
c)
LEVY the act of taking possession, actual or constructive, by the sheriff or duly designated officer, of sufficient property of the losing party OR OF THE APPEAL BOND POSTED BY THE
LATTER to satisfy the decision, order or award.
d)
GARNISHMENT the levy of money, goods or chattels and/or an interest thereon, belonging or owing to a losing party in the possession or control of a third party;
e)
JUDGMENT as used in this Manual, any order, resolution, award or decision of the National Labor Relations Commission or any of its Labor Arbiters;
f)
THIRD PARTY CLAIM a claim whereby a person, not a party to the case, asserts title or right to the possession of the property levied upon.
RULE II
THE SHERIFF
SECTION 1. Duties. The sheriff serves all writs, executes all processes and carries into effect any judgment as defined herein.
SECTION 2. Responsibility and Bond. Only bonded sheriffs may serve writs of execution involving the taking, holding or delivering of money or property in trust for the prevailing party. The bond of the
sheriff as required by law shall be determined by the Commission conditioned, among others, for the delivery or payment to the government or to the persons entitled thereto of all properties, real or
personal, that may officially come into his control and custody.
SECTION 3. Norm of Conduct. The sheriff of the Commission must conduct himself at all times in an upright manner. His first and primary duty is to implement the writ of execution and, in
accomplishing the same, every reasonable effort should be exercised to achieve the purpose of the writ.
RULE III
THE WRIT OF EXECUTION
SECTION 1. Execution Upon Final Judgment or Order. Execution shall issue only upon a judgment or order that finally disposes of an action or proceeding, except in specific instances where the law
provides for execution pending appeal.
SECTION 2. Issuance, Form and Contents of a Writ of Execution. The writ of execution must issue in the name of the Republic of the Philippines from the National Labor Relations Commission or any of
its Labor Arbiters, requiring the sheriff or duly designated officer to execute their judgment; must contain the dispositive portion of the decision, order or award sought to be executed; and must
require the sheriff or duly designated officer to whom it is directed substantially as follows:
a)
If the execution be for the payment of a sum of money by the losing party, the writ shall be served by the sheriff upon the losing party or upon any other person required by law to obey
the same before proceeding to satisfy the judgment out of the personal property of such party and, if no sufficient personal property can be found, then out of his real property;
b)
If the execution be for the reinstatement of any person to any position, office or employment, such writ shall be served by the sheriff upon the losing party or upon any other person
required by law to obey the same. Such party or person may be punished for contempt if he disobeys such decision or order for reinstatement, INCLUDING PAYMENT OF SALARY AS
A CONSEQUENCE OF REINSTATEMENT PENDING APPEAL;
c)
THE POSTING OF A BOND BY THE EMPLOYER SHALL NOT STAY THE EXECUTION OF AN ORDER FOR REINSTATEMENT.
SECTION 3. Execution in Case of Death of Party. Where a party dies after the finality of the decision/entry of judgment or order, execution thereon may issue or one already issued may be enforced in
the following cases:
a)
In case of death of the prevailing party, upon FILING OF MOTION FOR SUBSTITUTION OF PARTY BY THE HEIRS, SUCCESSORS-IN-INTEREST, EXECUTOR OR ADMINISTRATOR;
b)
In case of death by the losing party, AFTER APPROPRIATE TESTATE OR INTESTATE PROCEEDINGS AGAINST his successors-in-interest, executor or administrator;
c)
In case of death of the losing party after execution AND ACTUAL LEVY upon any of his property, the same may be sold for the satisfaction thereof, and the sheriff making the sale shall
account to his HEIRS, successors-in-interest, executor or administrator for any surplus in his hands.
SECTION 4. Issuance of a Writ. Execution shall issue upon an order, resolution or decision that finally disposes of the actions or proceedings and AFTER the counsel of record and the parties have been
duly furnished with the copies of the same in accordance with the NLRC Rules of Procedure, provided:
a)
The Commission or Labor Arbiter shall, motu propio or upon motion of any interested party, issue a writ of execution on a judgment only within five (5) years from the date it becomes
final and executory. No motion for execution shall be entertained nor a writ be issued unless the Commission or Labor Arbiter is in possession of the records of the case which shall
include an entry of judgment where the case has been appealed EXCEPT IN CASES OF REINSTATEMENT PENDING APPEAL AND IN THOSE CASES WHERE PARTIAL EXECUTION IS ALLOWED
BY LAW, WHERE THE LABOR ARBITER SHALL RETAIN DUPLICATE ORIGINAL COPIES OF THE DECISION TO BE IMPLEMENTED AND PROOF OF SERVICE THEREOF FOR THE PURPOSE OF ITS
IMMEDIATE ENFORCEMENT.
b)
The Secretary of Labor and Employment OR the Chairman of the Commission may designate special sheriffs and take any measure under existing laws to ensure compliance of their
decisions, orders or awards and those of the Labor Arbiters, including the imposition of administrative fines, which shall not be less than five hundred pesos (P500.00) nor more than ten
thousand pesos (P10,000.00).
c)
The Secretary of Labor and Employment, OR the Commission, OR any Labor Arbiter, in appropriate cases, may deputize the Philippine National Police or any law enforcement agencies
TO ASSIST in the enforcement of final awards, orders or decisions.
SECTION 5. RESOLUTION OF MOTION TO QUASH. - IN CASE THE AGGRIEVED PARTY FILES A MOTION TO QUASH, SAID MOTION SHALL BE RESOLVED BY THE LABOR ARBITER WITHIN TEN (10) DAYS
FROM SUBMISSION OF SAID MOTION FOR RESOLUTION. AN APPEAL FROM THE ORDER OF THE LABOR ARBITER RESOLVING THE MOTION TO QUASH MAY BE TREATED AS A PETITION FOR INJUNCTION
UNDER PARAGRAPH (e) OF ARTICLE 218 IF THE LABOR CODE, AS AMENDED, IF THE SAME SATISFIES THE REQUIREMENTS PROVIDED FOR BY LAW.
SECTION 6. Execution by Independent Action. A judgment, after the lapse of five (5) years from the date it becomes final and executory and before it is barred by prescription, may only be enforced by
AN INDEPENDENT action.
SECTION 7. Control and Supervision Over the Sheriff. The Commission or Labor Arbiter issuing the writ shall have full control and supervision over the sheriff assigned to enforce the same.
RULE IV
EXECUTION
SECTION 1. Properties Exempt from Execution. Only the properties of the losing party shall be the subject of execution, except:
a)
The losing party's family home, constituted in accordance with law and, in the absence thereof, the homestead in which he resides, and land necessarily used in connection therewith,
subject to the limits fixed by law;
b)
His necessary clothing, and that of his family;
c)
Household furnitures and utensils necessary for housekeeping, and used for that purpose by the losing party such as he may select, of a value not exceeding the amount fixed by law;
Page 115

d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
Provisions for individual or family use sufficient for three (3) months;
The professional libraries of attorneys, judges, physicians, pharmacists, dentists, engineers, surveyors, clergymen, teachers, and other professionals, not exceeding the amount fixed by
law;
So much of the earnings of the losing party for his personal services within the month preceding the levy as are necessary for the support of his family;
All moneys, benefits, privileges or annuities accruing or, in any matter, growing out of any life insurance;
Tools and instruments necessarily used by him in his trade or employment of a value not exceeding three thousand pesos (P3,000.00);
Other properties especially exempted by law.
SECTION 2. Execution of Money Judgment. The sheriff or duly designated officer shall enforce the execution of a money judgment by levying on all the properties, real and personal, of the losing party
of whatever name and nature whatsoever, and which may be disposed of for value, not exempt from execution, or on a sufficient amount of such property, if there be sufficient and selling the same at
public auction to the highest bidder, and depositing the proceeds thereof with the cashier of the National Labor Relations Commission and that the same shall be released only upon orders from the
Commission or Labor Arbiter concerned. Where payments are made in checks, the same shall be issued in the name of the National Labor Relations Commission. Any excess in the proceeds of the sale
over the judgment and the accruing costs shall be delivered by the proper cashier to the losing party who owns the property sold unless otherwise directed by the judgment or order. When there is
more property of the losing party than is sufficient to satisfy the judgment or award and accruing costs, within the view of the officer, he shall levy only on such part of the property as is amply
sufficient to satisfy the judgment and costs.
SECTION 3. Voluntary Satisfaction of Money Judgment. Any voluntary tender of payment by the losing party shall be effected by depositing the same with the cashier of the National Labor Relations
Commission and shall be released only upon orders from the Commission or Labor Arbiter who issued the writ.
RULE V
LEVY
SECTION 1. Levy on Personal Property. - To constitute a valid levy on personal property, the sheriff must take possession and control of the same in the following manner:
a)
Personal property capable of manual delivery, by taking and safely keeping it in his capacity as sheriff after issuing the corresponding receipt therefor;
b)
Stocks shares, or an interest in stocks or shares, of any corporation or company, by leaving with the president or managing agent thereof, a copy of the decision, order or award, and a
notice stating that the stock or interest of the party against whom the levy is issued, is levied pursuant thereto;
c)
Debts and credits, and other personal property not capable of manual delivery, by leaving with the person owing such debts, or having in his possession or under his control, such credits
or other personal property, or with his agent, a copy of the decision, order or award, and notice that the debts owing by him to the party against whom the levy is issued, and the credits
and other personal property in his possession, or under his control, belonging to said party are levied in pursuance of such decisions, order or award;
d)
The interest of the prevailing party against whom levy is issued in property belonging to the estate of a decedent, whether as heir legatee or devisee, by serving to the executor or
administrator or other personal representative of the decedent a copy of the decision, order or award and a notice that said interest is levied. A copy of said decision, order or award, and
notice shall also be filed with the Office of the Clerk of Court in which said estate is being settled and served upon the heir, legatee or devisee concerned. If the property sought to be
levied is in custodia legis, a copy of the decision, order or award, and notice shall be filed with the proper court, and notice of levy served upon the custodian of such property.
SECTION 2. Effect of Garnishment. - Garnishment is effected by the sheriff or authorized officer by serving a notice thereof to the third party who has possession or control of such money, goods,
chattels and/or any interest therein, belonging or owing to the losing party directing or requiring him (garnishee) to hold the same subject to further orders from the Commission or Labor Arbiter who
issued the writ. Where the property garnished consists of money deposited with a bank or third party, the Commission or Labor Arbiter shall order that the same shall only be released to the cashier of
the NLRC.
SECTION 3. Levy on Real Property. Real property or any interest therein may be levied in the following manner:
a)
Real property, or growing crops thereon, standing upon the records of the register of deeds of the province or city in the name of the party against whom levy is issued, not appearing at
all upon such records, by filing with the register of deeds a copy of the decision, order, or award, together with a description of the property levied, and a notice that it is levied upon and
by leaving a copy of such decision, order or award, description, and notice with the occupant of the property, if there is any. When the property has been brought under the operation of
the land registration system, the notice shall contain a reference to the number of the certificate of title and the volume and page in the registration book where the certificate is
registered. The register of deeds must index levies filed under this paragraph in the name of both the prevailing party and the losing party;
b)
Real property, or growing crops thereon or any interest therein, belonging to the party against whom levy is issued, and held by any other person or standing on the records of the
register of deeds in the name of any other person, by filing with the register of deeds a copy of the decision, order or award, together with a description of the property, and a notice
that such real property, and any interest therein of said property, held or standing, in the name of such other persons, naming him are levied by leaving with the occupant of the
property, if any, and with such other persons, or his agents, if found within the province or city or at the residence of either, if within the province or city, a copy of such decision, order
or award, description and notice. When the property has been brought under the operation of the land registration system, the notice shall contain a reference to the number of the
certificate of title and the volume and page in the registration book where the certificate is registered. The register of deeds must index levies filed under this paragraph in the name of
the prevailing party, the losing party and of the person whom the property is held or in whose name it stands on the records.
SECTION 4. Effect of Levy. The levy on execution shall create a lien in favor of the prevailing party over the right, title or interest of the losing party in such property at the same time of the levy.
SECTION 5. Effect of Levy on Debts and Credits. All persons having in their possession or under their control any credit or other similar personal property belonging to the party against whom levy is
issued, or owing any debt to the latter, at the time of service upon them a copy of the decision, order or award, and notice, shall be liable to the prevailing party for the amount of such credits, debts or
other property, until the levy is discharged, or any judgment recovered by him is satisfied, unless such property is delivered or transferred, or such debts are paid, to the sheriff or duly designated
officer of the National Labor Relations Commission.
RULE VI
THIRD PARTY CLAIM
SECTION 1. Proceedings. SHOULD A THIRD PARTY CLAIM BE FILED DURING EXECUTION OF THE JUDGMENT AWARD, THE THIRD PARTY CLAIMANT shall EXECUTE an affidavit STATING his title TO
PROPERTY or possession thereof WITH SUPPORTING EVIDENCE and shall file the same with the sheriff and copies thereof served upon the Commission or Labor Arbiter who issued the writ and upon
the prevailing party. Upon receipt of the third party claim, all proceedings, with respect to the execution of the property subject of the third party claim, shall automatically be suspended. The
Commission or Labor Arbiter who issued the writ MAY REQUIRE THE THIRD PARTY CLAIMANT TO ADDUCE ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE IN SUPPORT OF HIS AFFIDAVIT OF THIRD PARTY CLAIM AND TO POST
A CASH OR SURETY BOND EQUIVALENT TO THE AMOUNT OF HIS CLAIM AS PROVIDED FOR IN SECTION 6, RULE VI, OF THE NLRC RULES OF PROCEDURE, WITHOUT PREJUDICE TO THE POSTING BY THE
PREVAILING PARTY OF A SUPERSEDEAS BOND IN AN AMOUNT EQUIVALENT TO THAT POSTED BY THE THIRD PARTY CLAIMANT. The PROPRIETY of the THIRD PARTY claim SHALL BE RESOLVED within ten
(10) working days from SUBMISSION OF THE CLAIM FOR RESOLUTION. The decision OF the Labor Arbiter is appealable to the Commission within ten (10) working days from notice AND the Commission
shall resolve the appeal within the same period.
RULE VII
SALE OF PROPERTY ON EXECUTION
SECTION 1. Notice of Sale. No sale of property on execution shall proceed without notice of sale describing the property to be sold, its location, the date, time and place of sale and terms and
conditions thereof.
a)
In case of perishable property, by posting written notice of the time and place of the sale in three (3) public places in the municipality or city, where the sale is to take place, for such time
as the sheriff may deem reasonable, considering the character and condition of the property;
b)
In case of other personal property, by posting a similar notice in three (3) public places in the municipality or city where the sale is to take place, for not less than five (5) nor more than
ten (10) days;
c)
In case of real property, by posting for twenty (20) days a notice in three (3) public places in the municipality or city where the property is situated, a similar notice particularly describing
the property and stating where the property is to be sold, and, if the assessed value of the property exceeds fifty thousand pesos (P50,000.00), by publishing a copy of the notice once a
week for two (2) consecutive weeks, in a newspaper of general circulation in the province or city, if there be one. If there are newspapers published in the province or city in English
and/or Filipino, then the publication shall be made in one such newspaper;
d)
In all cases, written notice of the sale shall be given to the losing party;
e)
An officer selling without the notice prescribed in the preceding sections shall forfeit five thousand pesos (P5,000.00) to any party injured thereby, in addition to his actual damages, both
to be recovered in a single proper action; and a person willfully removing or defacing the notice posted, if done before the sale, shall forfeit five thousand pesos (P5,000.00) to any
person injured by reason thereof, to be recovered in any proper action.
An execution sale without the valid levy and notice of sale as herein provided is null and void and vests no title in the purchaser.
SECTION 2. No Sale if Judgment and Costs Paid. At any time before the sale of property on execution, the losing party may prevent the sale by paying the amount required by the execution and the
costs that have been incurred therein.
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SECTION 3. How Property Sold on Execution. All sales of property under execution shall be made at public auction, to the highest bidder, between the hours of nine in the morning and five in the
afternoon. After sufficient property has been sold to satisfy the execution, no more shall be sold. When the sale is of real property, consisting of several known lots, they shall be sold separately; or
when a portion of such real property is claimed by a third person, he may require it to be sold separately. When the sale is of personal property capable of manual delivery, it shall be sold within the
view of those attending the sale and in such parcels as are likely to bring the highest price. The losing party, if present at the sale, may direct the order in which property, real or personal, shall be sold,
when such property consists of several known lots or parcels which can be sold to advantage separately. Neither the sheriff nor duly designated officer holding the execution can become a purchaser,
nor be interested directly or indirectly in any purchase at such sale.
SECTION 4. Refusal of Purchaser to Pay. If a purchaser refuses to pay the amount bid by him for property struck off to him at a sale under execution, the sheriff may again sell the property to the
highest bidder and shall not be responsible for any loss occasioned thereby; but the Commission or Labor Arbiter who issued the writ of execution may order the refusing purchaser to pay to the
former the amount of such loss, with costs, and may punish him for contempt if he disobeys the order. The amount of such payment shall be for the benefit of the person entitled to the proceeds of
the execution, unless the execution has been fully satisfied, in which event, such proceeds shall be for the benefit of the losing party. When a purchaser refuses to pay, the sheriff may thereafter reject
any subsequent bid of such person.
SECTION 5. Prevailing Party as Purchaser. When the purchaser is the prevailing party, and no third party claim has been filed, he need not pay the amount of the bid if it does not exceed the amount
of the judgment. If it does, he shall pay only the excess.
SECTION 6. Adjournment of Sale. By written consent of the prevailing party and losing party, the sheriff may adjourn any sale on execution to any date agreed upon in writing by the parties. Without
such agreement, he may adjourn the sale from day to day, if it becomes necessary to do so for lack of time to complete the sale on the day fixed in the notice.
SECTION 7. Conveyance to Purchaser of Personal Property Capable of Manual Delivery. When the purchaser of any personal property capable of manual delivery pays the purchase price, the sheriff
making the sale shall deliver the property to the purchaser and, if desired, execute and deliver to him a certificate of sale. The sale conveys to the purchaser all the rights which the losing party has in
such property on the day of its levy.
SECTION 8. Conveyance to Purchaser of Personal Property Not Capable of Manual Delivery. When the purchaser of any personal property not capable of manual delivery pays the purchase price, the
sheriff making the sale shall execute and deliver to the purchaser a certificate of sale. Such certificate conveys to the purchaser all the rights which the losing party has in such property on the day of its
levy.
SECTION 9. Conveyance of Real Property. Certificate Thereof Given to Purchaser and Filed with the Register of Deeds. Upon a sale of real property, the sheriff shall give to the purchaser a certificate of
sale containing:
a)
A particular description of the real property sold;
b)
The price paid for each distinct lot or parcel;
c)
The whole price paid by him.
A duplicate of such certificate shall be filed by the sheriff with the Office of the Register of Deeds of the province or city where the property is located.
SECTION 10. Certificate of Sale When Property is Claimed by Third Party. When a property sold by virtue of a writ of execution is claimed by a third party, the certificate of sale to be issued by the
sheriff pursuant to preceding sections 7, 8 and 9 shall indicate therein such third party claim.
SECTION 11. Redemption of Real Property Sold; Who may Redeem. Real property sold as provided in the last preceding section or any part thereof separately, may be redeemed in the manner
hereinafter provided, by the following parties/persons:
a)
The losing party, or his successor in interest in the whole or any part of the property;
b)
A creditor having a lien by attachment, judgment or mortgage on the property sold, or on some part thereof, subsequent to the judgment under which the property was sold. Such
redeeming creditor is termed a redemptioner.
SECTION 12. Time and Manner of, and Amounts Payable on, Successive Redemptions. Notice to be Given and Filed. The losing party, or redemptioner, may redeem the property from the purchaser,
at any time within twelve (12) months after the sale, by paying the purchaser the amount of his purchase, with one per centum per month interest thereon, in addition, up to the time of redemption,
together with the amount of any assessments or taxes which the purchaser may have paid thereon after purchase and interest on such last-named amount at the same rate; and if the purchaser be
also a creditor having a prior lien to that of the redemptioner, other than the judgment under which such purchase was made, the amount of such other lien, with interest. Property so redeemed may
again be redeemed within sixty (60) days after the last redemption upon payment of the sum paid in the last redemption, with two per centum thereon in addition, and the amount of any assessments
or taxes which the last redemptioner may have paid thereon after redemption by him, with interest on such last-named amount, and in addition, the amount of any liens held by said last redemptioner
prior to his own, with interest. The property may be again, and as often as a redemptioner is so disposed, redeemed from any previous redemptioner within sixty (60) days after the last redemption, by
paying the sum paid on the last previous redemption, with two per centum thereon in addition, and the amount of any assessments or taxes which the last previous redemptioner paid after the
redemption thereon, with interest thereon, and the amount of any liens held by the last redemptioner prior to his own, with interest.
Written notice of any redemption must be given to the sheriff who made the sale a duplicate filed with the Register of Deeds of the province or city, and if any assessments or taxes are paid by the
redemptioner or if he has or acquires any lien other than that upon which the redemption was made, notice thereof must in like manner be given to the sheriff and filed with the register of deeds; if
such notice be not filed, the property may be redeemed without paying such assessments, taxes or liens.
SECTION 13. Effect of Redemption by Losing Party, and a Certificate to be Delivered and Recorded Thereupon; To Whom Payments on Redemption Made. If the losing party redeems, he shall make
the same payments as are required to effect a redemption by a redemptioner, whereupon the effect of the sale is terminated and he is restored to his estate, and the person to whom the payment is
made shall execute and deliver to him a certificate of redemption acknowledged or approved before a notary public or other officer authorized to take acknowledgments of conveyances of real
property. Such certificate must be filed and recorded in the office of the Register of Deeds of the province or city in which the property is situated, and the Register of Deeds must note the record
thereof on the margin of the record of the certificate of sale. The payments mentioned in this and the last preceding sections may be made to the purchaser or redemptioner, or for him to the sheriff
or duly designated officer who made the sale.
SECTION 14. Proof Required of Redemptioner. A redemptioner shall produce to the sheriff, or person from whom he seeks to redeem, and serve with his notice to the sheriff:
a)
A copy of the judgment or order under which he claims the right to redeem, certified by the proper officer wherein the judgment is docketed; or, if he redeems upon a mortgage or other
liens, a memorandum of the record thereof, certified by the Register of Deeds;
b)
A copy of any assignment necessary to establish his claim, verified by the affidavit of himself, or of a subscribing witness thereto;
c)
An affidavit by himself or his agent, showing the amount then actually due on the lien.
SECTION 15. Deed and Possession to be Given at Expiration of Redemption Period; By Whom Executed or Given. If no redemption be made within twelve (12) months after the sale, the purchaser, or
his assignee, is entitled to a conveyance and possession of the property; or, if so redeemed whenever sixty (60) days have elapsed and no other redemption has been made, and notice thereof given,
and the time of redemption has expired, the last redemptioner, or his assignee, is entitled to the conveyance and possession; but in all cases, the losing party shall have the entire period of twelve (12)
months from date of the registration of the sale to redeem the property. The deed shall be executed by the sheriff making the sale or by his successor in office, and in the latter case, shall have the
same validity as though the sheriff making the sale has continued in office and executed it.
Upon the execution and delivery of said deed, the purchaser, or redemptioner, or his assignee, shall be substituted to and acquire all the rights, title, interest and claim of the losing party to the
property as of the time of levy, except as against the losing party in possession, in which case, the substitution shall be effective as of the date of the deed. The possession of the property shall be given
to the purchaser or last redemptioner by the same sheriff unless a third party is actually holding the property adversely to the losing party.
SECTION 16. Recovery of Price If Sale Not Effective; Revival of Judgment. If the purchaser of real property sold on execution, or his successor in interest fails to recover the possession thereof, or is
evicted therefrom in consequence of irregularities in the proceedings concerning the sale, or because the property sold was exempt from execution, or because a third party has vindicated his claim to
the property, he may, in a proper action, recover from the prevailing party the price paid, with interest, or so much thereof as has not been delivered to the losing party; or he may, on motion after
notice, have the original judgment revived in his name for the whole price with interest, or so much thereof as has been delivered to the losing party. The judgment so revived shall have the same force
and effect as an original judgment would have as of the date of the revival.
RULE VIII
SHERIFFS RETURN
SECTION 1. Return of Writ of Execution. The writ of execution shall be made returnable to the Commission or Labor Arbiter who issued it at any time not less than ten (10) nor more than ONE
HUNDRED EIGHTY (180) days after its receipt by the sheriff who shall set forth in writing the whole proceedings and file it with the Commission or Labor Arbiter to form part of the records of the case.
Failure to make the return within the stated period shall subject the sheriff to a fine of not less than five hundred pesos (P500.00), or suspension for fifteen (15) days without pay or both.
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SECTION 2. Prohibition. In the event the judgment or order is returned unsatisfied, either wholly or partially, the sheriff shall no longer execute the judgment or order unless an alias writ of execution
is duly issued.
SECTION 3. Break Open Order; When Issued. Should the LOSING PARTY, his agent or representative refuse or prohibit the sheriff or his authorized representative entry to the place where the
property subject of execution is located or kept, the PREVAILING PARTY may apply for a break open order to the Commission or Labor Arbiter concerned WHO, after due notice and hearing, SHALL
ISSUE SUCH ORDER WHICH IS IMMEDIATELY EXECUTORY.
RULE IX
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
SECTION 1. Hours and Days When Writ Shall Be Served. Writ of Execution shall be served at any day, except Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, between the hours of eight in the morning and five in
the afternoon. If, by nature of the losing party's business, it requires the implementation of the same beyond the period provided herein, a written authorization must be secured by the sheriff or duly
designated officer from the Commission or Labor Arbiter who issued the writ.
SECTION 2. Sheriffs Report. - The Sheriff enforcing the writ of execution shall make a REGULAR status report on its implementation to the Commission or Labor Arbiter who issued the same. Standard
forms shall be made available to the sheriff in compliance with this provision.
SECTION 3. Assignment of Writs of Execution. The Commission or Labor Arbiters issuing the writs of execution, in coordination with the Executive Labor Arbiter, shall conduct a raffle for purposes of
assigning writs of execution to the sheriff/s.
SECTION 4. Storage of Levied Property. To avoid pilferage or damage to levied property, the same shall be inventoried and stored in a bonded warehouse, wherever available, or in a secured place as
may be determined by the LABOR ARBITER OR THE COMMISSION with notice to the losing party or third party claimant. For this purpose, the sheriff shall inform the Commission or Labor Arbiter
concerned of the corresponding storage fees, CHARGEABLE TO THE PREVAILING PARTY.
SECTION 5. Referral of Questions Relative to Writ Enforcement. Questions relative to writ of enforcement shall be referred to the Commission or Labor Arbiter who issued the writ for resolution.
SECTION 6. Cash Advance and Execution Fees. Sheriffs or duly designated officers shall be provided at the beginning of the month with a cash advance not exceeding TWO THOUSAND PESOS
(P2,000.00) for transportation expenses which shall be liquidated at the end of the month with a statement of expenses and itinerary of travel duly approved by the Commission or Labor Arbiter issuing
the writ.
The sheriff or duly designated officer shall collect the following execution fees which shall be charged against the losing party:
(1)
For awards less than P5,000.00 P200.00;
(2)
P5,000.00 or more but less than P20,000.00 P400.00;
(3)
P20,000.00 or more but less than P50,000.00 P600.00;
(4)
P50,000.00 or more but not less than P100,000.00 P800.00;
(5)
P100,000.00 or more but not exceeding P150,000.00P1,000.00;
(6)
P150,000.00 the fee is plus P10.00 for every P1,000.00 in excess of P150,000.00
PRE-EXECUTION CONFERENCE; ISSUANCE & QUASHAL OF WRIT OF EXECUTION

RULE XI
SECTION 5. Pre-Execution Conference. Within two (2) working days from receipt of a motion for the issuance of a writ of execution which shall be
accompanied by a computation of a judgment award, if necessary, the Commission or the Labor Arbiter may schedule a pre-execution conference to
thresh out matters relevant to execution including the final computation of monetary award. The pre-execution conference shall not exceed fifteen
(15) calendar days from the initial schedule, unless the parties agreed to an extension.
Any order issued by the Labor Arbiter in the pre-execution conference is not appealable, subject to the remedies available under Rule XII. (2a)
SECTION 6. Issuance, Contents and Effectivity of a Writ of Execution. The writ of execution shall issue in the name of the Republic of the
Philippines signed by the Commission or Labor Arbiter ordering the Sheriff to execute the decision, order, or award of the Commission or Labor
Arbiter, and must contain the complete name of the party, whether natural or juridical, against whom the writ of execution was issued, the dispositive
portion thereof, the amount, if any, to be demanded, and all legal fees to be collected from the losing party or any other person required by law to
obey the same.
A writ of execution shall be effective for a period of five (5) years from issuance thereof. In case of partial satisfaction of judgment during the lifetime
of the writ, the Labor Arbiter shall motu proprio issue an updated writ reflecting the amount collected and the remaining balance. (3a)
SECTION 10. Resolution of Motion to Quash. A motion to quash shall be resolved by the Labor Arbiter within ten (10) working days from
submission of said motion for resolution. The mere filing of a motion to quash shall not stay execution proceedings. (11a)
THIRD PARTY CLAIMS

RULE XI
SECTION 11. Third Party Claim.
a) If the property levied is claimed by any person other than the losing party, such person may file a third party claim not later than five (5)
days from the last day of posting or publication of the notice of execution sale, otherwise the claim shall be forever barred. Such third party
claim must comply with the following requirements:
(1)
An affidavit stating title to property or right to the possession thereof with supporting evidence;
(2)
Posting of a bond equivalent to the amount of the claim or judgment award, whichever is lower; and
(3)
Payment of prevailing filing fee.
b)
Where filed The third party claim shall be filed with the Commission or Labor Arbiter where the execution proceeding is pending, with
proof of service of copies thereof to the Sheriff and the prevailing party.
c)
Effect of Filing. The filing of a third party claim that has complied with the requirements set forth under paragraph (a) of this Section
shall automatically suspend the proceedings with respect to the execution of the properties subject of the third party claim.
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Upon approval of the bond, the Labor Arbiter shall issue an order releasing the levied property or a part thereof subject of the claim unless
the prevailing party posts a counter bond in an amount not less than the value of the levied property.
The Labor Arbiter may require the posting of additional bond upon showing by the other party that the bond is insufficient.
d)
Proceedings. The propriety of the third party claim shall be resolved within ten (10) working days from submission of the claim for
resolution. The decision of the Labor Arbiter is not appealable but may be elevated to the Commission and resolved in accordance with
Rule XII hereof. Pending resolution thereof, execution shall proceed against all other properties not subject of the third party claim. (12a)
EXTRAORDINARY REMEDIES FROM ORDER OR RESOLUTION OF LABOR ARBITER

RULE XII
SECTION 1.Verified Petition. A party aggrieved by any order or resolution of the Labor Arbiter including those issued during execution proceedings may file a verified
petition to annul or modify such order or resolution. The petition may be accompanied by an application for the issuance of a temporary restraining order and/or writ of
preliminary or permanent injunction to enjoin the Labor Arbiter, or any person acting under his/her authority, to desist from enforcing said resolution or order.
SECTION 2.Grounds. The petition filed under this Rule may be entertained only on any of the following grounds:
a)
If there is prima facie evidence of abuse of discretion on the part of the Labor Arbiter.
b)
If serious errors in the findings of facts are raised which, if not corrected, would cause grave or irreparable damage or injury to the petitioner.
c)
If a party by fraud, accident, mistake or excusable negligence has been prevented from taking an appeal;
d)
If made purely on questions of law; or
e)
If the order or resolution will cause injustice if not rectified.
SECTION 3. When and Where Filed. Not later than ten (10) calendar days from receipt of the order or resolution of the Labor Arbiter, the aggrieved party may file a
petition with the Commission furnishing a copy thereof to the adverse party.
SECTION 4. Requisites of the Petition. The petition filed under this Rule shall:
a)
be accompanied by a clear original or certified true copy of the order or resolution assailed, together with clear copies of documents relevant or related to the
said order or resolution for the proper understanding of the issue/s involved;
b)
contain the arbitral docket number and appeal docket number, if any;
c)
state the material date showing the timeliness of the petition;
d)
be verified by the petitioner himself/herself in accordance with Section 4, Rule 7 of the Rules of Court, as amended;
e)
be in the form of a memorandum which shall state the ground/s relied upon, the argument/s in support thereof and the reliefs prayed for;
f)
be in three (3) legibly written or printed copies; and
g)
be accompanied by:
i.
certificate of non-forum shopping;
ii.
proof of service upon the other party/ies and the Labor Arbiter who issued the order or resolution being assailed or questioned; and
iii.
proof of payment of the required fees.
SECTION 5. The Public and Private Respondents Impleaded in the Petition. The Labor Arbiter shall be jointly impleaded with the private respondent as a public
respondent in a nominal capacity. As used in this Rule, the private respondent refers to the party interested in sustaining the order or resolution of the Labor Arbiter. It
shall be the duty of the private respondent to appear and defend, both in his/her behalf and that of the public respondent, and the cost awarded in such proceedings in
favor of the petitioner shall be against the private respondent only. The public respondent shall not appear or file an answer or comment to the petition or any pleading
therein.
SECTION 6. Service and Filing of Pleadings. The party filing the pleadings, shall serve the other party with copies thereof in accordance with Rule 13 of theRules of Court
furnishing the Labor Arbiter with a copy.
If the last day to serve and file a pleading falls on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday, the pleading shall be served and filed on the first working day immediately following such
Saturday, Sunday or Holiday.
SECTION 7. Answer to the Petition. Within ten (10) calendar days from the receipt of the petition, the private respondent shall file his/her answer therein stating the
ground/s why the petition should be denied. Failure on the part of the private respondent, to file his/her answer within the said period may be construed as a waiver to file
the same.
SECTION 8. Opposition to the Injunctive Relief; When Filed. In case the petitioner also prays for an injunctive relief, the private respondent may file his/her verified
opposition or comment to the application for injunctive relief not later than five (5) calendar days from receipt of a copy of the petition.
SECTION 9. Effect of Filing of Petition. Upon filing of the petition, the proceedings before the Labor Arbiter shall continue unless restrained. In case of execution, the
proceedings in accordance with Rule XI of these Rules shall not be suspended, but no money collected or credit garnished may be released or properties levied upon be
sold by public auction within fifteen (15) calendar days from the filing of the petition. If no temporary restraining order or writ of preliminary injunction is issued within the
said period, the money collected or credit garnished shall be released and/or the properties levied upon sold by public auction and the proceeds of the sale applied, to
satisfy the judgment.
In case of execution proceedings, the Labor Arbiter shall immediately inform in writing the Commission or the Division where the petition is pending of the satisfaction of
the judgment, and, if circumstances warrant, the Commission shall dismiss the petition for being moot.
The records of the case shall not be elevated to the Commission unless otherwise ordered.
SECTION 10. Verified Application, Issuance of Temporary Restraining Order or Preliminary Injunction; Bond. Upon the filing of a verified application for injunctive relief,
together with supporting affidavits and documents, the Commission may issue a writ of a preliminary injunction based on any of the applicable grounds provided for in
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Section 3, Rule 58 of the Rules of Court for the preservation of the rights of the parties pending resolution of the petition. The writ of preliminary injunction shall be
effective for a non-extendible period of sixty (60) calendar days from service on the private respondent.
If it shall appear from facts shown by the verified application and affidavits that great and irreparable damage and/or injury would result to the petitioner before the
petition can be resolved, the Commission may issue a temporary restraining order ex-parte effective for a non-extendible period of twenty (20) calendar days from service
on the private respondent.
In the issuance of a temporary restraining order or writ of preliminary injunction, the Commission shall require the posting of a cash bond in the amount of Fifty Thousand
Pesos (P50,000.00), or such higher amount as may be determined by the Commission, to recompense those enjoined for any loss, expense or damage caused by the
improvident or erroneous issuance of such order or injunction, including all reasonable costs.
An additional cash bond may be required by the Commission in the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction.
SECTION 11. Effectivity of Temporary Restraining Order or Writ of Preliminary Injunction.
The temporary restraining order or writ of preliminary injunction shall become effective only upon posting of the required cash bond.
In the event that the application for a writ of preliminary injunction is denied or not resolved within the said period, the temporary restraining order is deemed
automatically vacated.
The application for a temporary restraining order or a writ of preliminary injunction may be denied, or if granted, may be dissolved, on any grounds provided for in Section
6, Rule 58 of the Rules of Court.
SECTION 12. Effect of Injunction. The issuance of a temporary restraining order or a writ of preliminary injunction, unless otherwise declared by the Commission, shall
not suspend the proceedings before the Labor Arbiter or stay the implementation of the writ of execution but shall only restrain or enjoin such particular act/s as therein
decreed to be restrained or enjoined.
SECTION 13. Resolution of Petition. If the Commission finds that the allegations of the petition are true, it shall:
a)
render judgment for the relief prayed for or to which the petitioner is entitled, and/or
b)
grant a final injunction perpetually enjoining the Labor Arbiter or any person acting under his/her authority from the commission of the act/s or confirming the
preliminary injunction.
However, the Commission may dismiss the petition if it finds the same to be patently without merit, prosecuted manifestly for delay, or that the questions raised therein
are too unsubstantial to require consideration.
APPELLATE REMEDIES
RULE 65 CERTIORARI, PROHIBITION AND MANDAMUS
Section 1. Petition for certiorari. When any tribunal, board or officer exercising judicial or quasi-judicial functions has acted without or in excess its or his jurisdiction, or
with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction, and there is no appeal, or any plain, speedy, and adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law,
a person aggrieved thereby may file a verified petition in the proper court, alleging the facts with certainty and praying that judgment be rendered annulling or modifying
the proceedings of such tribunal, board or officer, and granting such incidental reliefs as law and justice may require.
The petition shall be accompanied by a certified true copy of the judgment, order or resolution subject thereof, copies of all pleadings and documents relevant and
pertinent thereto, and a sworn certification of non-forum shopping as provided in the third paragraph of section 3, Rule 46. (1a)
Section 2. Petition for prohibition. When the proceedings of any tribunal, corporation, board, officer or person, whether exercising judicial, quasi-judicial or ministerial
fun functions, are without or in excess of its or his jurisdiction, or with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction, and there is no appeal or any
other plain, speedy, and adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law, a person aggrieved thereby may file a verified petition in the proper court, alleging the facts with
certainty and praying that judgment be rendered commanding the respondent to desist from further proceedings in the action or matter specified therein, or otherwise
granting such incidental reliefs as law and justice may require.
The petition shall likewise be accompanied by a certified true copy of the judgment, order or resolution subject thereof, copies of all pleadings and documents relevant and
pertinent thereto, and a sworn certification of non-forum shopping as provided in the third paragraph of section 3, Rule 46. (2a)
Section 3. Petition for mandamus. When any tribunal, corporation, board, officer or person unlawfully neglects the performance of an act which the law specifically
enjoins as a duty resulting from an office, trust, or station, or unlawfully excludes another from the use and enjoyment of a right or office to which such other is entitled,
and there is no other plain, speedy and adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law, the person aggrieved thereby may file a verified petition in the proper court,
alleging the facts with certainty and praying that judgment be rendered commanding the respondent, immediately or at some other time to be specified by the court, to do
the act required to be done to protect the rights of the petitioner, and to pay the damages sustained by the petitioner by reason of the wrongful acts of the respondent.
The petition shall also contain a sworn certification of non-forum shopping as provided in the third paragraph of section 3, Rule 46. (3a)
Section 4. When and where to file the petition. The petition shall be filed not later than sixty (60) days from notice of the judgment, order or resolution. In case a motion
for reconsideration or new trial is timely filed, whether such motion is required or not, the petition shall be filed not later than sixty (60) days counted from the notice of
the denial of the motion.
If the petition relates to an act or an omission of a municipal trial court or of a corporation, a board, an officer or a person, it shall be filed with the Regional Trial Court
exercising jurisdiction over the territorial area as defined by the Supreme Court. It may also be filed with the Court of Appeals or with the Sandiganbayan, whether or not
the same is in aid of the courts appellate jurisdiction. If the petition involves an act or an omission of a quasi-judicial agency, unless otherwise provided by law or these
rules, the petition shall be filed with and be cognizable only by the Court of Appeals.
In election cases involving an act or an omission of a municipal or a regional trial court, the petition shall be filed exclusively with the Commission on Elections, in aid of its
appellate jurisdiction.
Page 120

RULE 45 APPEAL BY CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT
Section 1. Filing of petition with Supreme Court. A party desiring to appeal by certiorari from a judgment or final order or resolution of the Court of Appeals, the
Sandiganbayan, the Regional Trial Court or other courts whenever authorized by law, may file with the Supreme Court a verified petition for review on certiorari. The
petition shall raise only questions of law which must be distinctly set forth. (1a, 2a)
Section 2. Time for filing; extension. The petition shall be filed within fifteen (15) days from notice of the judgment or final order or resolution appealed from, or of the
denial of the petitioner's motion for new trial or reconsideration filed in due time after notice of the judgment. On motion duly filed and served, with full payment of the
docket and other lawful fees and the deposit for costs before the expiration of the reglementary period, the Supreme Court may for justifiable reasons grant an extension
of thirty (30) days only within which to file the petition. (1a, 5a)
Section 3. Docket and other lawful fees; proof of service of petition. Unless he has theretofore done so, the petitioner shall pay the corresponding docket and other
lawful fees to the clerk of court of the Supreme Court and deposit the amount of P500.00 for costs at the time of the filing of the petition. Proof of service of a copy, thereof
on the lower court concerned and on the adverse party shall be submitted together with the petition. (1a)
Section 5. Dismissal or denial of petition. The failure of the petitioner to comply with any of the foregoing requirements regarding the payment of the docket and other
lawful fees, deposit for costs, proof of service of the petition, and the contents of and the documents which should accompany the petition shall be sufficient ground for
the dismissal thereof.
The Supreme Court may on its own initiative deny the petition on the ground that the appeal is without merit, or is prosecuted manifestly for delay, or that the questions
raised therein are too unsubstantial to require consideration. (3a)
Section 6. Review discretionary. A review is not a matter of right, but of sound judicial discretion, and will be granted only when there are special and important reasons
thereof. The following, while neither controlling nor fully measuring the court's discretion, indicate the character of the reasons which will be considered:
(a) When the court a quo has decided a question of substance, not theretofore determined by the Supreme Court, or has decided it in a way probably not in
accord with law or with the applicable decisions of the Supreme Court; or
(b)
When the court a quo has so far departed from the accepted and usual course of judicial proceedings, or so far sanctioned such departure by a lower court, as
to call for an exercise of the power of supervision. (4a)
UPDATES
PCI Travel Corp vs. NLRC et al., G.R. No. 154379, October 31, 2008 The following officials or employees of the employer can sign the verification and certification
without need of a board resolution (i) Chairperson of the Board; (ii) President; (iii) General Manager; (iv) Personnel Officer; and (v) Labor Employment Specialist.
(citing 2008 Cagayan Valley Drug Corp.)
Pentagon Steel Corp., vs. Court of Appeals, et al., G.R. No. 174141, June 26, 2009 Actions and/or agreements made by the parties during the conciliation
proceedings before the labor arbiter are treated as privileged communication under Art. 233; thus, an offer of compromise does not constitute an admission against
interest
Laguna Metts Corp., vs. Caalam et al., G.R. No. 185220, July 27, 2009 An extension of time to file a petition for certiorari under Rule 65 from decision of NLRC (see
A.M. No. 07-7-12-SC, amending Rule 65, Sec. 4) is no longer allowed. While social justice requires that the law took tenderly on the disadvantaged sectors of society,
neither the rich nor the poor has a license to disregard rules of procedure.
NLRC powers and composition; See RA 9347 rationalizing the composition and function of the NLRC; EN banc and division powers and injunctive power; lawyer
insulting and making diatribes against the NLRC, sanctioned by Supreme Court as he is a member of the BAR and covered by the Code of Professional Responsibility,
held in 2006 Ng
Venue in filing complaints, before the arbitration branch of the NLRC as held in 1992 Nestle Phils., and 1998 Phil. Tranco Service and 1996 Sulpicio Lines; and place
of regular assignment as held in 2006 Westmont Pharmaceuticals; see also venue for claims of overseas filipino workers in 2005 Phil. National Bank involving a
Filipino employee in Singapore branch of bank, where Labor Code applies
Immunity from labor claims of Asian Development Bank in 1996 Dept. of Foreign Affairs, being an international organization; see however, 2009 Deutsche
Gesellschaft Fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (German Agency for Technical Cooperation) involving an implementing agency of the Federal Republic of Germany
which was made liable for illegal dismissal of Filipino workers, as its invocation of immunity from suit not tenable in the absence of evidence
Residual authority of labor arbiter to preserve and protect rights of parties despite perfection of appeal e.g. issuing partial writ of execution to carry out
reinstatement aspect, compute award of backwages: BUT not approval of compromise if case is on appeal to NLRC because NLRC Commissioner is given such
authority under 2005 Revised Rules of Procedure of the NLRC
Power of labor arbiter to set aside execution of FINAL AND EXECUTORY JUDGMENT if there is supervening events making the execution unjust, inequitable, etc. held
in 1990 Pacific Mills; also execution of decision of labor arbiter when it involves property of a third person, still within the jurisdiction of labor arbiter
NLRC has jurisdiction over petition for injunction to enjoin final and executor judgment e.g. erroneous computation of backwages, as held in National Federation of
Labor
Order of execution issued by the labor arbiter is not subject to appeal, held in 2003 King Integrated Security case; it cannot also be subject of certiorari directly to
Court of Appeals as held in 2006 Triad Security and Allied Services; likewise, order of labor arbiter denying motion to dismiss is not appealable to NLRC, and cannot
also be subject of certiorari directly to Court of Appeals, held in 2005 Metro Drug Distribution
NLRC has power to entertain motion for reduction of bond, and if granted, to give extension to file bond as held in 1998 Alcosero; however, once bond is ordered
reduced by NLRC, appellant cannot file motion for reconsideration as it will extend period to appeals as held in 1998 Mers Shoes Mfg.; see requisites when motion to
reduce bond before the NLRC shall stop running of the period to perfect an appeal
Art. 223 on immediately executory is for the benefit of employee and not employer, and thus, employee who was ordered reinstated pending appeal must be given
reasonable time to comply therewith as held in 2002 Buenviaje where five day period to comply was not sufficient
Deletion of award of reinstatement NOT proper as position of route salesman is not confidential, held in 2009 Reyes and there being no proof of strained relations
Page 121
An appeal to the NLRC that was filed 3 days late violates the Art. 223 of the Code, and the NLRC rules, thus rendering the decision of the labor arbiter final and
executor, held in 2008 Nationwide Security and Allied Service
If not motion for reconsideration is filed with NLRC, its decision becomes final and executory, consequently, certiorari under Rule 65 is not available as held in 1998
Zapanta; see also 2005 Lopez Dela Rosa Development Corp. where filing of motion for reconsideration with NLRC is a mandatory requirement to forestall the finality
of the NLRCs decision under Art. 223 and Sec. 14, Rule VII; it is precondition to certiorari, jurisdictional and not mere technicality, otherwise, decision becomes final
after 10 calendar days; see also 2008 Pasiona Jr., where doctrine of finality of judgment was affirmed especially since there was no denial of due process despite the
claim that employees counsel was grossly negligent in failing to elevate case to the Supreme Court; remedy from Court of Appeals to Supreme Court is Rule 45 and
not Rule 65
For a settlement of a dispute, whether in whole or in part, to be valid, it must be in writing and signed by the parties and their counsels before the labor arbiter, held
in 2008 Ilagan; compromise of claims even after final judgment of Supreme Court is valid and has effect of novation, held in 2005 Magbanua; and waiver considered
valid despite absence of lawyer as this is not required for validity; NLRC rules on approval of compromise also applicable to compromise after final judgment and
during pre-execution stage, although law is silent on the latter procedure
J-Phil Marine, Inc vs. NLRC That respondent was not assisted by his counsel when he entered into the compromise does not render it null and void. Eurotech Hair Systems, Inc. v. Go so
enlightens:
A compromise agreement is valid as long as the consideration is reasonable and the employee signed the waiver voluntarily, with a full understanding of what he was
entering into. All that is required for the compromise to be deemed voluntarily entered into is personal and specific individual consent. Thus, contrary to
respondents contention, the employees counsel need not be present at the time of the signing of the compromise agreement.
Zamboanga Barter Traders vs. Plagata - A judgment may be executed on motion within five (5) years from the date of its entry or from the date it becomes final and
executory. After the lapse of such time, and before it is barred by the statute of limitations, a judgment may be enforced by action.
The purpose of the law (or rule) in prescribing time limitations for enforcing judgments or actions is to prevent obligors from sleeping on their rights.
These exceptions have one common denominator, and that is: the delay is caused or occasioned by actions of the judgment debtor and/or is incurred for his benefit
or advantage.
PCI Travel Corp. vs. NLRC The following officials or employees of the company can sign the verification and certification without need of a board resolution: (1) the
Chairperson of the Board of Directors, (2) the President of a corporation, (3) the General Manager or Acting General Manager, (4) Personnel Officer, and (5) an
Employment Specialist in a labor case.
Ilagan vs. CA
Should the parties arrive at any agreement as to the whole or any part of the dispute, the same shall be reduced to writing and signed by the parties and their
respective counsels, if any[,] before the Labor Arbiter.
In order to be valid, any agreement arrived at in the course of the mandatory conciliation and mediation conference should be in writing and signed by the parties, or
their counsel, before the Labor Arbiter.
Page 122

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Labor Relations

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Labor Relations Compilation

TOPIC 2: BASIC PRINCIPLES .................................................................................................................................................. 14

TOPIC 3: RIGHT TO SECURITY OF TENURE ........................................................................................................................... 21

OTHER CLASSIFICATION (SPECIAL LAWS)......................................................................................................................................................................25

EXCEPTIONS TO REGULAR EMPLOYMENT ....................................................................................................................................................................27

MEMBERS OF WORK POOL...........................................................................................................................................................................................31

TOPIC 4: MANAGEMENT PREROGATIVE .............................................................................................................................. 33

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Labor Relations Compilation

EMPLOYMENT POLICIES AND STIPULATIONS ...............................................................................................................................................................37

TOPIC 5: TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT ......................................................................................................................... 40

AUTHORIZED CAUSES ...................................................................................................................................................................................................50

ANALOGOUS AUTHORIZED CAUSES .............................................................................................................................................................................56

EFFECT OR CONSEQUENCE OF A VALID DISMISSAL ......................................................................................................................................................62

EFFECT OR CONSEQUENCE OF AN INVALID DISMISSAL ................................................................................................................................................63

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Labor Relations Compilation

WENPHIL DOCTRINE ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 67

TOPIC 6: SUSPENSION OF BUSINESS OPERATIONS .............................................................................................................. 69

EFFECT ON EMPLOYMENT STATUS ...............................................................................................................................................................................69

DISTINGUISH FROM STOPPAGE OF WORK OR SUSPENSION OF OPERATION ...............................................................................................................71

TOPIC 7: DISEASE AS GROUND FOR TERMINATION............................................................................................................. 72

TOPIC 8: OTHER CAUSES OF SEVERANCE OF EMPLOYMENT RELATION .............................................................................. 75

TYPES OF RESIGNATION ...............................................................................................................................................................................................75

ISSUANCE OF CERTIFICATE OF EMPLOYMENT ..............................................................................................................................................................78

TOPIC 9: PRESCRIPTION OF CLAIMS .................................................................................................................................... 82

TOPIC 12: JURISDICTION OF THE LABOR ARBITER ............................................................................................................... 84

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Labor Relations Compilation

REASONABLE CAUSAL CONNECTION RULE ...................................................................................................................................................................85

LABOR DISPUTES ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................86

TOPIC 13: THE 2011 NLRC RULES OF PROCEDURE .............................................................................................................. 88

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Labor Relations Compilation

PRE-EXECUTION CONFERENCE; ISSUANCE & QUASHAL OF WRIT OF EXECUTION ...................................................................................................... 118

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Labor Relations Compilation

TOPIC 1: THE APPLICABLE LAWS

Sen. Blas Ople Father of Labor Code

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Labor Relations Compilation

Article II, sec. 10 of the constitution

Labor Standards Law

Labor Relations Law

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Labor Relations Compilation

Labor Legislation or Social or Welfare Legislation

Intended to substitute income

SUPREME COURT DECISIONS

General welfare clause deemed written into the employment contract.

Power to regulate personal liberty or property rights.

NOTE: Having a job is a property right

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Labor Relations Compilation

Philippines is a signatory of ILO Convention (International Labor Organization)

UN Declaration of Human Rights

PROTECTION TO LABOR CLAUSE

May be impaired by the exercise of the state of police power.

EQUAL PROTECTION CLAUSE

Equality among equals

PROHIBITION AGAINST INVOLUNTARY SERVITUDE