"Labor Standards" refers to the minimum terms and conditions of employment to wh

ich employees are legally entitled and with which employers must comply.
"Labor Relations" refers to the interactions between employer and employees or t
heir representatives and the mechanism by which the standards and other terms an
d conditions of employment are negotiated, adjusted and enforced.
The policy intends to attain social justice through industrial peace and progres
s. The latter is significantly founded on employee participation and collective
interactions between employer and employees.
The crux of labor relations is the process and substance of employee participati
on, that is, how rights and duties are exercised, how agreements are reached, an
d how relationship is enhanced.
The CBA must be ratified by the employees and registered with DOLE, but although
unregistered, it is valid and binding between the parties; it is law between th
em.
- Economic provisions are renegotiated not later than 3 years.
- Union representation stays undisturbed for five years.
Labor relations
- inter-party in character. This means that the employer and employees themselve
s must deal with their problems in a manner most comfortable to them,
- is likewise the reason the legal policy prefers voluntary instead of compulsor
y modes of dispute settlement. The government steps in only when the parties the
mselves fail to reach an agreement, or when one disregards the defined rights of
the other
WORKERS' ORGANIZATION
Labor or trade union
- a completely organized body of dues-paying members, operating through elected
officers and constituting a militant, vital and functioning organ.
- not all combinations, associations, groups of employees may qualify as a labor
organization but does not constitute as a labor union.
WHY WORKERS ORGANIZE
(1) One is the desire for job security.
(2) Employees wished to substitute what we should term "the rule of law" for th
e arbitrary and often capricious exercise of power by the boss.
(3) Finally, unions helped to give employees a sense of participation in the bu
siness enterprises of which they are part
"Employer" refers to any person or entity who employs the services of others. It
includes any person acting in the interest of an employer, directly or indirect
ly. The term shall not include any labor organization or any of its officers or
agents except when acting as employer.
"Legitimate labor organization" means any labor organization duly registered wit
h the Department of Labor and Employment,
"Company union" means any labor organization whose formation, function or admini
stration has been assisted by any act defined as unfair labor practice by this C
ode.
"Managerial employee" is one who is vested with powers or prerogatives to lay do
wn and execute management policies. (It is not the title but the nature of the w
ork that is considered.)
Supervisory employees are those who, in the interest of the employer, effectivel

y recommend such managerial actions if the exercise of such authority is not mer
ely routinary or clerical in nature but requires the use of independent judgment
. (Cannot join rank and file unions)
"Strike" means any temporary stoppage of work by the concerted action of employe
es as a result of an industrial or labor dispute.
"Lockout" means the temporary refusal of an employer to furnish work as a result
of an industrial or labor dispute.
EMPLOYER-EMPLOYEE RELATIONSHIP ESSENTIAL
If there is no employer-employee relationship between the parties, there is no b
asis for organizing for purposes of collective bargaining.
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

selection and engagement of the employee;

payment of wages;
power to dismiss; and
power to control the employee's conduct.

WHO
(1)
(2)
the
(3)

ARE EMPLOYEES
shall include any employee who works for salary or wages
and shall not be limited to the employee of any particular employer, unless
Act explicitly states otherwise
and shall include any individual
(a) whose work has ceased as a consequence of, or in connection with, an
y current labor dispute
(b) and who has not obtained any substantially equivalent and regular em
ployment.
- Cessation of work due to strike or lockout, or to dismissal or suspensions con
stituting unfair labor practices, does not in itself affect the "employee" statu
s, in the sense that the rights and benefits of the employee are protected as th
ough there had been no interruption of service, effective upon actual return to
work.
LABOR ORGANIZATION AS EMPLOYER
a labor organization may be deemed an "employer" when it is acting as such in re
lation to persons rendering services under hire, particularly in connection with
its activities for profit or gain.
LABOR DISPUTE
"Labor dispute" includes any controversy or matter concerning terms or condition
s of employment or the association or representation of persons in negotiating,
fixing, maintaining, changing or arranging the terms and conditions of employmen
t, regardless of whether the disputants stand in the proximate relation of emplo
yer and employee.
Test: Whether it involves or concerns terms, conditions of employment or represe
ntation.
- Even the question of employer-employee relationship can be considered a "labor
dispute."
LABOR DISPUTES AND REMEDIES: A SUMMARY
1. Organizational Right Dispute/ULP
2. Representation Disputes
3. Bargaining Disputes
4. Contract Administration or Personnel Policy Disputes
5. Employment Tenure Disputes
Remedies:

A. Grievance Procedure
in-house adjustment of complaint, problem, or dispute follow
ing the steps prescribed in CBA or company policy.
B. Conciliation (literally means "to draw together") a process where a disinterest
ed third party meets with management and labor, at their request or otherwise, d
uring a labor dispute or in collective bargaining conferences, and, by cooling t
empers, aids in reaching an agreement.
C. Mediation (literally means "to be in the middle") a third party studies each si
de of the dispute then makes proposal for the disputants to consider.
D. Enforcement or compliance order
E. Certification of bargaining representatives
F. Arbitration
Voluntary - award is final and unappealable except through certiorari
Compulsory - When the consent of one of the parties is enforced by statu
tory provisions (decision is appealable to the NLRC, then CA then through certio
rari.)
G. Assumption of jurisdiction by Secretary of Labor or the President if dispute
is indispensable to national interest. (an action of the Secretary of Labor
empowering NLRC to compulsorily arbitrate a dispute)
H. Certification to NLRC - an action of the Secretary of Labor empowering NLRC
to compulsorily arbitrate a dispute. (an action of the Secretary of Labor
empowering NLRC to compulsorily arbitrate a dispute)
I. Injunction
is an extraordinary remedy which is not favored in labor law.
J. Judicial Action complaint filed with regular court in cases falling under its j
urisdiction.
K. Appeal the process by which an order, decision, or award is elevated to a higher
authority, on specified grounds, so that the order, decision or award may be mod
ified or set aside and a new one issued.
L. Review by court
M. Compromise agreement - may be availed in any stage of any of these settlement
processes provided that the agreement is freely entered into and is not contra
ry
to law, moral, or public policy. A compromise agreement is also subject to appr
oval of the authority before whom the case is pending. Even a labor standards ca
se can be settled through a compromise.
NLRC: NATURE AND ORGANIZATION
- attached to the Department of Labor and Employment solely for program and poli
cy coordination only. Nevertheless, EO 204 delegated to the Sec. of Labor "admin
istrative supervision over the NLRC". EO 204 did not extend the power to review,
reverse, revise or modify decisions of the NLRC in exercise of its judicial fun
ctions.
- Composed of a Chairman and 23 members.
- The Commission may sit en banc or in eight (8) divisions, 2 each composed of t
hree (3) members.
- cases within the jurisdiction of any division may be heard and decided by any
other division whose docket allows the additional workload and such transfer wil
l not expose litigants to unnecessary additional expense.
en banc - (1) only for purposes of promulgating rules and regulations governing
the hearing and (2) disposition of cases and (3) formulating policies affecting
its administration and operations. (the appointment of a Labor Arbiter by the Pr
esident needs a recommendation of the Commission en banc.)
- The law lodges the adjudicatory power on each of the eight divisions, not on t
he individual commissioners nor on the whole commission.
APPOINTMENT AND QUALIFICATIONS
The Chairman and other Commissioners:

(1) members of the Philippine Bar

(2) engaged in the practice of law in the Philippines for at least fifteen (15)
years with at least five (5) years experience in labor-management relations,
The Labor Arbiters
(1) members of the Philippine Bar
(2) engaged in the practice of law in the Philippines for at least ten (10) year
s, with at least five (5) years experience in labor-management relations:
Commission Attorneys
- shall be members of the Philippine Bar with at least one (1) year experience o
r exposure in the field of laborm anagement relations.
- There shall be as many Commission Attorneys as may be necessary
REQUIRING CONFIRMATION BY COMMISSION ON APPOINTMENTS,
- Unconstitutional
SALARIES, BENEFITS, AND EMOLUMENTS.
Chairman and members of the Commission are similar to Presiding Justice and Asso
ciate Justice of the CA
LAbor Arbiters - same rank, salary, allowances and other benefits with Judges of
the RTC.
JURISDICTION OF LABOR ARBITERS AND THE COMMISSION
RAB - regional arbitration branch
NLRC Appellate Proceedings Not Part of Arbitration
- Proceedings on appeal before the National Labor Relations Commission cannot be
considered as part of the arbitration proceedings. When the Labor Arbiter rende
rs his decision, compulsory arbitration is deemed terminated because by then the
hearing and determination of the controversy has ended.
Nature of Proceedings in Compulsory Arbitration
non-litigious. Thus, the technicalities of law and procedure in the regular cour
ts do not apply in NLRC/labor arbiter proceedings.
LABOR ARBITER'S JURISDICTION, IN GENERAL
The cases a labor arbiter can hear and decide are employment-related. Employment
is the one element that runs through all the cases and disputes.
Absent the jurisdictional requisite of an employer-employee relationship between
the company and the farm workers, the inevitable conclusion is that die NLRC is
without jurisdiction to hear and decide the case. The RTC has then jurisdiction
.
1. U.L.P Cases
ULP - any act intended or directed to weaken or defeat the workers' right to sel
f-organize or to engage in lawful concerted activities.
2. Termination disputes
3. If accompanied with a claim for reinstatement, those cases
CBA VIOLATION AMOUNTING TO ULP
Only gross violations of a collective bargaining agreement are considered unfair
labor practice.
TERMINATION DISPUTES
The usual bone of contention is the legality of dismissal.

VENUE
GR:
1. The Regional Arbitration Branch having jurisdiction over the workplace of the
complainant or petitioner
2. The Branch that first acquired jurisdiction.
3. For overseas Filipino workers, where he resides or the principal office of th
e respondents
4. The place or locality where the employee is regularly assigned when the cause
of action arose.
However, in Sulpicio Lines, Inc v NLRC (254 SCRA 506) the Supreme Court held th
at the question of venue essentially pertains to the trial and relates more to t
he convenience of the parties rather than upon the substance and merits of the c
ase. The rationale for the rule is obvious. The worker, being the economically d
isadvantaged party
whether as complainant/petitioner or as respondent, as the case
may be
the nearest governmental machinery to settled the dispute must be placed a
t his immediate disposal.
N.B. When improper venue is not objected to before the filing of position papers
, such issue shall be deemed waived."
Termination of Corporate Officer; Jurisdiction Over Intra-Corporate Disputes Tra
nsferred From SEC to RTC (even if there is a claim for backwages)
- An "intra-corporate controversy" is one which arises between a stockholder and
the corporation.
LABOR ARBITER'S JURISDICTION: MONEY CLAIMS
A money claim arising from employer-employee relations, excepting SSS/ECC/Medica
re claims and CBA, is within the jurisdiction of a labor arbiter
1. If the claim, regardless of amount is accompanied with a claim for reinstatem
ent.
2. If a claim, whether or not accompanied with a claim for reinstatement, exceed
s 5k. per claimant.