Labor Standards Reviewer
the sympathy and compassion of law for
Labor Code – Principal Labor Law of the country.
But even now, there are Labor Laws that are not
found in the Labor Code.
Social Legislation – 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 thru the maintenance of
proper economic and social equilibrium in the
interrelations of the members of the community,
constitutionally, thru the adoption of measures
legally justifiable, or extra-constitutionally, thru
the exercise of powers underlying the existence
of all governments, on the time honored
principle of salus populi esta supreme lex.
(Calalang vs Williams, 02 December 1940)
Social Justice – Sets out the minimum terms,
conditions, and benefits of employment that
employers must provide or comply with and to
which employees are entitled as a matter of legal
rights.
Legal relations – defines the status, rights and
duties, as well as the institutional mechanisms
that govern the individual and collective
interactions between employers, employees,
and their representatives
Art. 3 Declaration of Basic Policy
 Afford protection to labor
 Promote full employment
 Ensure equal work opportunities
regardless of sex, race, or creed
 Regulate the relations between workers
and employers
 Assure worker’s right to self-
organization, collective bargaining,
security of tenure, and just and human
conditions of work
Seven Basic Rights of Workers Guaranteed by the
Constitution:
 Right to Organize
 To conduct collective bargaining or
negotiation with management
 To engage in peaceful concerted
activities, including strike in accordance
with law
 To enjoy security of tenure
 To work under human conditions
 To receive a living wage
 To participate in policy and decision-
making processes affecting their rights
and benefits as may be provided by law.
Art. 4. Construction in favor of labor
 When the interest of labor and capital
collide, the heavier the influence of
capital should be counterbalanced with
the less privileged workers. But
protection to labor does not mean
oppression or destruction of capital. The
employer’s act will be sustained when it
is in the right. (Easters Shipping Lines vs
POEA, 166 SCRA 523)
 Court decisions adopt a liberal approach
that facors the exercise of labor rights.
The mandate is simply to resolve doubt
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 applies as it
is.
 When the subject matter is covered by
the Labor Code, doubts which involve
implementation and interpretation of
labor laws should be resolved in favor of
Labor, even if the question involves
Rules of Evidence.
Management Rights/ Prerogative
 Except as limited by special laws, an
employer is free to regulate, according
to his own discretion and judgement, all
aspects of employment, including hiring,
work assignments, working 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.
 As long as the company’s exercise of the
same is exercised in good faith for the
advancement of the employer’s interest,
and not for the purpose of defeating or
circumventing the rights of the
employees under special laws or valid
agreements, the courts will uphold them.
(Capitol Medical Center Inc. vs Meris, 16
September 2005)
 The Primacy of Human Rights – freedom
of expression, of peaceful assembly and
of petition for redress of grievances over
property rights has been sustained. (Phil.
Blooming Mills Employees Assoc. vs Phil.
Blooming Mills., G.R. No. L-31195, 05
June 1973)
 The exercise of management
prerogative is not unlimited. A line must
be drawn between management
prerogative regarding business
operations per se and those which affect
the rights of employees. In treating the
latter, management should see to it that
its employees are at least properly
informed of its decisions and modes of
action.
Art. 5. Rules and Regulations corresponding sanction imposed in case of
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) violation of any of its rules and regulations.
 Lead agency in enforcing labor laws and 4. Control – not only over the end product,
it possesses rule-making power in the control over the MEANS through which the
enforcement of the Code work is accomplished. (Most essential
 But a rule or regulation that exceeds the element; without it, there is no EER)
Department’s rule-making authority is
void. B. Economic Relations Test – A
subordinate/alternative test. Existing economic
Art. 6 Applicability of Labor Code conditions between the parties are used to
 Applies alike to all workers, except as determine whether EER exists.
otherwise provided by law, whether 1. Payment of HDMF contributions
agricultural or non-agricultural. 2. Payment/remittance of contributions to
 Applies to a government corporation the State insurance Fund
incorporated under the Corporation 3. Deduction of withholding tax
Code. 4. Deduction / remittance of SSS
Contributions
II. EMPLOYER-EMPLOYEE RELATIONSHIPS (EER)
Cases:
A. ELEMENTS OF RELATIONSHIP  The employment status of a person is
defined and prescribed by law and not
Jurisprudential Tests to Determine the by what the parties say it should be.
Existence of EER: (Insular Life Assurance Co. vs NLRC G.R.
No. 119930, 12 March 1998)
A. The Employer has the Ability (Need not be  No particular evidence is required to
Actual) to exercise CONROL over the following: prove the existence of an EER. All that is
1. Payment of Wages necessary is to show that the employer
 Payment of compensation by way of is capable of exercising control over the
commission does not militate against the employee. In Lbaor disputes, it suffices
conclusion EER exists. Under Art. 97 of the that Algon Engineering Construction
Labor Code, “Wage” shall mean “however Corp vs NLRC G.R. No. 83402, 06 October
designated, capable of being expressed in 1997
terms of money, whether fixed or
ascertained on a time, task, price of
commission basis” (Insular Life Assurance
Co. vs NLRC, G.R. No. 119930, 12 March
1998)
 Wage are defined as remuneration or
earnings, however designated, capable of
being expressed in terms of money,
whether fixed or ascertained on a time,
task, piece or commission basis, or other
method of calculating the same, which is
payable by an employer to an employee
under a written or unwritten contract of
employment for work done or to be done,
or for services rendered or to be rendered,
and included the fair and reasonable value,
as determined by the Secretary of Labor,
of board, lodging, or other facilities
customarily furnished by the employer to
the employee. (Ruga vs NLRC 181 SCRA
266)
2. Hiring – Employment relations arises from
contract of hire, express or implied (ibid)
 Selection and engagement of the workers
rests with the employers
 Not a conclusive test since it can be
avoided by the use of subcontracting
agreements or other contracts other than
employment contracts
3. Firing – Disciplinary power exercised by
employer over the worker and the