employers and employee, providing as well for the rules by which such rights and obligations may be enforced.
The primary source of labor laws is PD No. 442,
otherwise known as the Labor Code of the Philippines. It was enacted on May 1, 1974, by Ferdinand Marcos. “The state shall afford protection to labor, promote full employment, ensure equal work opportunities regardless of sex, race or creed, and regulate the relations between workers and employees. The state shall assure the rights of workers to self-organization, collective bargaining, security of tenure and just and human conditions of work.” –Art. 3, New Labor Code Labor Standards
Refers to the minimum requirements prescribed
by existing law, rules and regulations relating to wages, hours of work, cost of living allowance and other monetary and welfare benefits, including occupational, safety and health standards. Labor Relations
Refers to laws, rules and regulations which governs
the relationship between employees and their employers, promote the right of the employees to self-organization and collective bargaining, penalize unfair labor practice, and provide modes for the settlement of labor disputes such as conciliation, mediation, grievance machinery, voluntary arbitration and compulsory arbitration. Employer & Employee
An employer is an organization, institution,
government entity, agency, company, professional services firm, nonprofit association, small business, store or individual who employs or puts to work, a person who is called an employee.
An employee is an individual who was hired by an
employer to do a specific job. Four Fold Test
Selection
Payment of wages
Power of dismissal
Power to control Control Test
Refers to the employer’s power to control the
employee’s conduct not only as to the result of the work to be done but also with respect to the means and methods by which the work is to be accomplished. Sonza V. ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation
Facts: Respondent ABS-CBN signed an Agreement with the
Mel and Jay Management Development Corporation where the latter agreed to provide petitioner Sonza’s services exclusively to ABS-CBN as talent for radio and television. Later, Sonza tendered a letter rescinding their agreement and filed a complaint before the DOLE for payment of his labor standard benefits. ABS-CBN contends on the ground that no employer-employee relationship existed between the parties. The Labor Arbiter found for respondent citing that Sonza as a ‘talent’ cannot be considered an employee of petitioner. Both NLRC and CA affirmed. Issue: Whether or not employer-employee relationship existed between petitioner and ABS-CBN.
Ruling: Applying the control test to the present case,
we find that SONZA is not an employee but an independent contractor. The control test is the most important test our courts apply in distinguishing an employee from an independent Contractor. This test is based on the extent of control the hirer exercises over a worker. The greater the supervision and control the hirer exercises, the more likely the worker is deemed an employee. The converse holds true as well – the less control the hirer exercises, the more likely the worker is considered an independent contractor. We find that ABS-CBN was not involved in the actual performance that produced the finished product of SONZA’s work. ABS-CBN did not instruct SONZA how to perform his job. ABS-CBN merely reserved the right to modify the program format and airtime schedule “for more effective programming.” ABS-CBN’s sole concern was the quality of the shows and their standing in the ratings. Clearly, ABS-CBN did not exercise control over the means and methods of performance of SONZA’s work. In any event, not all rules imposed by the hiring party on the hired party indicate that the latter is an employee of the former. In this case, SONZA failed to show that these rules controlled his performance. We find that these general rules are merely guidelines towards the achievement of the mutually desired result, which are top- rating television and radio programs that comply with standards of the industry. Being an exclusive talent does not by itself mean that SONZA is an employee of ABS-CBN. Even an independent contractor can validly provide his services exclusively to the hiring party. In the broadcast industry, exclusivity is not necessarily the same as control. Management Rights
Range of discretion in managing an organization
reserved for its management under most corporate legislation.
Comprise of core rights (such as to determine the
organization’s mission, budget and strategy) and operational rights (such as to assign, direct, hire and fire) Kinds of Employment Probationary Employment - when the employee, upon his engagement is made to undergo a trial period where the employee determines his fitness to qualify for regular employment, based on reasonable standards made known to him at the time of engagement. It shall not exceed six (6) months from the date the employee started working.
Regular Employment - the primary standard that determines
regular employment is the reasonable connection between the particular activity performed by the employee in relation to the usual business or trade of the employer; the emphasis is on the necessity or desirability of the employee’s activity. Project Employment - employees hired: (1) for a specific project or undertaking; and (2) the completion or termination of such project has been determined at the time of their engagement.
Seasonal Employment - the work or service to be
performed by the employee is seasonal in nature and the employment is for the duration of the season. Casual Employment - the work of the job for which an employee was hired is merely incidental to the principal business of the employer and such work or job is for a definite period made known to the employee at the time of the engagement.
Fixed Term Employment - valid when: (a) the fixed
period of employment was knowingly and voluntarily agreed upon by the employer and employee without any force, duress, or improper pressure being brought to bear upon the employee and absent any other circumstances vitiating his consent; or (b) 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. Terms and Conditions of Employment
Minimum Wage Rates
Rules on Hours of Work
Leaves under Special Laws
13th Month Pay
Standard Pay Overtime work - work may be performed beyond eight (8) hours a day provided that the employee is paid for the overtime work, an additional compensation equivalent to his regular wage plus at least twenty-five percent (25%) thereof. Work performed beyond eight hours on a holiday or rest day shall be paid an additional compensation equivalent to the rate of the first eight hours on a holiday or rest day plus at least thirty percent (30%) thereof. Night differential - every employee shall be paid a night shift differential of not less than ten percent (10%) of his regular wage for each hour of work performed between ten o’clock in the evening and six o’clock in the morning.
Work during regular holidays - that the employee is entitled
to at least 100% of his daily wage rate even if he does not report for work during a regular holiday, provided he is present or is on leave of absence with pay on the work day immediately preceding the holiday. If the employee reports to work on a regular holiday, he shall be entitled to 200% of his daily wage rate (100% holiday pay + 100% pay for actual work done for the day).Where the holiday falls on the scheduled rest day of the employee, he shall be entitled to at least an additional 30% of the employee’s regular holiday rate of 200%, or a total of at least 260%. Work during special non-working days - the “no work, no pay” principle applies for those who do not report to work. For those who do, they shall receive an additional 30% of their daily wage. When the special day falls on the employee’s rest day, and the employee reported to work, then he shall be entitled to an additional 50% of his daily wage.
Work during rest day - where an employee is made or
permitted to work on his scheduled rest day, he shall be paid an additional compensation of at least thirty percent (30%) of his regular wage. An employee shall be entitled to such additional compensation for work performed on Sunday only when it is his established rest day. Who are entitled?
It shall apply to employees in all establishments
and undertakings whether for profit or not, but not to government employees, managerial employees, field personnel, members of the family of the employer who are dependent on him for support, domestic helpers, persons in the personal service of another, and workers who are paid by results as determined by the Secretary of Labor in appropriate regulations. RA No. 9429
AN ACT DECLARING SEPTEMBER 18 OF
EVERY YEAR A SPECIAL WORKING HOLIDAY IN THE CITY OF TACURONG, PROVINCE OF SULTAN KUDARAT, TO COMMEMORATE ITS CHARTER DAY ANNIVERSARY RA No. 10151
AN ACT ALLOWING THE EMPLOYMENT
OF NIGHT WORKERS, THEREBY REPEALING ARTICLES 130 AND 131 OF PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NUMBER FOUR HUNDRED FORTY-TWO, AS AMENDED, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE LABOR CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES Managerial Employee
An employee who is vested with power or
prerogatives to lay down and execute management policies and/or to hire, transfer, suspend, lay-off, recall, discharge, assign or discipline employees. Supervisory Employee
An employee who, in the interest of the employer,
effectively recommends managerial actions if the exercise of such authority is not merely routinary or clerical in nature but requires the use of independent judgement. Rank-and-file Employee
The ordinary members of an organization or the
ordinary workers in a company, as opposed to its leaders or managers. Termination of Employment
An employee's departure from a job and the end
of an employee's duration with an employer. Just Causes for Dismissal of an Employee
1. Serious misconduct. Serious misconduct is an improper conduct
willful in character and of such grave nature that transgressed some established and definite rule of action in relation to the employee’s work.
2. Willful disobedience to lawful orders. The employees are
bound to follow reasonable and lawful orders of the employer which are in connection with their work. Failure to do so may be a ground for dismissal or other disciplinary action.
3. Gross and habitual neglect of duties. Gross negligence has
been defined as the want or absence of or 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. 4. Fraud or willful breach of trust / Loss of confidence. Fraud is any act, omission, or concealment which involves a breach of legal duty, trust, or confidence justly reposed and is injurious to another.
5. Commission of a crime or offense.
Commission of a crime or offense by the employee against his employer or any immediate member of his family or his duly authorized representative, is a just cause for termination of employment.
6. Analogous causes. Other causes analogous to the
above grounds may also be a just cause for termination of employment. Examples of Analogous Causes
1. Abandonment. Abandonment of job is a form of neglect of duty. There is
abandonment when the employee leave his job or position with a clear and deliberate intent to discontinue his employment without any intention of returning back.
2. Gross inefficiency. Gross inefficiency is analogous to and closely related to gross
neglect for both involve acts or omissions on the part of the employee resulting in damage to the employer or to his business.
3. Disloyalty/conflict of interest. Disloyalty exists when one asserts an interest,
or performs acts adverse to one’s employer, such as secretly engaging in a business which renders him a competitor and rival of his employer. It constitutes a breach of an implied condition of the contract of employment.
4. Dishonesty. Acts of dishonesty deemed to be patently inimical to the employer is
analogous to breach of trust and is a valid cause for termination of employment. Authorized Causes for Dismissal of an Employee
1. Installation of labor-saving devices. The installation of
labor-saving devices contemplates the installation of machinery to effect economy and efficiency in the method of production . [1]
2. Redundancy. Redundancy exists where the services of an
employee are in excess of what is reasonably demanded by the actual requirements of the enterprise. A position is redundant where it superfluous, and superfluity of a position or positions may be the outcome of a number of factors, such as over hiring of workers, decreased of volume business, or dropping of a particular product line or service activity previously manufactured or undertaken by the enterprise .[2] 3. Retrenchment to prevent losses. Retrenchment is an economic ground to reduce the number of employees. Retrenchment is the reduction of personnel for the purpose of cutting down on costs of operations in terms of salaries and wages resorted to by an employer because of losses in operation of a business occasioned by lack of work and considerable reduction in the volume of business .[3]
It is sometimes also referred to as downsizing. It is aimed at saving a
financially ailing business establishment from eventually collapsing.
4. Closure or cessation of operation. The closure of a business
establishment is a ground for the termination of the services of an employee unless the closing is for the purpose of circumventing pertinent provisions of the Labor Code.
5. Disease. 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. Due Process in Labor Law
Due process under the Labor Code involves two
aspects: first, substantive - the valid and authorized causes of termination of employment under the Labor Code; and second, procedural the manner of dismissal. Substantive & Procedural Due Process
Substantive due process prohibits the government
from infringing on fundamental constitutional liberties. By contrast, procedural due process refers to the procedural limitations placed on the manner in which a law is administered, applied, or enforced. King of Kings Transport V. Mamac Jaka Food Processing V. Pagot Agabon V. NLRC Resignation Retirement 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 therein.