The Court of Appeals has overturned a Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) ruling that found the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) and Meralco Industrial Engineering Services Corporation (MIESCOR) guilty of labor-only contracting activities.

CA Associate Justice Luisa Quijano-Padilla of the Seventeenth Division sided with MIESCOR, a provider of engineering and construction support and facilities management services, and reversed the 10 January 2018 and 24 April 2018 resolutions of Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello lll.

The two agreed on customer line installation, repair, rehabilitation and maintenance activities of PLDT’s cable and line networks.

Bello earlier sided with the DoLE regional director that MIESCOR and PLDT were into labor-only contracting and ordered the two companies to pay 279 workers P2.36 million as service incentive leave conversion and refund deductions for tools and uniform.

Bello also affirmed the regional director ruling recognizing MIESCOR employees deployed in PLDT as regular employees from the time of their engagement.

DoLE ruled the MIESCOR workers were regular PLDT employees who must be paid the benefits enjoyed by regular employees.

The conflict began when PLDT entered into several agreements with MIESCOR for the installation of line and splicing works, construction of manholes and related engineering and civil works.

In addition, the two agreed on customer line installation, repair, rehabilitation and maintenance activities of PLDT’s cable and line networks.

A special assessment and visit of the establishments at different PLDT branches where supposed violations occurred that include the illegal labor-only contracting scheme was conducted by several compliance officers in May 2016.

However, the CA said the DoLE erred in finding that MIESCOR and PLDT were engaged in labor-only contracting activities, particularly its citing of Section 6 of Department Order (DO) 18-A Series of 2011 on the prohibition of engaging in labor-only contracting.