Dear Atty. Kathy,

I belong to a group of delivery riders. We were first hired by Company P. Eventually, we were hired by Company C, a service contractor. Company C then deployed us to different branches of Company P, now the principal company, to perform our usual duties as delivery riders. We feel that we were only transferred from Company P to Company C to avoid regularization of our employment with Company P. Do we have grounds to file actions for regularization against Company P?

Luca

Dear Luca,

The status of Company C as an independent contract is material to your concern. The court would be inclined to sustain the status of Company C as an independent contractor and as your employer (not Company P) if such independent contractor status is supported by substantial evidence on the following: Certificate of Registration issued by the DoLE; substantial capital to maintain its manpower business and to properly carry out its obligations with Company P and to sufficiently cover its own expenses; business independent from the principal; long period of existence; variety of services provided to entities in various fields; and exercise of the following powers over your group — selection and engagement, payment of wages, dismissal, and control over your conduct (i.e., through a supervisor or coordinator). If the foregoing is proven, it will be concluded that Company C is a legitimate job contractor, and thus, your employer, not Company P.

As to your regularization claims against Company P, it would be important to establish if Company P exercised control and supervision over the means and methods of your work as delivery riders; and if Company P owned the motorcycles which you use in the performance of your duties.

However, if it is Company C which exercises all the aspects of being an employer over you; and that Company C is a legitimate job contractor, the latter is your employer and not Company P. If such is the case, you do not have a cause of action to file regularization of employment claims against Company P.
(Philippine Pizza Inc. vs. Elvis C. Tumpang, et al., G.R. No. 231090, 22 June 2022)

Atty. Kathy Larios