The Supreme Court backs the ruling of Court of Appeals to regularize employees of PLDT engaged in installation, repair, and maintenance services.

This was stated in a decision penned by Associate Justice Rodil V. Zalameda, dismissing the consolidated petitions for review on certiorari filed by Manggagawa sa Komunikasyon ng Pilipinas, PLDT, and Silvestre Bello Ill, in his capacity as then Secretary of the Department of Labor and Employment.

The petitions assailed the rulings the Court of Appeals affirming, with substantial modifications, the resolutions issued by Sec. Bello finding labor violations by PLDT and its contractor.

The firm is a corporation engaged in the telecommunications business, engaged the services of several contractors and sub-contractors to provide services in various areas or phases of its operations.

Following a “Special Assessment and Visit of Establishment” conducted by DOLE in PLDT, a report by the DOLE Assessment Team found, among others, that PLDT and its contractors engaged in labor-only contracting.

Based on a finding of control exercised by PLDT, it was recommended that PLDT should regularize contractual employees performing jobs that are directly related to their business. PLDT was also declared solidarily liable with the contractors to pay the unpaid monetary benefits of the contractors’ workers.

Sec. Bello thus ordered the 7,416 working and declared as labor-only contractors were deemed as regular employees of PLDT from the time of their initial deployment. PLDT has to include them in its payroll of regular employees.

The registration of the declared labor-only contractors was to be cancelled after the conduct of cancellation proceedings.

Contractors and PLDT were to solidarily pay the unpaid monetary benefits of the contractual employees amounting to PHP 66,348,369.68.

Contractors that were able to show proof of compliance with Department Order (DO) No. 18-A implementing Articles 106 to 109 of the Labor Code were declared as legitimate contractors.

Contractors who were able to show sufficient proof of full or partial payment of the unpaid monetary benefits of their workers had their monetary liability either deleted or reduced.

Sec. Bello subsequently issued another resolution reducing PLDT’s and the contractors’ total monetary liability to PHP 51,801,729.80. The number of employees regularized was also reduced to 7,344.

On appeal to the CA, the CA upheld the jurisdiction of the DOLE-National Capital Region Regional Director and Sec. Bello to determine the existence of the employer-employee relationship, which, according to the CA, is a condition sine qua non in the exercise of their visitorial and enforcement power.

As the regularization of these employees entails factual consequences that cannot be determined by the Court, the case was remanded to the Regional Director for proper identification, review, and determination of the factual issues.

The Court also remanded to the Regional Director the correct computation of monetary awards arising from the solidary liability of PLDT and the contractor.

The Regional Director was thus ordered to: review and properly determine the effects of the regularization of the workers performing installation, repair, and maintenance services; review, compute, and properly determine, the monetary award on the labor standards violation, to which petitioner PLDT, Inc., and the concerned contractors are solidarily liable; and to conduct further appropriate proceedings, consistent with this Decision.