Dear Atty. Kathy,

 

We are a group of workers employed by a service contractor, assigned to work in a manufacturing company. After the long holiday break last December 2023 to January 2024, we were suddenly not allowed to enter the work area anymore.

On the spot, we were told that our employment is terminated effective immediately, because SC’s contract with MC already expired. Is this a legal termination of our employment? If not, what kind of compensation can we get?

 

Myra

*** 

Dear Myra,

Based on your narration, you were dismissed allegedly because of the expiration of your employer’s contract with another company. However, this is not a just or authorized cause to dismiss your services.

Articles 297 to 299 of the Labor Code provide that:

An employer may terminate an employment for the following causes: serious misconduct or willful disobedience, gross and habitual neglect of duties; fraud or willful breach of trust, commission of a crime or offense, and other causes analogous to the foregoing.

The employer may also terminate the employment due to installation of labor-saving devices, redundancy, retrenchment or the closing or cessation of operation of the establishment or undertaking.

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 to the health of his co-employees.

The above just or authorized causes for termination of employment do not mention expiration of contract. Thus, it is illegal for SC to terminate your employment on the ground of expiration of contract.

Also, it appears that you and your coworkers were not afforded due process when you were dismissed. Supposing that the ground for your dismissal was Article 298 of the Labor Code — due to installation of labor-saving devices, redundancy, retrenchment or the closing or cessation of operation of the establishment or undertaking, there is no showing that SC complied with the requirements for the one month notice to the DoLE and the employee before the intended date, plus payment of separation pay. Under these specific circumstances, your dismissal was without valid cause and due process of law, as such, the same was illegal.

Considering that you were unjustly dismissed, as ruled by the Supreme Court, you shall be entitled to reinstatement without loss of seniority rights and other privileges, and to your full backwages, inclusive of allowances, and to your other benefits or their monetary equivalent computed from the time your compensation was withheld up to the time of actual reinstatement.

However, if reinstatement is not possible, you may be awarded separation pay instead, equivalent to one month’s salary for every year of service.

(Ernesto C. Luces, et al. versus Coca-Cola Bottlers Phils. Inc., et al., G.R. No. 213816, 2 December 2020

Atty. Kathy Larios