Marrying a colleague

Dear Atty. Kathy,

Our financial services company has a policy, which says that if company employees get married to each other, one of the spouses shall terminate employment immediately after the said marriage. According to HR, the rationale for the policy is to prevent embezzlement of funds and the disclosure between spouses of confidential information about the Company’s different clients. Is this a valid policy?

Savannah

Dear Savannah,

Based on your narration, your Company has a policy which provides that when employees get married to each other, one of the spouses shall terminate employment immediately after the marriage. In determining whether such policy is valid or lawful, there should be a bona fide occupational qualification exception, such that the employer can prove that the reasonable demands of the business require a distinction based on marital status and there is no better available or acceptable policy which would better accomplish the business purpose. Otherwise, an employer may not discriminate against an employee based on the identity of the employee’s spouse.

To justify a bona fide occupational qualification, the employer must prove two factors: (1) that the employment qualification is reasonably related to the essential operation of the job involved; and, (2) that there is a factual basis for believing that all or substantially all persons meeting the qualification would be unable to properly perform the duties of the job.

In the case of Catherine Dela Cruz-Cagampan versus One Network Bank Inc., et al. (G.R. 217414, 22 June 2022), which involved employees of a bank, the Supreme Court found that the no-spouse qualification is not reasonably related to the bank’s essential operation of its business and it unduly discourages all employees from marrying a fellow worker at the pain of termination; that the mere fear of the possibility that the spouses may divulge to each other information with respect to client’s accounts is speculative, unfounded and imaginary; and that there is no factual basis to conclude that all of their employees who marry each other would be unable to perform their duties, entailing one’s dismissal.

It is important to note that under the Magna Carta of Women, the State commits to eliminate discrimination against women and ensures their right to freely choose a spouse. Particularly, Article 134 [136] of the Labor Code prohibits employers from discriminating women employees:

ARTICLE. 134. Stipulation against marriage. It shall be unlawful for an employer to require as a condition of employment or continuation of employment that a woman employee shall not get married, or to stipulate expressly or tacitly that upon getting married, a woman employee shall be deemed resigned or separated, or to actually dismiss, discharge, discriminate or otherwise prejudice a woman employee merely by reason of her marriage. (Emphasis supplied)

Therefore, unless your company is able to specifically demonstrate how the confidentiality of clients’ information could be affected by an employee’s marriage to a co-employee; that the co-employees’ marriage places the company’s funds at risk for embezzlement; that these concerns cannot be addressed by implementing confidentiality policies; and that the employees who marry each other would be unable to perform their duties, your company’s policy would be discriminatory, the enforcement of which cannot be legally allowed.

Atty. Kathy Larios