Dear Atty. Kathy,

I am one of the many employees who got retrenched from Company M. Because I could not find another work immediately, I decided to accept my final pay which included the separation pay for the retrenchment and signed a quitclaim for it. Some of my co-workers did not accept the separation pay and decided to file a case for illegal dismissal. I agreed to join them in the case in case I am entitled to more benefits. We were lucky to get a decision that we were illegally dismissed and that we are entitled to reinstatement and backwages. When I asked the HR Officer of Company M about my reinstatement, she said that I cannot be reinstated because I already accepted my separation pay and did not ask for reinstatement in the complaint. Is the HR Officer correct? How about my backwages?

Alma

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Dear Alma,

Retrenched employees who were illegally dismissed are entitled to the twin reliefs of reinstatement without loss of seniority rights and the payment of backwages.

Based on your narration, however, you already received your separation pay and it appears that you did not ask for the relief of reinstatement. The HR Officer is therefore correct, and the order of reinstatement shall only apply to the complainants who sought reinstatement and shall not apply to you since you have already received your separation pay and did not request for reinstatement.

With regard to the backwages, you are still entitled to the payment of backwages computed from the date of your retrenchment which is your illegal termination, until the finality of the Court’s ruling, even if you signed a quitclaim when you received your separation pay.

As ruled by the Supreme Court, if the retrenchment is illegal, the quitclaims signed by the retrenched employees shall be deemed as not voluntarily entered into by the employees as their consent had been vitiated by mistake or fraud. Therefore, the quitclaim that you signed shall not prevent you from receiving the backwages and other benefits that you are entitled to as a result of the illegal retrenchment. However, the amounts you already received as consideration for signing the quitclaim should be deducted from your monetary award.

(PHILIPPINE PHOSPHATE FERTILIZER CORPORATION [PHILPHOS] vs Alejandro O. Mayol, et al., G.R. No. 205528-29, 9 December 2020; Alejandro O. Mayol, et al. vs PHILPHOS, G.R. No. 205797-98, 9 December 2020)

Atty. Kathy Larios