Dear Atty. Joji,

My daughter has been working as a customer service representative at a telecommunications company for three years. It was alleged that during her shift, she was overheard by her supervisor raising her voice and using inappropriate language while handling a customer call. The incident was reported to the HR department. The company gave her a written notice, and conducted a formal hearing. After considering the evidence, the company imposed a three-day suspension. Now she alleges that she is being singled out. Is the company’s sanction proper?

Jerik

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Dear Jerik,

Based on the facts you presented, the management merely exercised their management prerogative to discipline employees.

To give you a better understanding, under the doctrine of management prerogative, every employer has the inherent right to regulate, according to his own discretion and judgment, all aspects of employment, including hiring, work assignments, working methods, the time, place and manner of work, work supervision, transfer of employees, lay-off of workers, and discipline, dismissal, and recall of employees (Peckson v. Robinsons Supermarket, G.R. No. 198534, 3 July 2013). Further, the employer’s right to discipline, in general, is the prerogative of the employer to discipline its employees and to impose appropriate penalties on erring workers pursuant to company rules and regulations

In the case of The Heritage Hotel, Manila v. Sio, G.R. No. 217896; 26 June 2019, the Supreme Court ruled:

“It is axiomatic that appropriate disciplinary sanction is within the purview of management imposition. What should not be overlooked is the prerogative of an employer company to prescribe reasonable rules and regulations necessary for the proper conduct of its business and to provide certain disciplinary measures in order to implement said rules to assure that the same would be complied with. An employer has a free reign and enjoys wide latitude of discretion to regulate all aspects of employment, including the prerogative to instill discipline in its employees and to impose penalties, including dismissal, upon erring employees. In sum, so long as there is substantial evidence to show that the employee was guilty of the charges against her and was afforded procedural due process, the act of the company of imposing upon her the penalties of suspension was a valid exercise of an employer’s management prerogative.”

Hope to have enlightened you in this matter.    

Atty. Joji Alonso