Bases of Labor Law

A. Police Power
It is the inherent power of the state to restrain one's liberty and right to
property to promote the welfare of the people.

B. Social Justice

Definition under Calalang vs. Williams:

"Social Justice is neither communism, nor despotism, nor atomism, nor

anarchy, but the humanization of laws and the equalization of social
and economic forces by the state so that justice at its rational and
objectively secular conception may at least be approximated.

Social Justice means the promotion of the welfare of all people, the adoption
by the government of measures calculated to insure the economic stability of
all the component elements of society, through the interrelations of the
members of the community; constitutionally through the adoption of
measures legally justifiable, and extra-constitutionally through the exercise of
powers underlying the time-honored principle of salus populi est suprema
lex."

Constitutional Provisions on Labor

The 1987 Philippine Constitution, the supreme law of the land, mandates the
protection of labor and the promotion of their welfare. It provides the fundamental
labor standards and labor relations rights of the employees.

Article II, DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES AND STATE POLICIES

Section 9. The State shall promote a just and dynamic social order that will
ensure the prosperity and independence of the nation and free the people
from poverty through policies that provide adequate social
services, promote full employment, a rising standard of living, and an
improved quality of life for all.

Section 10. The State shall promote social justice in all phases of national
development.

Section 18. The State affirms labor as a primary social economic force.
It shall protect the rights of workers and promote their welfare.

Section 20. The State recognizes the indispensable role of the private
sector, encourages private enterprise, and provides incentives to needed
investments.
ARTICLE III, BILL OF RIGHTS

Section 1

No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without dueprocess of

law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws.

Section 4

No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression,or of

the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition
thegovernment for redress of grievances.

Section 8.

The right of the people, including those employed in the public andprivate
sectors, to form unions, associations, or societies for purposes notcontrary to
law shall not be abridged.

Article IX-B, THE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION

Section 2.

3. No officer or employee of the civil service shall be removed or suspended

except for cause provided by law.

5. The right to self-organization shall not be denied to government

employees.

6. Temporary employees of the Government shall be given such protection as

may be provided by law.

ARTICLE XIII, SOCIAL JUSTICE AND HUMAN RIGHTS

Section 3. The State shall afford full protection to labor, local and
overseas, organized and unorganized, and promote full employment
and equality of employment opportunities for all.

It shall guarantee the rights of all workers to self-organization,

collective bargaining and negotiations, and peaceful concerted
activities, including the right to strike in accordance with law. They
shall be entitled tosecurity of tenure, humane conditions of work, and
a living wage. They shall also participate in policy and decision-making
processes affecting their rights and benefits as may be provided by law.
 The State shall promote the principle of shared responsibility between
workers and employers and the preferential use of voluntary modes in
settling disputes, including conciliation, and shall enforce their mutual
compliance therewith to foster industrial peace.

The State shall regulate the relations between workers and employers,
recognizing the right of labor to its just share in the fruits of
production and the right of enterprises to reasonable returns to
investments, and to expansion and growth.

Section 14. The State shall protect working women by providing safe and
healthful working conditions, taking into account their maternal functions,
and such facilities and opportunities that will enhance their welfare and
enable them to realize their full potential in the service of the nation.

NEW CIVIL CODE

Art 1700

The relation between capital and labor are not merely contractual. They are
so impressed with public interest that labor contracts must yield to the
common good. Therefore, such contracts are subject to the special laws on
labor unions, collective bargaining, strikes and lockouts, closed shops, wages,
working conditions, hours of labor and similar subjects.

LABOR CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES

Art. 3. Declaration of basic policy. The State shall afford protection to labor,
promote full employment, ensure equal work opportunities regardless of sex,
race or creed and regulate the relations between workers and employers. The
State shall assure the rights of workers to self-organization, collective
bargaining, security of tenure, and just and humane conditions of work.

Art. 4. Construction in favor of labor. All doubts in the implementation and

interpretation of the provisions of this Code, including its implementing rules
and regulations, shall be resolved in favor of labor.

Art. 6. Applicability. All rights and benefits granted to workers under this
Code shall, except as may otherwise be provided herein, apply alike to all
workers, whether agricultural or non-agricultural. (As amended by
Presidential Decree No. 570-A, November 1, 1974)

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Judicial decisions interpreting labor laws are also, in that sense, sources of
labor laws. In accordance with Article 8, Civil Code: Judicial decisions
 applying or interpreting the laws or the Constitution shall form part of the
legal system of the Philippines.

RULES AND REGULATIONS ISSUED BY ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES

Rules and regulations issued by administrative agencies are also deemed

sources of labor laws insofar as they supplement provisions of the law or
provide means for carrying them out or give information relating thereto.

When an administrative agency promulgates rules and regulations, it

makes a new law with the force and effect of a valid law. Rules and
regulations when promulgated in pursuance of the procedure or authority
conferred upon the administrative agency by law, partake of the nature of a
statute. This is so because statutes are usually couched in general terms,
after expressing the policy, purposes, objectives, remedies and sanctions
intended by the legislature.

The details and the manner of carrying out the law are often times left to the
administrative agency entrusted with its enforcement. In this sense, it has
been said that rules and regulations are the product of a delegated power to
create new or additional legal provisions that have the effect of law.

The leading agency charged with implementation and enforcement of labor

laws in the Philippines is the Department of Labor and Employment
(DOLE).

Other agencies are:

Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA)

Philippine Overseas Employment Agencies (POEA)

National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB)

National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC)

National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC)

Employees Compensation Commission (ECC)

Technical Educations and Skills Related Authority (TESDA)

INTERNATIONAL LAWS AND CONVENTIONS

International laws and conventions are also considered sources of laws in the
Philippines under the doctrine of incorporation. This is pursuant to Article II,
Section 3 of the Constitution which provides that the Philippines adopts the
 generally accepted principles of international law as part of the law of the
land.

One of the international agencies that is actively involved in crafting and

adoption of international conventions and recommendations dealing with
labor issues is the International Labor Organization (ILO).

ILO is a specialized agency of the United Nations. Its headquarters are in

Geneva, Switzerland.

EFFECTIVITY
Art. 2. Date of effectivity. This Code shall take effect six (6) months
after its promulgation.

May 1, 1974 PD No. 442 was signed into law.

November 01, 1974 effectivity date of the Labor Code

Art. 302. Repealing clause. All labor laws not adopted as part of this
Code either directly or by reference are hereby repealed. All provisions
of existing laws, orders, decrees, rules and regulations inconsistent
herewith are likewise repealed.

Done in the City of Manila, this 1st day of May in the year of our Lord,
nineteen hundred and seventy four.

CASES
1.San Miguel Corp. Employees Union-PTGWO vs.
Bersamira, 186 SCRA 496, G.R. No. 87700 June
13, 1990

Ruling: Labor dispute exists when the controversy concerns the terms
and conditions of employment.
 While it is SanMigs submission that no employer-employee
relationship exists between itself, on the one hand, and the contractual
workers of Lipercon and DRite on the other, a labor dispute can
nevertheless exist regardless of whether the disputants stand
in the proximate relationship of employer and employee
(Article 212 [1] Labor Code, supra) provided the controversy concerns,
among others, the terms and conditions of employment or a change
or arrangement thereof (ibid). Put differently, and as defined by law,
the existence of a labor dispute is not negatived by the fact that the
plaintiffs and defendants do not stand in the proximate relation of
employer and employee.

2.Locsin vs. Philippine Long Distance Telephone

Company, 602 SCRA 740, G.R. No. 185251
October 2, 2009
Ruling: While respondent and SSCP no longer had any legal
relationship with the termination of the Agreement, petitioners
remained at their post securing the premises of respondent while
receiving their salaries, allegedly from SSCP. Clearly, such a situation
makes no sense, and the denials proffered by respondent do not shed
any light to the situation. It is but reasonable to conclude that, with the
behest and, presumably, directive of respondent, petitioners continued
with their services. Evidently, such are indicia of control that
respondent exercised over petitioners.

Control Test; It is an oft-repeated rule that control is the most

important element in the determination of the existence of an
employer-employee relationship. (Tongko v. The Manufacturers Life
Insurance Co. (Phils.) Inc., 570 SCRA 503 (2008)

It is the so-called control test which constitutes the most important

index of the existence of the employer-employee relationship that is,
whether the employer controls or has reserved the right to control the
employee not only as to the result of the work to be done but also as to
the means and methods by which the same is to be accomplished.
Stated otherwise, an employer-employee relationship exists where the
person for whom the services are performed reserves the right to
 control not only the end to be achieved but also the means to be used
in reaching such end.

Four-fold test to determine the existence of the elements of

such relationship

(a) the selection and engagement of the employee;

(b) the payment of wages;

(c) the power of dismissal; and

(d) the employers power to control the employees conduct.

3.People's Broadcasting(Bombo Radyo Phils.,

Inc.) vs. Secretary of the Department of Labor
and Employment, 587 SCRA 724, G.R. No.
179652 May 8, 2009

Ruling: The visitorial and enforcement power of the Department of

Labor and Employment (DOLE) comes into play only in cases when
the relationship of employer-employee still exists; Department of
Labor and Employment (DOLE)s power does not apply in two
instances, namely:

(a) where the employer-employee relationship has ceased; and

(b) where no such relationship has ever existed.

To recapitulate, if a complaint is brought before the DOLE to give effect

to the labor standards provisions of the Labor Code or other labor
legislation, and there is a finding by the DOLE that there is an existing
employer-employee relationship, the DOLE exercises jurisdiction to the
exclusion of the NLRC.If the DOLE finds that there is no employer-
employee relationship, the jurisdiction is properly with the NLRC. If a
complaint is filed with the DOLE, and it is accompanied by a claim for
reinstatement, the jurisdiction is properly with the Labor Arbiter, under
Art. 217(3) of the Labor Code, which provides that the Labor Arbiter
has original and exclusive jurisdiction over those cases involving
wages, rates of pay, hours of work, and other terms and conditions of
employment, if accompanied by a claim for reinstatement. If a
complaint is filed with the NLRC, and there is still an existing employer-
employee relationship, the jurisdiction is properly with the DOLE. The
findings of the DOLE, however, may still be questioned through a
petition for certiorari under Rule 65 of the Rules of Court.