TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT

Maraguinot v. NLRC, et al., G.R. No. 120969 (1998)

Once a project or work pool employee has been:
(1) Continuously, re-hired by the same employer for the same tasks or
nature of tasks; and
(2) These tasks are vital, necessary and indispensable to the usual
business or trade of the employer, then the employee must be deemed a
regular employee.

SECURITY OF TENURE
In cases of regular employment, the employer shall not terminate the services of
an employee except for a just or authorized cause.

MANAGERIAL EMPLOYEE
De Leon v. NLRC, 100 SCRA 691 (1980)
Managerial employee may be dismissed merely on the ground of loss of
confidence.

The right of an employer to freely select or discharge his employees is

regulated by the State because the preservation of the lives of the citizens is a basic
duty of the State, more vial than the preservation of the corporate profit.

TWO KINDS OF REGULAR EMPLOYEES

An employment shall be deemed regular where the employee has been engaged
to perform activities which are usually necessary or desirable in the usual business
or trade of the employer.
Any employee who has rendered at least one year of service, whether such
service is continuous or broken, shall be considered a regular employee with respect
to the activity in which he is employed.

What determines whether a certain employee is regular or casual is the

nature of the activities performed in relation to the particular business or trade.

INDICATORS THAT AN EMPLOYEE IS A PROJECT EMPLOYEE

(1) The duration of the specific undertaking is reasonably determinable;
(2) Such duration is defined in an employment agreement;
(3) The work performed by the employee is in connection with the particular
project;
(4) The employee is free to offer his services to any other employer;
(5) The termination of his employment is reported to the DOLE;
(6) An undertaking in the employment contract to pay completion bonus.

Salazar v. NLRC and Carlos Construction Co., Inc., G.R. No. 109210 (1996)
We rule that the petitioner is a project employee and, therefore, not
entitled to separation pay.

Project employees are those employed in connection with a particular

construction project. Non-project employees are those employed by a
construction company without reference to a particular project.

A non-project employee is entitled to regular employment having rendered

service for more than 10 years and he cannot be terminated unless for just cause.

Seasonal employees are considered regular employees.

Regular season employees are those called to work from time to time.
They are not separated from the service but are merely considered as on leave of
absence without pay until they reemployed.

In one case, For respondents to be excluded from those classified as regular

employees, it is not enough that they perform work or services that are seasonal in
nature. They must be have also been employed only for the duration of one
season.
 Pakiao workers are considered employees as long as the employer
exercises control over the means by which such workers are to perform their work.

Under the Mercado ruling, the one-year duration on the job is pertinent to
deciding whether a casual employee has become regular or not, but it is not
pertinent to a seasonal or project employee.

CASUAL EMPLOYMENT
There is casual employment where an employee is engaged to perform a job,
work or service which is merely incidental to the business of the employer, and such
job, work or service is for a definite period made known to the employee at the time
of engagement.

BRENT DOCTRINE
The Labor Code does not proscribe or prohibit an employment contract with a
fixed period, provided the same is entered into by the parties without any force,
duress or improper pressure and absent any other circumstance vitiating consent.
(Applies to fixed term employments)

The Court ruled that the decisive determinant in term employment should not
be the activities that the employee is called upon to perform but the day certain
agreed upon by the parties for the commencement and termination of their
employment relationship.

SEAFARERS ARE CONTRACTUALS

The Brent doctrine does not apply to overseas employment.

PROBATIONARY EMPLOYMENT
Probationary employment shall not exceed 6 months from the date the
employee started working, unless it is covered by an apprenticeship agreement
stipulating a longer period.
The services of an employee may be terminated for a just cause or when he fails
to qualify as a regular employee in accordance with reasonable standards made
known by the employer to the employee.

Reinstatement is the proper relief for a probationary employee unjustly

dismissed.

180TH DAY
Mitsubishi Motors v. Chrysler Phil. Labor Union, G.R. No. 148738 (2004)
The Court explained that the probationary period of six months means
180 days in conformity with Article 13 of the Civil Code which proves that
a month undesignated by name is understood to consist 30 days.

REQUISITES FOR ACQUISITION BY TEACHER OF PERMANENT EMPLOYMENT

(1) The teacher is a full-time teacher;
(2) The teacher must have rendered 3 consecutive years of service;
(3) Such service must have been satisfactory.

TERMINATION BY EMPLOYER
An employer may terminate an employment for any of the following causes:
(1) Serious misconduct or willful disobedience by the employee of the lawful orders
of his employer;
(2) Gross and habitual neglect by the employee of his duties;
(3) Fraud or willful breach of the trust reposed in him by his employer;
(4) Commission of a crime or offense against the person of his employer or any
immediate member of his family or his duly authorized representative; and
(5) Other causes analogous to the foregoing.

The Court has recognized and upheld the prerogative of management to

transfer an employee from one office to another within the business establishment,
provided there is no demotion in rank or a diminution of salary.

VERY FUNNY HAHAHA

 Teacher in love with Student: The heart has reasons which reason does not know.
(Page 788)

TRANSFER AND PROMOTION

A transfer is a movement from one position to another of equivalent rank, level
or salary, without break in the service. Promotion, on the other hand, is the
advancement from one position to another with an increase in duties and
responsibilities and usually accompanied by an increase in salary.

There is no law that compels an employee to accept a promotion, as

a promotion is in the nature of a gift or reward, which a person has a right
to refuse.

COMMISSION OF A CRIME OR OFFENSE

The immediate members of the family referred to are limited to:
1. Spouse
2. Ascendants
3. Descendants
4. Legitimate, natural or adopted brothers or sisters
5. Relative by affinity in the same degrees
6. Relative by consanguinity within the fourth civil degree.

Conviction or prosecution of an employee in a criminal case is not

indispensable to warrant his dismissal by his employer and the fact that the criminal
complaint against the employee has been dropped by the city fiscal is not binding
and conclusive upon the labor tribunal.

ANALOGOUS CASES
1. Diverting gasoline case and others.

An agreement to stay in the service of the company for a given period after
completion of a training or scholarship grant is a valid contractual commitment that
binds the employee.
(No violation of involuntary servitude clause)

CLOSURE OF ESTABLISHMENT AND REDUCTIOON OF PERSONNEL

The employer may also terminate the employment of any employee due to the
installation of labor-saving devices, redundancy, retrenchment to prevent losses or
the closing or cessation of operation of the establishment unless the closing is for
the purpose of circumventing the provisions of the Labor Code.

A written notice on the worker and the Ministry of Labor and

Employment at least 1 month before the intended date is necessary.

LABOR-SAVING DEVICES OR REDUNDANCY

The worker shall be entitled to a separation pay equivalent to at least 1 month
pay or 1 month pay for every year of service, whichever is higher.

RETRENCHMENT OR CESSATION OF OPERATIONS

The separation pay shall be equivalent to 1 month pay or at least month pay
for every year of service, whichever is higher.

A fraction of at least 6 months shall be considered as 1 whole year.

DISEASE AS GROUND FOR TERMINATION

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.

SEPARATION PAY
Separation pay is used:
1. as a statutory benefit;
2. as employment benefit;
3. as alternative to reinstatement of an illegally dismissed employee;
4. as financial assistance to a legally dismissed worker.