NATURE & SCOPE OF REGULAR EMPLOYEMeNT
Kinds of employees- Art. 280-282
A) REGULAR EMPLOYEE
-an employee shall be deemed to be 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. Art. 280
- a person who having satisfactorily passed through a probationary period of employment , is placed on the regular payroll of the company and is assigned to perform work directly related to the regular operations of the business establishments.
EXCEPTIONS:
-where employment has been fixed for a specific project or
undertaking, the completion of which shall automatically
terminate the employment; or
- when the work or service is seasonable in nature and the
employment is for the duration of the season.
CASUAL EMPLOYEE
-an employment shall be deemed to be casual if it
is not covered by the preceding paragraph.
(refers to Art. 280.)
-a] an employee or worker engaged to perform
work or functions which are not usually necessary
or desirable in the usual trade or business of the
employer. He is employed for an indefinite period
(may be for weeks, or months, or even years) and
to assist in the completion of a specific job; or
b] to fill in as temporary substitute in the absence of
another employee; or
c] a person hired occasionally or intermittently to
complete a job.
Casual employees are sometimes referred to as
emergency workers:
They may or may not possess special skills or qualifications.
Their tenure is temporary in nature and they are usually
assigned in clerical, janitorial or manual kinds of job.
They are not included in the permanent payroll of the
establishment.
SEASONAL EMPLOYEE
- when an employee is hired to perform work which is
seasonal in nature and his services are terminated at the
end of the season, then he is deemed a seasonal
employee.
Ex.
When additional women are hired by a department store
during the Christmas season and they are laid off at the
end of the Yuletide season.
PROBATIONARY EMPLOYEE
-is a person employed on a trial or probationary basis usually
for a period not exceeding six (6) months, unless it is
covered by an apprenticeship agreement.
A probationary employee may be terminated:
a] for a just cause or
b] when he fails to qualify as a regular employee according
to standards of the employer.
However, a probationary employee allowed continuing
working after the probationary period shall be considered
a regular employee.
TERMINATION OF EMPLOYEMENT BY EMPLOYER- (ART. 283-
284)
The following are some of the causes for the termination
of employment by employers:
a] for closing or cessation of operation of the establishment
by serving notice on the workers and the Department of
Labor and Employment one month before the intended
date of closure.
b] for serious misconduct of willful disobedience of lawful
orders of employer with respect to his work.
c] for gross and habitual neglect of his duties.
d] for fraud or willful breach of trust reposed in employee.
e] for commission of a crime or offense against the person of
the employer or any immediate member of his family, or
his duly authorized representative, and
f] other causes analogous to the above;
f.1 Theft- deliberate stealing of company
raw materials or supplies is a just cause
for dismissal. It will be unfair to have an
employer continue employing an
employee who has betrayed his trust.
Security of Tenure as guaranteed by the
Constitution does not intend to provide
protection to employees who have
committed acts inimical to the interest of
their employer.
f.2 Abandonment- mere prolong absence
from work does not constitute
abandonment of work. To be a valid
cause for dismissal, there must be a clear
intention on the part of the employee to
give up or abandon his work, like going
to leave without notice or permission
from the employer for a long time as to
disrupt or endanger the operations of
the employer.
It must be clearly shown that there is a
deliberate unjustified refusal of the employee
to resume his employment. Mere absence is
not sufficient ground dismissal.
Abandonment of position is a matter of
intention expressed in clearly certain and
unequivocal acts. (Jardine Davies, Inc. vs.
NLRC, GR #106915, 8/31/93.)
An employee who is terminated for any
of the above just causes is not entitled to
termination pay.
AUTHORIZED CASUES FOR THE TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT
a] for installation of labor-saving devices
within the establishment;
b] for redundancy;
c] for retrenchment to prevent losses; or
d] if an employee is suffering from a
disease; and his continued
employment is prohibited by law or his
prejudicial to his health and to his co-
employees.
An employee terminated under any of the above
authorized causes is entitled to collect termination pay.
In the case of cause [a] installation of labor-saving
devices and [b] redundancy, the laid-off
employer/worker is entitled to a separation pay of one
month pay or to at least one month for every year of
service, whichever is higher.
In cases of cause [c] retrenchment to prevent losses or in
cases of closure not due to serious losses, separation pay
will be one month pay or one-half month for every year of
service, whichever is higher. A fraction of at least six
months is also considered as one whole year.
In cases of causes [d] an employee suffering from a
disease, a separation pay of one month salary or one-half
month for every year of service, whichever is higher. A
fraction of at least six months is also considered as one
whole year.
MORAL AND EXEMPLARY DAMAGES MAY BE
RECOVERABLE
When the dismissal of the employee by the employer is
attended by fraud or bad faith, as when the latter
knowingly made false accusations or malicious
imputations of guilt, moral and exemplary damages
may be awarded in favor of the employee. Such
damages may also be awarded to an employee
whose dismissal was done anti-socially or oppressively.
TERMINATION OF EMPLOYEMENT BY EMPLOYEE – [ Art. 286]
An employee may terminate his employment without just
cause by simply giving a one month advance written
notice to his employer. He may be held liable for
damages by his employer if he fails to give such notice.
On the other hand, an employee may terminate his
employment without giving such notice mentioned in the
preceding paragraph for any of the following just causes.
a] serious insult by employer or his representative on the
honor and person of the employee;
b] in human and unbearable treatment by his employer or
representative;
c] commission of a crime or offense against the person of
the employee or any of his immediate family; and
Republic act No. 7641, approved on December 9, 1992,
provides retirement benefits to qualified private
employees in the absence of any retirement plan in the
establishment.
Art. 287- Retirement- Any employee may be retired upon
reaching the retirement age established in the collective
bargaining agreement or other applicable employment
contract.
In case of retirement, the employee shall be entitled to
receive such retirement benefits as he may have earned
under existing laws.
In the absence of a retirement plan or agreement providing
for retirement benefits of employees in the establishment,
an employee, upon reaching the age of sixty [60] year or
more, but not beyond sixty-five [65] years which is the
compulsory retirement age and has served at least five
[5] years in the said establishment.
SECURITY OF TENURE art. 279