Fernandez v. NLRC, 285 SCRA 149, 28 January 1998 FACTS: (1) Q.

Reynaldo worked as a bus driver for Nelbusco, Inc. (2) On February 28, 1993, the airconditioning unit of the bus which Reynaldo was driving suffered a mechanical breakdown. The company told Reynaldo to wait until the airconditioning unit was repaired. (3) No other bus was assigned to Reynaldo to keep him gainfully employed. (4) Reynaldo continued reporting to his employers office for work, only to find out that the airconditioning unit had not been repaired. (5) More than six months elapsed but Reynaldo was not given work. (6) He filed a complaint for illegal dismissal. (7) The NLRC ruled that there was no illegal dismissal.

ISSUE: Whether or not there was illegal dismissal. HELD: Yes, there was illegal dismissal and the ruling was erroneous. RATIO: (1) Under Article 286 of the labor Code, the bona fide suspension of the operation of a business or undertaking for a period not exceeding six months shall not terminate employment. (2) Consequently, when the suspension exceeds six months, the employment of the employee shall be deemed terminated. (3) By the same token and applying said rule by analogy, if the employee was forced to remain without work or assignment for a period exceeding six months, then he is in effect constructively dismissed. (4) The so-called floating status of an employee should last only for a legally prescribed period of time. When that floating status lasts for more than six months, he may be considered to have been illegally dismissed from the service.