1998 BAR EXAMINATION

I.
What are the salient features of the protection to labor provision of the Constitution?
II.
A Recruitment and Placement Agency declared voluntary bankruptcy. Among its assets is
its license to engage in business.
Is the license of the bankruptcy agency an asset which can be sold in public auction by
the liquidator?
III.
A lady worker was born with the physical deformity, specifically, hard of hearing, speech
impaired and color blind. However, these deficiencies do not impair her working ability.
Can the employer classify the lady worker as handicapped worker so that her daily wage
will only be seventy-five percent (75%) of the applicable daily minimum wage?
IV.
A Ladies Dormitory run or managed by a charitable non-profit organization claims that it
is exempt from the coverage of the Weekly Rest Period provision of the Labor Code.
Is the claim valid?
V.
An explosion in a mine site resulted in the death of fifty (50) miners. At the time of the
accident:
1. The Mining Company has not yet paid the wages, overtime, holiday and rest day
compensation of the deceased miners;
2. All the deceased miners owed the Miners Cooperative Union sums of money.
3. The Mining Company was served by a sheriffs Writs of Garnishment of Wages of
some of the deceased miners by virtue of final judgments in several collection suits.
After the accident, the wives, paramours, brothers, sisters and parents of the deceased
miners filed their claims for unpaid wages, overtime, holiday and rest day compensation. The
Company has acknowledged its obligations. However, it is in a quandary as to how to adjudicate
the conflicting claims; and whether it can deduct from the monies due the miners their unpaid
debts with the credit union.
How will you advise the mining company on the following:
1. Can the Mining Company defer payment of the money claims until an appropriate
court has ruled on the conflicting claims?

2. Can the Mining Company deduct from the amount due to each miner an amount
equivalent to their debt and remit the same to the Credit Union?
VI.
What would be your advice to your client, a manufacturing company, who asks for your
legal opinion on whether or not the 13th Month Pay Law (Presidential Decree No. 851) covers a
casual employee who is paid a daily wage?
VII.
At any given time, approximately ninety percent (90%) of the production workforce of a
semi-conductor company are females. Seventy-five percent (75%) of the female workers are
married and of child-bearing years. It is imperative that the Company must operate with a
minimum number of absences to meet strict delivery schedules. In view of the very high number
of lost working hours due to absences for family reasons and maternity leaves, the Company
adopted a policy that it will employ married women as production workers only if they are at
least thirty-five (35) years of age.
Is the policy violative of any law?
VIII.
An airline which flies bot the international and domestic routes requested the Secretary of
Labor and Employment to approve the policy that all female flight attendants upon reaching age
forty (40) with at least fifteen (15) years of service shall be compulsorily retire; however, flight
attendants who have reached age forty (40) but have not worked for fifteen (15) years will be
allowed to continue working in order to qualify for retirement benefits, but in no case will the
extension exceed four (4) years.
Does the Secretary of Labor and Employment have the authority to approve the policy?
IX.
The weekly work schedule of a driver is as follows:
Monday, Wednesday, Friday- Drive the family car to bring and fetch the children to and
from school.
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday- Drive the family van to fetch merchandise from suppliers
and deliver the same to a boutique in a mall owned by the family.
Is the driver a househelper?
The same driver claims that for work performed on Tuesday, Thursday and
Saturday, he should be paid the minimum daily wage of a driver of a commercial establishment.
Is the claim of the driver valid?

X.
The services of an employee were terminated upon the completion of the probationary
period of employment for failure to qualify for the position. The employee filed a complaint for
Illegal Dismissal on the ground that the employer failed to inform him in writing the reasonable
standards for regular employment.
Will the complaint for Illegal Dismissal prosper?
XI.
A Construction Group hired Engineer A as a Project Engineer in 1987. He was
assigned to five (5) successive separate projects. All five (5) Contracts of Employment he signed,
specified the name of the project, its duration and the temporary-project nature of the
engagement of his services. Upon completion of the fifth (5th) project in August 1998, his
services were terminated. He worked a total of ten (10) years (1987-1998) in five (5) separate
projects.
Six months after his separation, the Group won a bid for a large construction project. The
Group did not engage the services of Engineer A as a Project Engineer for this new project;
instead, it engaged the services of Engineer B. Engineer A claims that by virtue of the nature
of his functions, i.e. Engineer in a Construction Group and his long years of service he had
rendered to the Group, he is a regular employee and not a project engineer at the time he was
first hired. Furthermore, the hiring of Engineer B showed that there is a continuing need for his
services.
Is the claim of Engineer A correct?
XII.
Assuming the existence of valid grounds for dismissal, what are the requirements before
an employer can terminate the services of an employee?
XIII.
The Company Legal Counsel advised the Board of Directors as follows: A company
cannot retrench to prevent losses until actual losses occur. The Company must wait until the end
of the Business Year when its Books of Accounts, Profit and Loss Statement showing the actual
loss and Balance Sheet have been audited by an independent auditing firm.
Is the legal advice of counsel correct?
XIV.
The Secretary of Labor and Employment, after receipt of a Notice to Terminate
Employment of one hundred (100) workers, enjoined the employer from implementing their
termination.
Has the Secretary of Labor and Employment the authority to enjoin the employe from
terminating the employment of the workers? If so, on what grounds?

XV.
A labor union lawyer opined that a labor organization is a private and voluntary
organization; hence, a union can deny membership to any and all applicants.
Is the opinion of the counsel in accord with law?
XVI.
What is an appropriate bargaining unit for purposes of collective bargaining?
XVII.
Is it required that an employer-employee relationship exists between an employer and the
employees in the appropriate bargaining unit before a certification election can be ordered? If so,
why?
XVIII.
Can the Bureau of Labor Relations certify a union as the exclusive bargaining
representative after showing proof of majority representation thru union membership cards
without conducting an election?
XIX.
The day following the workers voluntary return to work, the Company Production
Manager discovered an unusual and sharp drop in workers output. It was evidently clear that the
workers are engaged in a work slowdown activity.
Is the work slowdown a valid form of strike activity?
XX.
The Secretary of Labor and Employment, after assumption of jurisdiction over a labor
dispute in an airline issued a Return to Work Order. The airline filed a Motion for
Reconsideration of the Order and pending resolution of the motion, deferred the implementation
of the Order.
Can the airline defer the implementation of the Return to Work Order pending resolution
of the motion for reconsideration?