Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Linda was employed by Sectarian University (SU) to cook for the members
of a religious order who teach and live inside the campus. While performing her
assigned task, Linda accidentally burned herself. Because of the extent of her
injuries, she went on medical leave. Meanwhile, SU engaged a replacement
cook. Linda filed a complaint for illegal dismissal, but her employer SU
contended that Linda was not a regular employee but a domestic househelp.
Decide. (4%)
ANSWER:
II
Lucy was one of approximately 500 call center agents at Hambergis, Inc.
She was hired as a contractual employee four years ago. Her contracts would
be for a duration of five (5) months at a time, usually after a one- month interval.
Her re-hiring was contingent on her performance for the immediately preceding
contract. Six (6) months after the expiration of her last contract, Lucy went to
Hambergis personnel department to inquire why she was not yet being recalled
to work. She was told that her performance during her last contract was “below
average.” Lucy seeks your legal advice about her chances of getting her job
back. What will your advice be? (4%)
ANSWER:
I will advise Lucy to file a complaint for constructive dismissal, with prayer
for reinstatement, because her floating status has exceeded six (6) months.
By virtue of the nature of her job, Lucy attained tenure on the first day of
her employment. As a regular employee, therefore, she could only be
dismissed for a just or authorized cause. Expiration of her last contract was
neither a just nor authorized cause. Hence, she was illegally dismissed.
Moreover, her term employment contracts were contracts of adhesion; hence,
they should be taken against Hambergis Inc. because of its obvious intent to
use periods to bar her regularization.
III
Lolong Law Firm (LLF), which employs around 50 lawyers and 100 regular
staff, suffered losses for the first time in its history. The management informed its
employees that it could no longer afford to provide them free lunch.
Consequently, it announced that a nominal fee would henceforth be charged.
Was LLF justified in withdrawing this benefit which it had unilaterally been
providing to its employees? (1%)
(D) No, because it is a fringe benefit that has already ripened into a
demandable right.
ANSWER:
(D) “No, because it is a fringe benefit that has already ripened into a
demandable right.”
Note:
IV
Linis Manpower, Inc. (LMI) had provided janitorial services to the Philippine
Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) since March 2009. Its service
contract was renewed every three months. However, in the bidding held in June
2012, LMI was disqualified and excluded. In 2013, six janitors of LMI formerly
assigned at POEA filed a complaint for underpayment of wages. Both LMI and
POEA were impleaded as respondents. Should POEA, a government agency
subject to budgetary appropriations from Congress, be held liable solidarily with
LMI for the payment of salary differentials due the complainant? Cite the legal
basis of your answer. (4%)
ANSWER:
Yes.
Comment:
(E) Suppose that in the election, the unions obtained the following votes:
A-250; B-150; C-50; 40 voted “no union”; and 10 were segregated votes. Should
Union A be certified as the bargaining representative?
ANSWERS:
(C). No. Union A should not be declared the winner because it failed to
garner majority of the valid votes. The majority of 500 votes, representing valid
votes, is 251 votes. Since Union A received 200 votes only, it did not win the
election.
ANSWER:
VII
(C) they are duly-accredited members of the legal aid office recognized
by the DOJ or IBP
ANSWER:
Note:
Not (D) because the “not exceeding Ph5,000” is a jurisdictional rule, not
a rule on law practice.
VIII
(B) Assuming the company admits the strikers, can it later on dismiss those
employees who committed illegal acts?
ANSWERS:
(B) After admission, the company can hold the strikers behind the
illegalities accountable for their acts. If found to have committed acts
justifying a dismissal, said employees can be terminated after due process.
(C) No. The positions left behind by strikers are deemed legally
unoccupied. Moreover, the hiring of replacement workers does not terminate
employer-employee relationship because a strike is a temporary stoppage of
work only. Finally, replacement workers are deemed to have accepted their
engagement subject to the outcome of the strike.
IX
ANSWER:
ANSWER:
XI
Lionel, an American citizen whose parents migrated to the U.S. from the
Philippines, was hired by JP Morgan in New York as a call center specialist.
Hearing about the phenomenal growth of the call center industry in his parents’
native land, Lionel sought and was granted a transfer as a call center manager
for JP Morgan’s operations in Taguig City. Lionel’s employment contract did not
specify a period for his stay in the Philippines. After three years of working in the
Philippines, Lionel was advised that he was being recalled to New York and
being promoted to the position of director of international call center
operations. However, because of certain “family reasons,” Lionel advised the
company of his preference to stay in the Philippines. He was dismissed by the
company. Lionel now seeks your legal advice on: (6%)
ANSWER:
(A) Lionel has a cause of action. He has a right to be secure in his job;
his employer has the correlative obligation to respect that right; his dismissal
constitutes a violation of his tenurial right; and said violation caused him legal
injury.
(B) Lionel can file an illegal dismissal case in the Philippines. Being a
resident corporation, JP Morgan is subject to Philippine Labor Laws. And,
although hired abroad, Lionel’s place of work is Taguig. Hence, he can lodge
his complaint with the NLRC-NCR which has territorial jurisdiction over his
workplace (Sec. 1, Rule IV, NLRC Rules of Procedure, as amended).
(C) Lionel has reasonable chances of winning. His recall to the USA was
not a lawful lateral transfer that he could not refuse. On the contrary, it was a
scalar transfer amounting to a promotion which he could validly refuse.
Absent willful disobedience, therefore, his termination is groundless.
XII
Which of the following groups does not enjoy the right to self-
organization? (1%)
ANSWER:
Note:
Not (A) because, under Article 243 of the Labor Code, employees of
charitable, religious, educational and medical institutions are covered
employees.
Not (C) because the “less than 10 rule” in the Labor Code affects right
to labor standards benefits, in particular holiday pay and service incentive
leave (Articles 94 and 95), not right to self-organization.
XIII
Don Luis, a widower, lived alone in a house with a large garden. One day,
he noticed that the plants in his garden needed trimming. He remembered that
Lando, a 17-year old out-of-school youth, had contacted him in church the
other day looking for work. He contacted Lando who immediately attended to
Don Luis’s garden and finished the job in three days. (4%)
(B) Does Don Luis need to register Lando with the Social Security System
(SSS)?
ANSWER:
Comment:
The question is tricky. The examiner wants to lead the examinees into
considering Lando as a kasambahay because he is listed ( gardener), and
giving him SSS coverage pursuant to RA 10361. However, Lando is an
occasional or sporadic gardener; hence, he is not a kasambahay.
XIV
Luisito has been working with Lima Land for 20 years. Wanting to work in
the public sector, Luisito applied with and was offered a job at Livecor. Before
accepting the offer, he wanted to consult you whether the payments that he
and Lima Land had made to the Social Security System (SSS) can be transferred
or credited to the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS). What would you
advice? (4%)
ANSWER:
I would tell Luisito that, under the Limited Portability Law, he will carry with
him his creditable service and paid contributions as he moves from one system
to the other. Hence, he may accept the job offer without fearing that he
would lose his years of service in the private sector. Actually, they can be
totalized with his years of service in the public sector in the event that he would
not be able to qualify for benefits due solely to insufficiency of creditable
service.
XV
Our Lady of Peace Catholic School Teachers and Employees Labor Union
(OLPCS-TELU) is a legitimate labor organization composed of vice- principals,
department heads, coordinators, teachers, and non-teaching personnel of Our
Lady of Peace Catholic School (OLPCS).
ANSWER:
Comment:
XVI
EGE was later requested by SEGE to bargain collectively for better terms
and conditions of employment of all the rank-and-file employees of EGE.
Consequently, EGE filed a petition for certification election before the Bureau of
Labor Relations (BLR).
ANSWER:
EGE could file the petition for certification election because it was
requested to collectively bargain and it could not do so because SEGE was not
the EBR. After it filed the petition, however, it reverted to its standby status.
Therefore, it could not interfere with the selection process which was the
exclusive prerogative of its workers. It could only participate in the inclusion-
exclusion proceedings, and nowhere else.
XVII
(A) Are the employees of Philhealth allowed to self-organize and form PEA
and thereafter demand Philhealth to enter into negotiations with PEA for better
terms and conditions of employment?
ANSWERS:
(A) Under E.O. 180, Philhealth employees can organize. Thru their
organization, they can negotiate with Philhealth over terms and conditions of
employment not fixed by its charter, Civil Service Law, or applicable salary
standardization law.
(B) No. Although the right to organize implies the right to strike, law
may withhold said right. E.O. 180 is that law which withholds from government
employees the right to strike. Hence, they cannot resort to strikes and similar
concerted activities to compel concessions from the government.
XVIII
(D) strike vote results must be furnished to the NCMB at least seven (7)
days before the intended strike.
ANSWER:
Explanation:
Options “B”, “C” and “D” refer to strike procedures. “B” refers to the
cooling-off period; “C” to the strike vote; and “D” to the strike ban. What is
not expressly referred to in the options is notice of strike. It is this procedural
requirement which includes ULP or bargaining deadlock which are the only
strike grounds. Hence, it is correct to say that “the procedural requirements of
a valid strike include” (see MCQ stem) “a claim for ULP or deadlock in
collective bargaining” (Option “A”). In other words, the procedural
requirements of a valid strike are notice, cooling-off period, strike vote, and strike
ban. It is in the notice that ULP and deadlock in CB are included.
Comment:
The question is fantastic. Never imagined before. The examiner used the
simple word “include” to hide the answer.
XIX
If you were the Labor Arbiter assigned to the case, how would you rule on
the company’s motion to dismiss? (5%)
ANSWER:
XX
Lito was anticipating the bonus he would receive for 2013. Aside from the
13th month pay, the company has been awarding him and his other co-
employees a two to three months bonus for the last 10 years. However, because
of poor over-all sales performance for the year, the company unilaterally
decided to pay only a one month bonus in 2013. Is Lito’s employer legally
allowed to reduce the bonus? (4%)
ANSWER:
Yes.
XXI
An accidental fire gutted the JKL factory in Caloocan. JKL decided to
suspend operations and requested its employees to stop reporting for work.
After six (6) months, JKL resumed operations but hired a new set of employees.
The old set of employees filed a case for illegal dismissal. If you were the Labor
Arbiter, how would you decide the case? (4%)
ANSWER:
XXII
ANSWER:
Note:
Not (B) because the stem implies that the employer has a choice
between reinstatement and non-reinstatement. Here, he has no option at
all because the position in question no longer exists.
Not (C) because the employer has no option due to the closure of his
business.
Not (D) because the employer cannot choose not to reinstate due to his
employee’s decision not to be reinstated.
Comment:
XXIII
ANSWER:
The dispute brought to the RTC is a labor dispute despite the fact that the
disputants may not stand in the proximate relation of employer and employee
(Art. 212, LC). Moreover, the issue of regularization is resolvable solely thru the
application of labor laws. Under both Reasonable Causal Connection Rule and
Reference to Labor Law Rule, the dispute is for labor tribunals to resolve.
ANSWER:
Comment:
There are two separate grounds for dismissal. One is a just cause, the
other is not. To the question “Can Lanz be legally terminated on these
grounds?”, one should not give an answer that treats the two as though they
were one and the same. This is because, based on the crafting of previous
questions, it should be obvious that the examiner has a clinical mind.
Alternative Answer:
XXV
(C) monthly salary plus sales commissions, plus cost of living allowance
(D) monthly salary plus sales commissions, plus cost of living allowance
and representation allowance
ANSWER:
Note:
Not (B) because the basis of separation pay under Art. 289 (renumbered),
LC, is monthly salary only.
Not (C) because monthly salary means basis salary which excludes
commissions and allowances.
XXVI
(B) If, before the DOLE Secretary assumed jurisdiction, the striking union
members communicated in writing their desire to return to work, which offer
Liwanag Corporation refused to accept, what remedy, if any, does the union
have?
ANSWER:
(B) The union may file a complaint for illegal lockout, with prayer for
immediate reinstatement. The refusal of Liwanag Corporation to admit
the strikers back is an illegal lockout because it is not preceded by
compliance with prescribed pre-lockout procedure. If the lockout is
unreasonably prolonged, the complaint may be amended to charge
constructive dismissal.
XXVII
(A) exclusive appellate jurisdiction over all cases decided by the Labor
Arbiter
ANSWER:
Comment:
This bystander initially answered the questions on a blue pad with his pen.
It took him 2 ½ hours to answer the 27 questions. This means that the
examination was really long. For another 2 hours, or more, he reviewed and
edited his raw answers for online sharing. Regardless, he is not totally sure if he
has correctly answered all. Therefore, he appeals to the examiner to be liberal.
After all, his questions are really for higher forms of life. He did a great job.