ISAE v.

Quisimbing,

FACTS: The school had two kinds of employees the local-hire and the foreign-hire. The foreign-hire
teachers were given an added 25% in their salary and some benefits like transportation and housing,
shipping costs, etc. These were given based on two things; dislocation and limited tenure. The added
compensation was the school’s way of remaining competitive on an international level of attracting
competent teachers. The local-hire teachers, part of the union contested the difference;
a deadlockresulted so the teachers went on strike. The acting secretary of DOLE assumed jurisdiction
and said that there was a valid discrimination so the teachers cannot ask for equal protection. He said
that “equal pay for equal work” does not apply in this case.

ISSUE: Whether or not there is discrimination in terms of wages.

HELD: The Court ruled that there was discrimination. It is public policy and also an international
principle that inequality and discriminationare abhorred. All the more in the workplace where relations
between capital and labor are often skewed in favor of capital are inequality anddiscrimination all the
more reprehensible. Discrimination in terms of wages is frowned upon by the Labor Code. The
principle “equal pay for equal work” should pay in this case. Persons who work with substantial equal
qualifications, skill, effort and responsibility, under similar conditions, should be paid similar salaries.
It is the policy of the State to provide equal pay for substantially equal work and to base differences in
pay upon substantive differences in duties and responsibilities andqualification requirements of the
positions. If an employee is paid less it is upon the employer to explain why the employee is treated
differently.Dislocation and limited tenure cannot serve as adequate or valid bases for the difference in
the salary rates. The other benefits are enough to make up for these two factors. There is no reasonable
distinction between the work of a local-hire and a foreign-hire that will justify the difference.

The foreign-hires cannot join the bargaining unit nor do they belong to the same bargaining unit. The
factors in determining the appropriate bargaining unit are (1) will of the employees; (2)affinity and
unity of the employees’ interests; (4) prior collective bargaining history; and, (4) similarity of
employment status.