Pre-Employment of Workers; Substitution of Employment Contracts

Case No 57, Bejerano

Placewell International Services vs. Camote
FACTS:
Petitioner agency deployed respondent Camote to work as building carpenter for SAAD at Saudi Arabia
for a contract of two years. At the job site, respondent allegedly found incompetent by his foreign
employer, thus the latter decide to terminate his services. However, respondent pleaded for his retention
and consented to accept lower salary. Thus, SAAD retained respondent until his return to the Philippines
two years after. Soon after, respondent filed a complaint for monetary claims against the petitioner
alleging that when he and his fellow Filipino workers were required to sign another employment contract
written in Arabic under the constraints of losing their jobs if they refused. The new contract stipulates a
lower salary without any overtime pay.
ISSUES:
Whether or not the petitioner may substitute contact.
RULING:
No. R.A. No. 8042 explicitly prohibits the substitution or alteration to the prejudice of the worker, of
employment contracts already approved and verified by the Department of Labor and Employment
(DOLE) from the time of actual signing thereof by the parties up to and including the period of the
expiration of the same without the approval of the DOLE. The unauthorized alteration in the employment,
particularly the diminution in his salary was rendered void for violation POEA-approved contract which
set the minimum standards, terms and condition of his employment. Moreover, the court found that there
was no dismissal by SAAD, the termination was clearly a ploy to pressure the respondents to agree a
lower wage rate for continued employment. Thus, the original employment contract subsists.
MAINPOINT:
R.A. No. 8042 explicitly prohibits the substitution or alteration to the prejudice of the worker, of
employment contracts already approved and verified by the Department of Labor and Employment
(DOLE) from the time of actual signing thereof by the parties up to and including the period of the
expiration of the same without the approval of the DOLE.