Mariveles Shipyard Corp v.

Court of Appeals

G.R. No. 144134, Novemeber 11, 2003, 415 SCRA 513

FACTS: Petitioner submits that respondent Court of Appeals (CA) erred

in its decisions in the previous cases where the petitioner was involved.
The latter contend that, among other issues, CA gravely erred in its
affirmation on the National Labor Relations Commission‘s (NLRC)
decision that the petitioner together with ‘Longest Force’, a security
agency, are jointly and severally liable for the payment of back wages
and overtime pay to private respondents. The petitioner invokes that it
has already paid all the necessary compensation to the private
respondents.

ISSUE: Whether or not the petitioner should be held jointly and severally

liable, together with ‘Longest Force’ in the payment of back wages to the
private respondents as affirmed by respondent CA?

HELD: Yes.

REASONING: Under Article 106, par. 2 of the Labor Code, ‘in the event

that the contractor or subcontractor fails to pay wages of his
employees…the employer shall be jointly and severally liable with his
contractor or subcontractor xxx’. Also, in Article 107 of the same Code,
the law states that ‘…the preceding Article shall likewise apply to
person, partnership, association or corporation which, not being an
employer, contracts with an independent contractor…’. Pursuant to the
mentioned provisions of the Labor Code, the Court said that, in this
case, the petitioner as an indirect employer, shall truly be liable jointly
and severally with ‘Longest Force’ in paying backwages and overtime
pay to the private respondents. Moreover, the Court emphasized that
‘Labor standard are enacted by the legislature to alleviate the plight of
workers whose wages barely meet the spiraling costs of their basic
needs. Labor laws are considered written in every contract. Stipulations
in violation thereof are considered null‘. Therefore, the petitioner should
be held jointly and severally liable, together with ‘Longest Force’ to the
private respondents as earlier decided by NLRC, as affirmed by the CA.