G.R. No.

221096, June 28, 2017

CLAUDIA'S KITCHEN, INC. AND ENZO

SQUILLANTINI, Petitioners, v. MA. REALIZA S.
TANGUIN, Respondent.

Separation pay is warranted when the cause for termination is not

attributable to the employee's fault, such as those provided in Articles
29827 and 29928 of the Labor Code, as well as in cases of illegal
dismissal where reinstatement is no longer feasible.29 On the other
hand, an employee dismissed for any of the just causes enumerated
under Article 29730 of the same Code, being causes attributable to the
employee's fault, is not, as a general rule, entitled to separation pay.
The non-grant of such right to separation pay is premised on the
reason that an erring employee should not benefit from their wrongful
acts.

G.R. No. 211210, December 02, 2015

RADAR SECURITY & WATCHMAN AGENCY, INC., Petitioner,

v. JOSE D. CASTRO, Respondent.

Worthy of emphasis is that the award of separation pay is likewise

inconsistent with a finding that there was no illegal dismissal.
Separation pay becomes due if an employee is dismissed
without just cause and without due process and is therefore
entitled to backwages and reinstatement. And, in
instances where reinstatement is no longer feasible because
of strained relations between the employee and the employer,
separation pay is granted in lieu thereof.
As we have previously pronounced, in a case where the employee's
failure to work was occasioned neither by his abandonment nor by a
termination, the burden of economic loss is not rightfully shifted
to the employer; each party must bear his own loss.17 Hence,
based on the circumstances of this case, the employer should not be
made to suffer the consequences of the employee's failure to report
for duty. 
By way of reiteration, we declare that in labor cases, where there is
neither termination nor abandonment involved, there is no occasion to
grant separation pay and backwages, nor to allow collection of any
other monetary claims absent evidence to substantiate the same. The
employer and the employee do not have any obligation one to the
other.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1049054

SC stresses balance of workers, employers rights

By Benjamin Pulta September 25, 2018, 6:32 pm

MANILA -- The Supreme Court (SC) has reiterated balancing workers' rights with
the rights of employers to exercise management prerogatives in dealing with
their companies’ affairs, including their right to dismiss erring employees.

“We recognized the right of the employer to regulate all aspects of employment,
such as the freedom to prescribe work assignments, working methods,
processes to be followed, regulation regarding transfer of employees,
supervision of their work, lay-off and discipline, and dismissal and recall of
workers," the SC said in a decision written by Justice Diosdado M. Peralta.

While the High Court held that the general principle of labor law discourages
interference with an employer's judgment in the conduct of his business, it also
recognized their right to decision-making in terms of management.

“Thus, for as long as the company's exercise of judgment is in good faith to

advance its interest and not for the purpose of defeating or circumventing the
rights of employees under the laws or valid agreements, such exercise will be
upheld,” the tribunal said.