And what should be contained in the notice of decision based on How about if there is prior notice and hearing

e and hearing but there is no just

Department Order No. 147-15 of the DOLE. After the determining
the termination of an employment is justified, the employers now
serves the employee a written notice of termination indicating
that. First, all circumstances involving the charge against the
employee have been defeated and that notice of decision
whether the duration of the evidences for the in support of a
complaint against the subject employee, all the evidences of the
employee adduced that evidences during the administrative
investigation, and the grounds has been establish the scenario of
the employment of the subject employee. So you have there the
statement on the applicable provisions as provided by the labor
code as well as the pertinent rules of litigation as found in the
code of conduct of the employer of which the subject employees
of guilty to have violated.
cause, so the is an observance of the procedural due process but
there is no substantive due process. Again, in that scenario, the
dismissal is illegal. And an illegally dismissed employee is entitled
to reinstatement, separation pay, backwages and damages.
Now these steps, these stages in the conduct of an administrative
investigation, these are applicable whether the investigation was
conducted pre-pandemic, during the pandemic, and post
pandemic. The company must comply with these stages in order
for it to avoid any possible legal complaint that the agreed
employee meet by because it need to be illegally dismissed by the
company.

So we have with done notice to explain, hearing, and now we

have the notice of decision. Now as to the service of these
notices, the preferred mode of service, that is based again of the
DO No. 147-15 it provides that these notices shall be serve
personally to the employee or to the employee’s last know
address. Now, if the personal service is impossible for impractical
then the employer can resort to service by registered mail or by
private courier. In addition to personal service, registered mail or
private courier, the employer can also exhaust in so far of the
service of notice is concern, the service of notice thru email
because would be easier, especially now that people are working
from home, people workers are using the internet in which either
their computers. Notifications allows them to be made by the
company are heard to the employees thru their email. So notices
can also be served by the company thru email of the subject
employee. But then again under rules, the preferred mode of
service is personal service. In practice, if the personal service is
impossible, the company can resort to registered mail or by
private courier, and in addition of the two the company can also
resort thru service by email. And this is to exhaust all the venue
for the company to satisfied the procedural due process under our
labor laws.

And finally, the effects of termination, if its just cause and the
observance of the company of prior notice and hearing, then the
dismal of the employee is valid. If its valid then there is no
reinstatement, backwages, and damages. And so under this first
scenario, there is the observance, departmentary, and substantive
aspect as well as the procedural aspect in the termination of the
employee.

And now if there is just cause but without prior notice and
hearing, so meaning there is a failure on the part of the company
to observing the procedural due process in the termination of the
employees. Based on the jurisprudence, the dismissal is valid but
the company can be held liable to pay Nominal Damages to the
dismissed employee and this in the case of Agabon vs NLRC, a
2004 case, a nominal damages that may be enforce against the
company is P30,000.00 for failure to observe the procedural due
process.

And if there is no just cause, and prior notice and hearing, the
dismissal is illegal. And if the dismissal is illegal, the reliefs for the
illegally dismissed employee are the following: (1) reinstatement
or (2) payment of separation pay and backwages, and damages.

So as I mentioned before it is very important for the company to

comply with both substantive and as well as procedural due
process in the termination of an employee.