Labor Law Notes 6o5h43

Miles R. Delos Reyes

Labor Law 1 Notes

3-Juris Doctor

Art. 1. Name of Decree. This Decree shall be known as the "Labor Code of the Philippines". Art. 2. Date of effectivity. This Code shall take effect six (6) months after its promulgation. Labor Law (P.D no. 442, as amended) Promulgation- May 1, 1974, Took effect- Nov. 1, 1974 

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Is a set of substantive and procedural laws that prescribe the principal rights and responsibilities of employers (any person, natural or juridical, employing the services of an employee), employees (includes any individual employed by an employer) and other industrial participant, as well as the role of Government, in employment and related activities, so as to institute social justice. Not meant to protect a sector to oppress another which means the rights and responsibilities of employers are also recognized.

Labor as a Concept 1. General Sense  Labor- physical toil although it does not necessarily exclude the application of skill, thus there is skilled and unskilled labor.  Skill- familiar knowledge of any art or science united with readiness and dexterity (quickness) in execution or performance or in the application of the art or science to practical purposes.  Work is broader than labor as work covers all forms of physical or mental exertion, or both combined, for the attainment of some object other than recreation or amusement per se. 2. Technical sense  Worker- means any member of the labor force, whether employed or unemployed. (Art. 13) - broader than employee as workers may refer to self-employed people, and those working in the service and under the control of another, regardless of rank, title, or nature of work.  Employee- salaried person working for another who controls or supervises the means, manner or method of doing the work.  Bargaining Unit: ER-EE are free to negotiate their own and conditions  is a group of employees of a given employer, comprised of all or less than all of the entire body of employees, consistent with equity to the employer indicate to be the best suited to serve the reciprocal rights and duties of the parties under the collective bargaining provisions of the law. The factors determining the appropriate collective bargaining unit are: (1) the will of the employees (2) affinity and unity of the employees’ interest, such as substantial similarity of work and duties, or similarity of compensation and working conditions (3) prior collective bargaining history (4) similarity of employment status.  "Person" means an individual, partnership, association, corporation, business trust, legal representatives, or any organized group of persons. (Art. 97)  "Employer" includes any person acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee and shall include the government and all its branches, subdivisions and instrumentalities, all government-owned or controlled corporations and institutions, as well as non-profit private institutions, or organizations. (97)  "Employee" includes any individual employed by an employer. (97)

Miles R. Delos Reyes

Labor Law 1 Notes

3-Juris Doctor

Labor legislaton 

consists of statutes, regulations and jurisprudence governing the relations between capital and labor by providing for certain employment standards and a legal framework for negotiating, adjusting and istering those standards and other incidents of employment.

Components of Labor Law 

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Labor Standars- which sets out the minimum , conditions, and benefits of employment that employer must provide or comply with and to which employees are entitled as a matter of legal right.  Are the minimum requirements prescribed by existing laws, rules and regulations relating to wages, hours of work, cost of living allowance, and other monetary and welfare benefits, including occupational, safety, and health standards. (Jurisprudence) Labor Relations- which defines the status, rights and duties and the institutional mechanisms that govern the individual and collective interactions of employers, employees or their representatives. Labor standards are the material or the substance to be processed while labor relations are the mechanism that processes the substance. Ex. Labor relations- provides for the method to resolve the employee’s complaint Labor Standards- the subject of the complaint like unpaid overtime work or disciplinary action.

Labor Law vs. Social Legislation 

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Social legislation: provides particular kinds of protection or benefits to society or segments thereof in furtherance of social justice. Labor laws are necessarily social legislation. But to differentiate, labor laws directly affect employment while social legislation governs the effects of employment. Labor laws are social legislation but not all social legislation are labor laws. Ex. Agrarian Reform Law is a social legislation, also SSS. State Insurance Fund to cover work-related injuries and occupational diseases are likewise pieces of social legislation. If distinction must be stressed at all , it is simply in the sense that labor laws are social legislation but not all social legislations are labor laws. In other words, in relation to each other, social legislation as a concept is broader, labor laws is narrower.

SOCIAL JUSTICE both:  

Juridical Principle- it prescribes equality of the people, rich or poor, before the law. Societal goal- means the attainment of decent quality of life of the masses through humane productive efforts.

POLICE POWER as the basis:   

the power of the government to enact laws, w/in Constitutional limits to promote the order, safety, health, morals & general welfare of society power inherent in government to protect itself & all its constituents, & for this purpose to hold the government immune so far as necessary, from any limitations imposed in the past. An imposition of restraint upon liberty or property in order to foster the common good.

Miles R. Delos Reyes 

Labor Law 1 Notes

3-Juris Doctor

Legislature may enact laws for the protection of the safety and health of employees as an exercise of the police power, and this is true even though such laws affect, not the health of community generally but the health or welfare of operatives in any given situation.

Related Provisions Art. 3. Declaration of basic policy. The State shall afford protection to labor, promote full employment, ensure equal work opportunities regardless of sex, race or creed and regulate the relations between workers and employers. The State shall assure the rights of workers to self-organization, collective bargaining, security of tenure, and just and humane conditions of work.  Issues mentioned in this article are employment, protection to labor and labor-management relations, these are social issues. They are concern of labor laws because labor laws are devices for social equity.  Article 3 is not a statement of goals but a statement of policy directions toward the goal which is a more equitable distribution of opportunities, income and wealth; a sustained increase in the amount of goods and services produced by the nation for the benefit of the people. INTERDEPENDENCE- Shared responsibility between ER-EE. One is inutile without the other. Better understanding is that the basic policy is to balance or to coordinate the rights and interests of both workers and employers. ARTICLE XIII – LABOR Section 3. The State shall afford full protection to labor, local and overseas, organized and unorganized, and promote full employment and equality of employment opportunities for all. It shall guarantee the rights of all workers to selforganization, collective bargaining and negotiations, and peaceful concerted activities, including the right to strike in accordance with law. They shall be entitled to security of tenure, humane conditions of work, and a living wage. They shall also participate in policy and decision-making processes affecting their rights and benefits as may be provided by law. The State shall promote the principle of shared responsibility between workers and employers and the preferential use of voluntary modes in settling disputes, including conciliation, and shall enforce their mutual compliance therewith to foster industrial peace. The State shall regulate the relations between workers and employers, recognizing the right of labor to its just share in the fruits of production and the right of enterprises to reasonable returns to investments, and to expansion and growth. Constitutional Rights and Mandates The State shall afford full protection to labor and this is found in the 1935, 1973, and 1987 Constitution. The State affirms labor as a primary social economic force thus; it shall protect the right of the workers and promote their welfare. Management Prerogatives- the law in protecting the rights of laborer, authorizes neither oppression nor self-destruction of the employer. 1. Right to return of investments and to make Profit- the State shall regulate the relations between workers and employers, recognizing the right of labor to its just share in the fruits of production and the right of enterprises to reasonable returns on investments, and to expansion and growth. (Concomitant right of the employer for the protection of his property). 2. Right to Prescribe Rules- employers have the right to make reasonable rules and regulations for the government of their employees, and when an employees with knowledge of an established rule, enter the service, the rule

Miles R. Delos Reyes

Labor Law 1 Notes

3-Juris Doctor

becomes part of the contract of employment. Company policies and regulations are, unless shown to be grossly oppressive or contrary to law, generally binding and valid on the parties. 3. Right to Select Employees- he has right under the law to full freedom in employing any person free to accept employment from him, except restricted by valid statute or valid contract, at a wage and under conditions agreeable to them. He may refuse to employ whomever he wish irrespective of motive and has right to prescribe the . State cannot interfere in private employment or cannot interfere to liberty of contract except in the exercise of police power. ER and EE have equality of rights under the Constitution. If the employer can compel the employee to work against the latter’s will, this is servitude. If the employee compel the employer to give him work against the employer’s will, this is oppression. 4. Right to Transfer or Discharge Employees- has the right to transfer, reduce or lay-off personnel in order to minimize expenses and to insure the stability of the business, and even to close the business provided that the transfer or dismissal is not abused but it is done in good faith and is due to causes beyond control. To hold otherwise would oppressive and inhuman. EXCEPTIONS: 1. LAW – breach of legal boundaries and non-compliance with the minimum requirements set by law. 2. CBA 3. GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF FAIR PLAY AND JUSTICE RELATED LAWS  Foreign Decisions – numerous LC provisions are substantially similar to the Industrial Peace Act  The Civil Code – describes the nature of labor management relations:  The relations between capital & labor are not merely contractual. They are so impressed w/ public interest that labor contracts must yield to the common good. Such contracts are subj. to the special laws on labor unions, collective bargaining, strikes & lockouts, closed shop, wages, working conditions, hrs of labor & similar subjs.‖ —Art 1700  Neither capital nor labor shall act oppressively against the other, or impair the interest or convenience of the public‖ –Art 1701.  Civil Code further contains provisions regarding wages, househelpers, and injuries sustained by employees.  Labor-related issues such as CBA, validity of waiver, preference of worker’s claims, and fixed period employment.  RPC – punishes the use of violence or threats by either employer or employee. (Art. 289). In the RPC, are the crimes against public order, persons, property, honor, alongside labor laws in case of labor disputes.  Special Laws – (SSS law, GSIS law, Agrarian Reform law, the 13th-month pay law, the Magna Carta for Public Health Workers. Art. 4. Construction in favor of labor. All doubts in the implementation and interpretation of the provisions of this Code, including its implementing rules and regulations, shall be resolved in favor of labor.  Supreme Court adopts liberal approach which favors the exercise of labor rights to enable the employees to avail the benefits under the law, in consonance with the State’s avowed policy to give maximum aid and protection to labor.  Concern for the Lowly Worker – SC reaffirms its concern for the lowly worker who, often at his EER’s mercy, must look up to the law for his protection.  REASON: employer stands on higher footing than the employee. 1. There is greater supply than demand for labor. 2. The need for employment by labor comes from vital and even desperate necessity. The law must protect labor to the extent of raising him to the equal footing and to shield him from abuses brought about by the necessity for survival.

Miles R. Delos Reyes

Labor Law 1 Notes

3-Juris Doctor

 It is safe to presume therefore, that an employ e or labourer who waives in advance any benefit granted him by law does so, certainly not in his interest or through generosity but under the forceful intimidation of urgent need, and hence, he could not have so acted freely and voluntarily.  However, protection of labor cannot be pursued to the point of deliberately committing a miscarriage of justice. The right to obtain justice is enjoyed by all , rich or poor, worker or manager, alien or citizen.  Art. 10 of the Civil Code provide that, in case of doubt in the interpretation and application laws, it is presumed that the law-making body intended right and justice to prevail.  Justice is the higher end of law and law does not favour favouritism amounting to injustice.  The intent is to balance the scales of justice; to put the two parties on relatively equal positions. There may be cases where the circumstances warrant favoring labor over the interests of management but never should the scale be so tilted if the result is an injustice to the employer. Justitia nemini neganda est -- justice is to be denied to none. Art. 5. Rules and regulations. The Department of Labor and other government agencies charged with the istration and enforcement of this Code or any of its parts shall promulgate the necessary implementing rules and regulations. Such rules and regulations shall become effective fifteen (15) days after announcement of their adoption in newspapers of general circulation.  istrative regulations have the force of law and are entitled to great respect.  When invalid? Law implemented in excess of its rule-making authority. Art. 6. Applicability. All rights and benefits granted to workers under this Code shall, except as may otherwise be provided herein, apply alike to all workers, whether agricultural or non-agricultural. (As amended by Presidential Decree No. 570-A, November 1, 1974)  Also applies to a government corporations incorporated under the Corporation Code.  Test WON a government-owned/-controlled corporation is subject to Civil Service Law is the manner of its creation. Government Corporation created by special charter (chartered by special law from Congress) are subject to its provisions, while those incorporated under the general Corporation Law are not w/in the coverage of the CS law but by Labor Law.  PNOC-EDC – (PH National Oil Corp. Energy Dev. Corp) incorporated under the Corp Law, employees are subject to Labor Code  NHA – incorporated under Act 1459, the former corporation law subject to Labor Code  Government agencies – not a GOCC, Employees covered by CS Law since they are civil service employees.  SSS- civil service employees. When they strike, RTC has jurisdiction not NLRC. With Original Charter- special law by Congress (Civil Service Law) Without Original Charter- Corporation Code (Labor Code) Applicability without ER-EE Relationship  LC may apply even if the parties are not ER-EE of each other. In other words, it is not correct to say that employment relationship is a pre-condition to the applicability of the Code. Ex. Employment benefits like overtime pay or rest day or of unionization, then surely employment relationship is an essential element but when the issue is for instance about illegal recruitment or misuse of POEA license, there is no ER-EE relationship, however, provisions of LC will apply. In short, LC applies w/ or w/o employment relationship between the disputants, depending on the kind of issue involved.  The presence of ER-EE relationship is thus a labor law question thus LC applies.