Job security ang isa sa mga top concerns ng mga employees, especially in the Philippines.
Source of stress ito para kay Harvey, 24 years old at nagtratrabaho sa isang call center sa Pasig. Recently, sinabihan siya ng kanyang boss that he needed to step up. He wasn’t as productive as the others in the past few months. Naging busy kasi si Harvey sa kanyang girlfriend kaya hindi siya as focused sa work.
Companies in the call center and business process outsourcing (BPO), which are among the top employers in the country, may also let go of their staff when they lose a client that he or she is handling.
In 2013, about 23 out of more than 200 terminated employees of a Cebu-based BPO company filed charges against their employer for alleged illegal closure, non-payment of salaries, and non-remittance of mandated benefits.
Nagsara sila noong 2011 at nag-file ng voluntary insolvency.
At dahil maraming Pinoy ngayon ang nasa ganitong mga industries at common issue ang job security sa iba’t ibang sector, dapat alamin ang batas para hindi ka lugi o laos. Ika nga, “Knowledge is power.”
Nag-share si Atty. Rhea Samson, coauthor ng Working with Labor Laws: Notes and Cases with Joanna Clarisse Ong-Young, ng mga frequently asked questions on terminations based on her practice and experience.
“These are what I’ve frequently encountered,” sabi niya. “Labor Law practice is medyo complicated as decisions of the Supreme Court are dependent on particular circumstances and facts of the case. There may be similar situations but different rulings of the Supreme Court on certain matters.”
1. Why is procedural due process (notice requirement for employee to explain why he should not be terminated) necessary when terminating an employee who is caught committing serious misconduct?
“Under the law, employment is a property right—an employee cannot be deprived of this right without due process of law,” ayon kay Samson.
Bawat empleyado ay entitled sa 2 notices—notice of offense at notice of termination.
2. Why are the penalties and sanctions like termination, under the company rules and regulations not enforceable for some offenses?
Samson explains, “Under the law, penalties under company rules and regulations must be commensurate to the offense committed.”
Kapag masyadong mabigat ang termination penalty, pwede itong ibaba sa suspension.
3. When an employee is on AWOL for one week and then reports back for work, why isn’t this abandonment of work, a valid cause for termination of employment?
Hindi sapat ang pag-absent para ma-terminate. Sabi ni Samson, “Under the law, for abandonment of work to be a valid cause for termination, there must be an unequivocal intent of the employee to discontinue his employment.”
Ibig sabihin, dapat maliwanag na naipakita ng empleyado na wala siyang balak magpatuloy sa trabaho.
4. When an employer shuts down his business because of business losses, why are the employees entitled to separation pay?
“Under the law, only the closure of business due to serious business losses would exempt employer from payment of separation pay to employees,” according to Samson.
Mas may compassion o pagkiling ang batas para sa empleyado kaysa mga boss o employer.
“This is also under the social justice policy that those who have less in life should have more in law,” she adds.
5. Why does the employer have to give 30-day notice to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and employee when laying off? Why is there separation pay?
Kapag nawalan ng trabaho ang isang breadwinner, importante ito para mabigyan siya ng enough time na maghanap ibang source of income.
“There is separation pay as a way of assisting employees to tide them over and their families while looking for another job,” ayon kay Samson.
