Labor Relations is part of labor                   usually necessary or desirable
legislation    which    governs    the             in the usual business or trade
relationship between the employer and              of the employer
employee.                                       2. Those who have rendered at
 Employer-Employee Relationship Test               least one year of service
                                                   whether continuous or broken,
Four-Fold Test                                     with respect to the activities in
   1. Right to Hire                                which they are employed.
   2. Payment of Wages
   3. Power of Dismissal                        Classification
   4. Control over the Conduct of Work          1. By nature       of work –
                                                   employees who perform a
Power of control -      most important             particular function which is
determining factor                                 necessary or desirable in the
                 - Right to control not            usual business or trade of the
                   only the end to be              employer, regardless of their
                   achieved but also               length of service;
                   the means to be              2. By years of service –
                   used in reaching                employees who have been
                   such end                        performing the job, regardless
                                                   of its nature thereof, for at
                                                   least a year.
Classification of Employees:
                                          Supervised piece-rate employees can
REGULAR EMPLOYEES                         become regular employees.
                                          Categories:
                -   Refer    to  those       1. Those     whose      time    and
                    employees      who          performance are supervised by
                    person a particular         the employer
                    activity which is        2. Those     whose      time    and
                    necessary        or         performance are unsupervised
                    desirable in the                     - Employer’s control
                    usual business or                        is over the result of
                    trade     of    the                      the work.
                    employer,
                    regardless of their
                    length of service
                    and the contract
                    entered        into   PROJECT EMPLOYMENT
                    between         the            -     the    employee      is
                    employer and the                 performing an activity
                    employee.                        which       are     usually
                                                     necessary or desirable in
      Kinds of Regular Employees                     the usual business or
      1. Those who are engaged to                    trade of the employer but
         perform activities which are                for a definite period
                                       SEASONAL EMPLOYEES
Principal Test
          -   Whether or not the                   -   Employed for the
              project employees                        duration     of   the
              were assigned to                         season
              carry out specific                   -   Seasonal workers
              project             or                   who are called to
              undertaking,       the                   work from time to
              duration and scope                       time      and     are
              of    which     were                     temporarily laid off
              specified at the time                    during     off-season
              the employees were                       are not separated
              engaged for that                         from service in said
              project                                  period, but merely
                                                       considered on leave
Two    types        of     project                     until re-employed
employment
1. A project could refer to a          CASUAL EMPLOYMENT
   particular job or undertaking
   that is within the regular or             Characteristics
   usual     business    of    the
   employer company, but which               1. It is not regular, project or
   is distinct and separate, and                seasonal employment;
   identifiable as such, from the            2. There is an activity of the
   other undertakings of the                    employer in which worker
   company.                                     is employed
2. A particular job or undertaking           3. The       employee        has
   that is not within the regular               rendered at least one (1)
   business of the corporation.                 year of service (continuous
                                                or broken)
When a project employee will                 4. The activity still exists
become a regular employee:
                                                   -   there   is    casual
1. When the employee is                                employment where
   continuously, as opposed to                         the employee is
   intermittently, rehired by the                      engaged to perform
   same employer for the same                          a job, work or
   tasks or nature of tasks                            service which is
2. Those      tasks    are   vital,                    merely incidental to
   necessary and indispensable                         the business of the
   to the usual business or trade                      employer, and such
   of the employer, must be                            job, work or service
   deemed a regular employee                           is for a definite
                                                       period made known
                                                       to the employee at
                     the    time       of      1. reasonable    standards   made
                     engagement                   known to him at the time of
                                                  engagement
FIXED-TERM EMPLOYMENT                          2. the employee after an evaluation
                                                  must be informed that he/she
      Requisites:
                                                  failed to qualify the standard
      1. The      fixed     period     of
                                                  before the expirations of the
         employment was knowingly
                                                  probationary period
         and voluntarily agreed upon
         by the parties without any         Probationary   employee        can     be
         force, duress or improper          terminated based on:
         pressure being brought to
         bear upon the employee and            1. just cause
         absent          any       other       2. authorized cause
         circumstances vitiating his           3. failure to qualify the standard laid
         consent; or                              down      in    the    probationary
      2. it satisfactorily appears that           employment
         the    employer       and   the
         employee dealt with each
         other on more or less equal
                                            Security of Tenure
         terms      with     no    moral
         dominance exercised by the                          -   regardless of types
         former or the latter.                                   of employment, the
                                                                 employee      enjoys
PROBATIONARY EMPLOYMENT
                                                                 security of tenure.
Limitations                                                      Security of tenure
                                                                 guarantees that no
   1. it   must     be    exercised    in                        worker shall be
      accordance with the specific                               dismissed     except
      requirements of the contract                               for      just      or
   2. the dissatisfaction on the part of                         authorized causes
      the employer must be real and in                           provided by law and
      good faith, not feigned so as to                           after due process.
      circumvent the contract or the law
   3. there must be no unlawful
      discrimination in the dismissal
                                            Threats to employee’ Security of Tenure
                                               1. Constructive Dismissal
2 kinds of Standards
                                                            - exists where there
   1. Qualitative                                              is a cessation of
   2. Quantitative                                             work        because
                                                               continued
                                                               employment        is
                                                               rendered
Two aspects of due process before a                            impossible,
valid  termination of   probationary                           unreasonable     or
employee may be made.                                          unlikely.
                -   when there is a                             continued
                    demotion in rank or                         employment poses
                    diminution in pay or                        a     serious    and
                    both                                        imminent threat to
                -   when       a    clear                       the life or property
                    discrimination,                             of the employer or
                    insensibility      or                       of his co-workers
                    disdain            by                   -   indefinite preventive
                    anemployer                                  suspension          is
                    becomes                                     tantamount         to
                    unbearable to the                           constructive
                    employee                                    dismissal
      2 kinds of Constructive Dismissal     2 Kinds of suspension
      1. if    an     act    of     clear      1. Preventive -
         discrimination, insensibility or                   - the purpose is to
         disdain by an employer                                protect the life or
         becomes so unbearable on                              property     of  the
         the part of the employee that                         employer or co-
         it would foreclose any choice                         employee while the
         except to forego continued                            investigation is on-
         employment                                            going
      2. when the employee is places           2. Suspension as a form of penalty
         under floating status for more                     - it       must      be
         than six (6) months based on                          reasonable       and
         Art. 301 of the Labor Code.                           commensurate      to
                                                               the offense.
Preventive Suspension
                                            Termination of Employment
                -   is a disciplinary
                    measure for the                         -  An employee can
                    protection of the                          be terminated from
                    company’s property                         employment
                    pending                                    provided that certain
                    investigation of any                       standards are met.
                    alleged                                    These      standards
                    malfeasance       or                       are composed of
                    misfeasance                                substantive      and
                    committed by the                           procedural
                    employee                      1. Substantive
                -   the employer may                       - there must be legal
                    place the worker                           basis in terminating
                    concerned      under                       an employee from
                    preventive                                 his/her work. there
                    suspension if his                          must be a valid
                     cause     for   the                          an      amount    of
                     termination       of                         Php5,000.00 in the
                     employment                                   form of financial
                                                                  assistance     based
                                                                  on social justice or
                                                                  equity.
       substantial evidence
                                            Requisites:
                 -     is more than a
                     mere scintilla of         1. it was not for serious misconduct
                     evidence or relevant      2. did not reflect on the moral
                     evidence     as    a         character of the employee
                     reasonable      mind
                     might accept as        JUST CAUSES FOR TERMINATION
                     adequate to support    OF EMPLOYMENT
                     conclusion, even if
                     other minds, equally   Serious Misconduct
                     reasonable, might
                                                              -   it        is        the
                     conceivably opine
                                                                  transgression         of
                     otherwise.
                                                                  some       established
                                                                  and definite rule of
       2. Procedural
                                                                  action,      forbidden
                - the         employee
                                                                  act, a dereliction of
                   concerned must be
                                                                  duty,      wilful     in
                   given an opportunity
                                                                  character          and
                   to explain his/her
                                                                  implies       wrongful
                   side in termination
                                                                  intent and not mere
                   based     on    just
                                                                  error of judgment.
                   causes and twin
                   notice to the DOLE             Elements:
                   and employee
                                                  1. it must be serious
Principle of Discretionary Justice                2. it   must     relate    to the
                                                     performance          of    the
                 -   when a penalty less
                                                     employee’s duties
                     severe       would
                                                  3. must show that the employee
                     suffice,  whatever
                                                     has become unfit to continue
                     missteps may be
                                                     working for the employer
                     committed by labor
                                                  4. wrongful intent
                     ought not to be
                     visited        with           Absence of a wrongful intent is
                     consequences     so          only   ordinary   or     simple
                     severe                       misconduct
Discerning Compassion Doctrine
                 -   this principle gives   Wilful Disobedience
                     an erring employee
      Elements:                                                    the entire absence
      1. the conduct of the employee                               of care
         must be wilful of intentional
      2. the order the employee                Fraud or Wilful Breach of Trust/Loss
         violated must have been               of Confidence
         reasonable, lawful, made
                                               Fraud
         known to the employee and
         must pertain to the duties that                       -   refers to any act,
         he had been engaged to                                    omission,          or
         discharges                                                concealment which
                                                                   involves a breach of
Gross and Habitual Neglect of Duty
                                                                   legal duty, trust or
                -     common expression                            confidence      justly
                      is abandonment                               reposed      and    is
                                                                   injurious to another.
      Factors   for     abandonment      to
      exists:
      1. the failure to report for work or     Elements of loss of trust and confidence
         absence without a valid of
                                                  1. the loss of confidence must not
         justifiable reason
                                                     be simulated
      2. clear intention to severe
                                                  2. it should not be used as a
      3. the          employer-employee
                                                     subterfuge for causes which are
         relationship , with the second
                                                     illegal, improper or unjustified
         element       as    the     more
                                                  3. it may not be arbitrarily asserted
         determinative factor being
                                                     in the face of overwhelming
         manifested by some overt
                                                     evidence to the contrary
         acts
                                                  4. it must be genuine, not a mere
                                                     afterthought, to justify earlier
                -     for abandonment to
                                                     action taken in bad faith
                      constitute a valid
                                                  5. the employee involved holds a
                      cause              for
                                                     position of trust and confidence
                      termination         of
                      employment, there
                                                               -   point of view of the
                      must        be       a
                                                                   employer
                      deliberate,
                      unjustified refusal of
                      the employee to
                      resume             his      1. the act is not ordinary but wilful
                      employment.                    breach of trust
                                                  2. it is work-related as to expose the
      Gross Negligence                               employee as unfit to continue
                                                     working
                -     implies a want or
                      absence of or failure    Commission of a Crime or Offense
                      to exercise slight       Against the Employer or Any
                      care or diligence or
Immediate Member of his Family or
Authorized Representatives
Other Analogous Cases
Requisites:
   1. there must be an act or omission
      similar to those specified just
      causes
   2. the act or omission must be
      voluntary and/or wilful on the part
      of the employer