Labor Law for Managers & Laymen

“Labor Laws for Managers & Laymen” March 15, 2025 from 9 to 5 pm Via Zoom

I. THE PHILIPPINE LEGAL ENVIRONMENT FOR THE EMPLOYER AND THE EMPLOYEE
A. The Constitution and how it looks at the employer-employee relations, how it treats the labor sector

B. The Labor Code of the Philippines or Presidential Decree No. 442, as amended: the single most important piece of labor legislation

C. Some Basic Rights and Obligations of both the Employee and the Employer Philosophical
underpinnings bearing upon the laws, rules, regulations and principles pertaining to the employer-employee context

II. THE EMPLOYER-EMPLOYEE RELATIONSHIP: WHEN DOES IT START
A. Elements/Conditions determining existence of employer-employee relationship

1. Evidentiary facts of employee status
2. The “Control Test” according to the Supreme Court

B. Who is not an employee: The “Independent Contractor” Guy

1. Legitimate Contracting/Subcontracting vs. Labor-Only Contracting
2. Other Occasions of non-employee status

C. Coverage of the Application of the Labor Code of the Philippines

1. Employees entitled to benefits of provisions on working hours, meal periods, night shift differential, overtime pay, holiday pay, service incentive leave
2. Public and Private employees vis-à-vis provisions on Wages” of the Labor Code

III. TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT: THE HOWS AND WHYS OF DISMISSING EMPLOYEES
A. Security of Tenure: Why an employee cannot just be fired at will

1. Constitutional guarantee on employee’s right to security of tenure
2. The Labor Code’s provision implementing or operationalizing the right to security of tenure enshrined in the Constitution
3. The Due Process Clause and its impact on the decision and process of dismissing an employee from his job

B. Types of employees by whom the nuances of employment termination are brought into focus

1. The Regular Employee: The employee with whom dismissal normally poses legal ramifications
2. The Casual Employee: Is he entitled to security of tenure?
3. The Fixed Period Employee: How terminated
4. The Probationary Employee: Can he be dismissed without a cause

C. Substantive Due Process: the validity of the cause or reason for dismissing an employee

1. The ‘just causes’ of dismissal under the Labor Code or employee-originated grounds for terminating employment
   
   a. Serious Misconduct or Willful Disobedience
   b. Gross/Habitual Neglect of Duties
   c. Loss of Confidence or Fraud
   d. Crime against Employer or his immediate family
   e. Analogous causes
   
   
2. The ‘authorized causes’ of dismissal or business exigencies-related reasons for terminating employment
   
   a. Automation, Redundancy and Retrenchment
   b. Closure or Cessation of Operations
   c. Disease d. Employer’s Obligations to the employee when terminating based on ‘authorized causes’

D. Procedural Due Process: the lawful procedure to effect dismissal of an employee

1. The ‘Twin Notice’ Requirement where dismissal is based on ‘just causes’
2. Procedural requirements if dismissal is due to ‘authorized causes’
3. Consequences from employer’s failure to observe legal procedure in dismissing an employee
4. The Forms or Formats in effectuating termination of employment whether based on ‘just causes’ or ‘authorized causes’

E. The Illegal Dismissal Complaint: the employee’s counter-response to employment termination

1. Legal ramifications of the filing of a formal complaint for illegal dismissal
2. Judgment finding employee’s dismissal illegal: consequences
3. Constructive Dismissal: What is it as opposed to Voluntary Resignation

IV. THE DYNAMICS OF ENFORCING EMPLOYEE DISCIPLINE, ADMINISTERING AFFAIRS CONCERNING PERSONNEL AND EFFECTUATING EMPLOYMENT TERMINATION
A. Ethics in running a business organization: Business Ethics
B. The Necessity for a Company Code of Conduct: Some Recommendations