Chester Cabalza recommends his visitors to please read the original & full text of the case cited. Xie xie!
G.R. No. L-62909 April 18, 1989
HYDRO RESOURCES CONTRACTORS CORPORATION, petitioner,
vs.
LABOR ARBITER ADRIAN N. PAGALILAUAN and the NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS COMMISSION, public respondents, and ROGELIO A. ABAN, private respondent.
Facts:
Petitioner corporation hired the private respondent Aban as its "Legal Assistant” and received basic monthly salary of Pl,500.00 plus an initial living allowance of P50.00 which gradually increased to P320.00. On September 4, 1980, Aban received a letter from the corporation informing him that he would be considered terminated effective October 4, 1980 because of his alleged failure to perform his duties well.
Aban filed a complaint against the petitioner for illegal dismissal. The labor arbiter ruled that Aban was illegally dismissed. This ruling was affirmed by the NLRC on appeal. Hence, this present petition.
Issue:
Whether or not there was an employer-employee relationship between the petitioner corporation and Aban.
Held:
The Supreme Court dismissed the petition for lack of merit, and reinstate Aban to his former or a similar position without loss of seniority rights and to pay three (3) years backwages without qualification or deduction and P5,000.00 in attorney's fees. Should reinstatement not be feasible, the petitioner shall pay the private respondent termination benefits in addition to the above stated three years backpay and P5,000.00 attorney's fees.
A lawyer, like any other professional, may very well be an employee of a private corporation or even of the government. This Court has consistently ruled that the determination of whether or not there is an employer-employee relation depends upon four standards: (1) the manner of selection and engagement of the putative employee; (2) the mode of payment of wages; (3) the presence or absence of a power of dismissal; and (4) the presence or absence of a power to control the putative employee's conduct. Of the four, the right-of-control test has been held to be the decisive factor.
In this case, Aban received basic salary plus living allowance, worked solely for the petitioner, dealt only with legal matters involving the said corporation and its employees and also assisted the Personnel Officer in processing appointment papers of employees which is not act of a lawyer in the exercise of his profession. These facts showed that petitioner has the power to hire and fire the respondent employee and more important, exercised control over Aban by defining the duties and functions of his work which met the four standards in determining whether or not there is an employee-employer relationship.
Acknowledgement: Barbie Pinos
5 comments:
mr. chester cabalaza gusto ko lng malaman kung ang hydro resources cop. ay nag ooperate pa kc ho nung namatay ang tatay ko ay may naihulog sya na pera sa sss pero nung mag claim na kami ay wala dw inihulog ang hydro, may katunayan kami na may sss deduction sya sa pay slip nya,sana po ay matulungan mo po kami, anu po ba contact no. nyu, eto po ang sa akin no. 09496029718. wait ko po respond nyu maraming salamat po.
Maraming salamat sa pagbabasa mo sa aking blog. Sa kaso ng iyong ama maaari mong puntahan ang tanggapan ng SSS para makipagugnayan at tanungin ang inihuhulog na pera ng iyong tatay. Dapat nga may death benefits na maaari nyong nakuha noon.
maraming salamat din po sa respond, nakapunta na po kami sa sss at sabi po sa akin ay walang inihulog ang HYDRO so dapat dw kmi makipag ugnayan sa HYDRO at itanong kung bakit di naihulog, pero may ebidensya sya kami na binawasan ang tatay ko ng sss, nsa akin po ung payslip. Paano ho ba ang dapat kong gawin pasensya na ho sa pangungulit ko, gusto ko lng po kasi makuha yung death benifit ni tatay kasi un lang dw ang maiiwanniya sa amin,tapos may problema pala, wait ko po respond nyu,,at tanung ko langpo kung nag ooperate pa yung HYDRO resources contrators...salamat po wait ko po advice nyu sa akin
Walang anuman Joel. Sa pagkakataong ito, sa Labor arbiter ng DOLE or sa public attorney's office ka manghingi ng linaw tungkol sa iyong kaso, nang sa ganun mabigyan ka ng sapat na laban tungkol sa iyong kaso. Nawa'y nakatulong ako sa iyo at maraming salamat muli. Nawa'y pagpalain ka at ng pamilya mo ng Diyos :-)
salamat po gagawin ko ung payo mo at naway maayus ang aking problema salamat at pagpalain ka ng Maykapal, i uupdate kita kung anu ang mangyayari sa kaso na ito salamat uli
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