Odango v. NLRC

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Odango vs NLRC
G.R. No. 147420
June 10, 2004

Facts:

Petitioners are monthly-paid employees of ANTECO whose workdays are from Monday to Friday and half of Saturday. After a routine inspection, the Regional Branch of the Department of Labor and Employment ("DOLE") found ANTECO liable for underpayment of the monthly salaries of its employees.

On 10 September 1989, the DOLE directed ANTECO to pay its employees wage differentials amounting to P1,427,412.75. ANTECO failed to pay.

On 29 November 1996, the Labor Arbiter rendered a Decision in favor of petitioners granting them wage differentials amounting to P1,017,507.73 and attorney’s fees of 10%. Florentino Tongson, whose case the Labor Arbiter dismissed, was the sole exception.

The Labor Arbiter’s Ruling

The Labor Arbiter reasoned that ANTECO failed to refute petitioners’ argument that monthly-paid employees are considered paid for all the days in a month under Section 2, Rule IV of Book 3 of the Implementing Rules of the Labor Code ("Section 2").5 Petitioners claim that this includes not only the 10 legal holidays, but also their un-worked half of Saturdays and all of Sundays.

The Labor Arbiter gave credence to petitioners’ arguments on the computation of their wages based on the 304 divisor used by ANTECO in converting the leave credits of its employees. The Labor Arbiter agreed with petitioners that ANTECO’s use of 304 as divisor is an admission that it is paying its employees for only 304 days a year instead of the 365 days as specified in Section 2. The Labor Arbiter concluded that ANTECO owed its employees the wages for 61 days, the difference between 365 and 304, for every year.

The NLRC’s Ruling

On appeal, the NLRC reversed the Labor Arbiter’s ruling that ANTECO underpaid its employees. The NLRC pointed out that the Labor Arbiter’s own computation showed that the daily wage rates of ANTECO’s employees were above the minimum daily wage of P124.The lowest paid employee of ANTECO was then receiving a monthly wage of P3,788.

The NLRC applied the formula in Section 2 [(Daily Wage Rate = (Wage x 12)/365)] to the monthly wage of P3,788 to arrive at a daily wage rate of P124.54, an amount clearly above the minimum wage.

The NLRC noted that while the reasoning in the body of the Labor Arbiter’s decision supported the view that ANTECO did not underpay, the conclusion arrived at was the opposite. Finally, the NLRC ruled that the use of 304 as a divisor in converting leave credits is more favorable to the employees since a lower divisor yields a higher rate of pay.

The Ruling of the Court of Appeals

The Court of Appeals held that the petition was insufficient in form and substance since it "does not allege the essential requirements of the extra-ordinary special action of certiorari." The Court of Appeals faulted petitioners for failing to recite "where and in what specific instance public respondent abused its discretion." The appellate court characterized the allegations in the petition as "sweeping" and clearly falling short of the requirement of Section 3, Rule 46 of the Rules of Court.

Issues:

Whether the court is correct in dismissing the case and whether the petitioners are entitled to their money claim?

Held:

We agree with the Court of Appeals that nowhere in the petition is there any acceptable demonstration that the NLRC acted either with grave abuse of discretion or without or in excess of its jurisdiction. Petitioners merely stated generalizations and conclusions of law. Rather than discussing how the NLRC acted capriciously, petitioners resorted to a litany of generalizations.

Petitioners claim that the Court of Appeals gravely erred in denying their claim for wage differentials. Petitioners base their claim on Section 2, Rule IV of Book III of the Omnibus Rules Implementing the Labor Code. Petitioners argue that under this provision monthly-paid employees are considered paid for all days of the month including un-worked days. Petitioners assert that they should be paid for all the 365days in a year. They argue that since in the computation of leave credits, ANTECO uses a divisor of 304, ANTECO is not paying them 61 days every year.

Thus, petitioners’ claim is without basis.