Kung ano-anong SHIT sa Labor Standards General Principles and Concepts
Asiong Salonga
General Principles and Concepts
A Introduction
Meaning of Labor
In its limited concept, the labor refers to
physical or mental exertion necessary to
produce goods. In its broader concept, it may
include the labor force who are employed or
those who are able and willing to work but
temporarily or involuntary unemployed.
Manpower is defined in the Code is within
the context of labor, that is, the portion of the
nations population which has actual or
potential capability to contribute to the
production of goods and services.
Meaning of labor law
Labor law includes all the rules of law
governing the conditions under which persons
may work under the control of others called
employers.
These laws are designed to look more
on the immediate results of employer-
employee relationship
Labor law it is a body of rules and principles
which governs the relation between labor and
management in the collective, as distinguished
from the principles determining the rights and
liabilities consequent to the individual
relationship of employer and employees.
2 parts of labor law
1. Labor standards prescribe the
terms and conditions of employment as
affecting wages or monetary benefits,
hours of work, cost of living
allowances, and occupational health,
safety and welfare of the workers.
2. Labor relations is used to denote all
matters arising out of employer-
employee relationship involving the
concerted action on the part of the
workers which is usually related with
Protektado ni:
right to self-organization, collective 6. Labor standards legislations Those
bargaining and negotiation process. passed prescribing minimum
requirements relating to wages, hours
Meaning of social legislation of work, cost of living allowances, and
other monetary and welfare benefits
Social legislation is a law governing including occupational, safety and
employer-employee relationship while the health standards2
latter is not at work due to hazards beyond
his control arising from employment which Labor law and social legislation
immobilize him from working. distinguished
It is designed to uplift and protect the welfare Labor law Social legislation
of the worker and his family, on account of the More direct in its Governs the effects of
effects of employment such as diseases, application as it employment such as
injuries, disabilities or death. affects directly actual compensation for
employment such as injuries and death
R.A. 7641 is a social legislation1 wages
Designed to meet the Involves long-range
Taxonomy of labor laws daily needs of a benefits
worker
1. Protective legislations designed to Covers employment Covers employment
protect the weaker party in an or profit or gain gain or non-profit
employment contract such as laws
Affects the work of the Affects the life of
protecting women against
employee employee
discrimination or child-labor.
Benefits are paid by Benefits are paid by
2. Welfare or social legislations intended
the workers employer the government
to remove or reduce the insecurity of
agencies
the workers such as laws on social
administering the
security, employees compensation or
program such as the
laws that provide benefits to a worker
Employees
while he is not at work because of
Compensation
the hazards of employment.
Commission
3. Diplomatic legislations designed to
settle labor disputes through peaceful Narrow in scope Broader in scope
modes such as laws providing for
conciliation, mediation, grievance Capsule history of Philippine labor and
machinery or voluntary arbitration. social legislation
4. Administrative legislations laws
creating labor bodies and agencies for 1. Spanish regime labor laws and
administrative purposes such as DOLE, social legislations are found in:
POEA, NLRC or TESDA. a. Old Civil Code (Art. 1583
5. Labor relations legislations passed 1587) regulating the relations
concerning employee organization, between master and domestic
concerted activities, or collective servant
bargaining or negotiation activities. It b. Code of Commerce (Art. 283 -
includes unfair labor practices 302) regulated the relations
committed by the employer or the between employer and
union. employee
2. American regime
1 2
Oro Enterprise v. NLRC Maternity Childrens Hospital v. Sec. of Labor
Kung ano-anong SHIT sa Labor Standards General Principles and Concepts
Asiong Salonga
a.Chinese Registry Act
b.Employers Liability Act
c.Act. No. 2549 of 1916
d.Women and Child Labor law of
1932
e. Workmens Compensation Act
f. Anti-Slavery Law
g. Acts on Payment of Wages
h. Private Employment Agency
Law
3. Manuel Quezon 1935
a. CA 103 Creating the Court of
Industrial relations
b. CA 444 - Eight Hour Labor law
c. CA 104 Industrial Safety Law
d. CA 213 Union Registration Act
e. CA 647 granting maternity
leave to women in service
4. Philippine Republic
a. RA 602 Minimum Wage Law
b. RA 1052 as amended by RA
1787 Termination Pay Law
c. RA 946 Blue Sunday Law
d. RA 875 Industrial Peace Act
e. RA 1167 Peaceful Picketing
Law
f. RA 3600 Anti-Scab Law
These were bolstered by the following welfare
legislations:
a. RA 1161 Social Security Law
b. RA 1169 as amended Agricultural
Tenacy Law
c. RA 3844 Agricultural Land Reform
Code
5. Martial Law
a. P.D. 2 Declaration of the
Philippines as a land reform
area
b. P.D. 27 Emancipation Decree
Labor Code of the Philippines
Signed by the President on May 1, 1974
Took effect on November 1, 1974
It will serve as the bible of the
workingmen and their shield at the
Protektado ni:
same time against the arbitrary and
abusive practices of management. Legal bases of labor and social legislation
Purpose of labor legislations 1. Police power
2. Social Justice Clause
The state, in the exercise of its police 3. Protection to Labor Clause
power should enact wholesome and 4. Doctrine of Incorporation Clause
reasonable laws to preclude a feeling of 5. Social Service Clause
discontent which may lead to violent 6. Full Employment Clause
and bloody upheavals among workers 7. Freedom from Poverty Clause
who constitute the bulk of the 8. Freedom of Association Clause
population of the state3 9. Due Process and Equal Protection
Labor legislation is intended to protect Clause
the worker from the mighty and to
correct the injustices that are inherent A. Police Power
in employer-employee relationship.
It provides the set of restrictions upon
the worker in his relationship with the Meaning of police power
employer and vice-versa in order to
maintain industrial peace and Police power is based on two Latin Maxims:
harmony; thereby promoting industrial 1. Salus populi est suprema lex the
democracy. welfare of the people is the supreme
law
It promotes the welfare of the people
2. Sic utere tuo ut alienum non laedas
salus populi est suprema lex.
so use your own as not to injure
anothers property
Sources of labor laws
Extents and limits of police power
Primary sources
Police power includes everything essential
1. Constitution
to the public safety, health, morals, to justify
2. Legislations passed by Congress
the destruction or abatement by summary
3. Decisions of the SC
proceedings of whatever may be regarded as a
4. IRR of the DOLE
public nuisance4
5. Decision of quasi-judicial bodies such
as the NLRC
Conditions to justify the police power 5
6. ILO conventions
1. The interest of the public generally, as
Auxiliary sources
distinguished from those of a particular
class, require such interference
1. Opinions of the Secretaries of Labour,
2. Means are reasonably necessary for
Employment and Justice
the accomplishment of the purpose
2. Reports, debates, hearings made and
and not widely oppressive upon
conducted by Congress
individuals.
3. Labor law reviews
4. Labor law and social legislation
textbooks
Social justification of class legislation
5. Opinions of legal luminaries
6. Foreign laws and decisions.
4
Bavier v. Connoly
3 5
Abalos v. POEA U.S.v. Gomez Jesus
Kung ano-anong SHIT sa Labor Standards General Principles and Concepts
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The principle of equality cannot mean
that all person must under all
circumstances be treated alike, but it
can only mean that equal conditions
must receive equal treatment.
Legislative discrimination is therefore
allowed and in many cases has been
sanctioned provided there is a
reasonable basis for classification.
Right to Property not a limitation to the
exercise
In conflict between property right and
human rights, the primacy of the latter
over the former is recognized although
the Bill of Rights protects both rights6
Expanding scope of police power
The development of civilization, the
rapidly increasing population, the
growth of public opinion, with a desire
on the part of the masses and of the
government to look after and care for
the interests of the individuals of the
State, have brought within the police
power of the State many questions for
regulation which formerly were not
considered7
B. Social Justice clause
Art. 2, Sec. 10. The State shall promote social
justice in all phases of national development
Social justice8
Social justice, neither communism nor
socialism
Communism is an ideology characterized
economically by the States total ownership of
all the means of production and distribution,
and politically by a rigid dictatorial control of
6 11
Marsh v. Alabama
7 12
People v. Pomar
8 13
Calalang v. Williams
an individual under the so-called dictatorship of
the proletariat
Socialism is an economic ideology which
advocates substantial ownership of the means
of production and distribution of the State
Nature of the principle of social justice
It asserts that the well-being and
economic security of all the people is
the end and justice the means
Social justice is not necessary for the
well-being and economic security of
the higher income groups, because
though their own efforts, they can
stand even without governmental help9
The object of the social justice clause is
the common man; his social and
economic uplift is its concern.
Social justice and full protection to
labor guaranteed by the fundamental
charter is not some romantic notion,
high in rhetoric but low in substance 10
Social justice should be a living reality
and not a mere high level abstraction
in the fundamental law11
Social justice tramples not the right of
others; Invoking social justice with clean
hands
Charity and social justice cannot be
properly resorted to trample upon the
rights of others nor to shield
wrongdoings or illegal acts prejudicial
to the rights of property owners who,
under the Constitution are also entitled
to protection12
Those who invoke social justice may do
only if their hands are clean and their
motives blameless13
9 may receive training and education16
Samanillo v. Cruz, C.A.
10
Marcopper Mining Corp. v. NLRC
Magnolia Corp. v. NLRC
PNCCv. NLRC
Gustilo v. Wyeth Phils. Inc.
Protektado ni:
It is never justified to prefer the poor
because they are poor, or to reject the
rich simply because they are rich, for
justice must always be served, for poor
and rich alike, according to the
mandate of the law14
Compassion and mercy subordinate to
justice for all
Before there can be an occasion for
compassion, sympathy and mercy,
there must be justice for all. Otherwise,
employees will be encouraged to steal
and misappropriate in the expectation
that eventually, in the name of social
justice and compassion, they will not
be penalized but instead financially
rewarded15
Justicia nemini neganda est justice is
to be denied to none
The Employees Compensation Law (PD
626) operates on the principle of social
justice, but sympathy to the workers
should be placed in a sensible
equilibrium with the stability of the ECC
trust fund.
Social justice and regulation of property
To achieve social justice, regulation of
wealth and diffusion of wealth are
constitutionally decreed.
Social justice and the State as parens
patriae
Parens patriae
The state may bring suit to protect the
property rights of the people, enforce
charities of a public nature, defend the
interests of helpless infants and
lunatics, or provide for the confinement
of minors in reformatories where they
14
Gelos v. CA
15
SMC v. NLRC
16
Govt of the P.I. v. Monte Piedad
Kung ano-anong SHIT sa Labor Standards General Principles and Concepts
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Concept of laissez faire not fully
embraced; Welfare state concept adopted
Laissez faire is an economic theory based on
non-governmental interference in business or
economic affairs
The Constitution recognizes the
significant role of the private or
business sector; however, it has not
embraced fully the concept of laissez
faire or, otherwise, relied on pure
market forces to govern the economy17
What the Constitution adopted, in lieu
of laissez faire theory, is the welfare
state concept which is manifested in its
provisions such as the principle of
social justice and the protection to
labor clause18
C. Protection to labor clause
Art. XIII, Sec. 3.
All doubts in the implementation and
interpretation of labor laws must be
resolved in favor of labor.
Right to labor, a property right
A man who has been employed to
undertake certain labor and has put
into it his time and effort is entitled to
be protected. The right of a person to
his labor is deemed to be property
within the mantle of constitutional
protection.
Waivers of rights and labor contravene
public policy and are null and void.
It has been held that the acceptance
by the claimant of separation pay and
his signing a renunciation of any other
claim against the company does not
preclude his filing charge for unfair
labor practice; the employers claim of
17
Employers Confederation of the Phils. v. NWPC
18
Alalayan v. NPC
estoppel or laches would be
unavailing19
Capital and labor are indispensable
partners
When the conflicting interests of labor
and capital are weighed on the scales
of social justice, the heavier influence
of the latter must be counterbalanced
by the sympathy and compassion the
law must accord the underprivileged
worker.20
Employers who are more in an
advantageous position than their
employees should be more
compassionate to their workers need
for without them, business would cease
to operate21
Meaning of full employment
Frictional employment unemployment due
to workers having the wrong skills or being
found in wrong places to get the necessary
jobs, full employment still exists.
Full employment is also consistent with
a situation where people who have the
skills refuse to work because they have
more than enough to sustain
themselves.
Full employment those who want
to work at the prevailing rates of pay
are able to find work without undue
difficulty
It covers a situation under which there
are more job openings than there are
job applicants
Unemployment is involuntary
idleness on the part of an employee
who is able and willing to work but
could hardly find one.
19
Phil. Movie Pictures Workers Association v.
Premiere Productions, Inc.
20
Eastern Shipping Lines, Inc. v. POEA
21
Dela Concepcion v. Mindanao Portland Cement
Corp.
Protektado ni:
Significance of full employment
1. It ushers economic gain
2. It promotes social and economic
security
3. It promotes human dignity
4. It is an antidote against revolutionary
ideologies
5. It regulates employers discriminatory
practices
Constitutional rights of workers
1. Right to self-organization
The right to form associations or
societies for purposes not contrary to
law shall not be abridged.
PD 823 encourages unionism and free
collective bargaining within the
framework of arbitration, voluntary or
mandatory.
2. Right to collective bargaining
Employees are enabled to obtain a
relative equality of bargaining power
with the employer, for it compels him
to deal with them as a group rather
than as isolated individuals.
The objective and normal end-result of
collective bargaining is the formation of
a contract, known as Collective
Bargaining Agreement (CBA)
3. Right to security of tenure
The employer shall terminate the
services of an employee for just causes
as provided in the Labor Code or when
authorized by existing law.
Tenure may mean permanent or
regular status granted a worker usually
after a probationary or trial period.
Security of tenure is the right of the
worker to be secure or to continue in
employment until the same is
terminated by authorized or just cause
provided by law.
Kung ano-anong SHIT sa Labor Standards General Principles and Concepts
Asiong Salonga
Not confined to termination, and may
also include unwarranted and
unconsented demotion or transfer.
4. Right to just and humane condition
of work
This right includes:
Right to regular working hours
Right to regular working days
Right to overtime work
Right to weekly rest periods
Right to additional compensation on
scheduled rest day/special holiday
Right to compensation for holiday work
Right to hospitalization;
5. Right to collective negotiations
Collective negotiations unionism in
the government or public sector
Q: May government employees collectively
bargain?
A: Yes, it is a right enshrined in the
constitution.
However, the constitutional record show that
employees in the government sector cannot
collectively bargain on terms and conditions of
employment simply because the same are
fixed by law and determined by civil service
law, rules and regulations.
6. Right to peaceful concerted
activities
Boycott, pickets and strikes provided
that it be conducted in a peaceful
manner.
7. Right to strike
Strike is defined as any temporary
stoppage of work by the concerted
action of employees as a result of any
industrial or labor dispute designed to
compel the employer to accede to
certain demands of the employees
The right to strike must be in
accordance with law.
8. Right to a living wage
Q: Is minimum wage a living wage?
A: Not necessarily. The purpose of minimum
wage is to set a barrier below which wages
may not fall.
Living wage is not a mere subsistence
wage but one sufficient to enable the
worker to live in reasonable comfort; a
wage that can provide him and his
family a decent standard of living.
9. Right to participate in policy and
decision-making processes
principle of shared responsibility,
co-determination, co-sharing or the
doctrine of participatory democracy in
labor relations
Enshrined in RA 6715
The SC held that the company should
allow the union to participate in the
amendment of the companys Code of
Discipline for its provisions have
repercussions on the employees right
to security of tenure22
10. Right to just share in the fruits of
production
The State shall regulate the relations
between workers and employers,
recognizing the right to labor to its just
share in the fruits of production is not
self-executory.
D. Doctrine of Incorporation
22
PAL, Inc. v. NLRC
Protektado ni:
The Philippines adopts the generally
accepted principles of international law
as part of the law of the land
The Philippines, a signatory member of
the United Nations and a party to the
Convention on the Privileges and of the
Specialized Agencies of the UN,
adheres to the doctrine of immunity
granted to the UN and its specialized
agencies23
Limitations on the enactment of labor
legislation
1. Observance of non-impairment of
contracts
There is an impairment when the law
deprives a party to the contract of the
benefits provided therein or changes
the terms of the contract by imposing
new conditions, or dispensing with such
conditions.
XPN: subject to the police power of the
state
Art. 1700. Besides, labor contracts,
being impressed with common
interests, are subject to special laws on
labor unions, collective bargaining
agreements, strikes, lockouts, etc.
2. Observance of non-delegation of
legislative power
The power conferred upon Congress to
make laws cannot be delegated by that
department to any other body or
authority. Where the sovereign power
of the state has located the authority,
there it must remain and by that
constitutional authority alone must the
law be made until the Constitution
itself is changed.
The rule is based on the ethical
principle that delegated power
constitutes not only a right but also a
duty to be performed by the delegate
23
Lasco v. NLRC
Kung ano-anong SHIT sa Labor Standards General Principles and Concepts
Asiong Salonga
through the instrumentality of his own
judgment, acting immediately upon the
matter of legislation and not another. 24
A law empowering a certain body or
agency to decide a controversy based
on justice and equity and on the merits
of the case is a sufficient standard to
guide such body in the determination
of such controversy25
Example: Art. 236(g). Empowers the
Sec. of Labor and Employment to
assume jurisdiction over labor disputes
causing or likely to cause strikes or
lockouts adversely affecting the
national interest and thereafter to
decide or certify the same to the NLRC.
Not unconstitutional26
3. Observance of the constitutional
provision against involuntary
servitude
no involuntary servitude in any form
shall exist except as a punishment for a
crime whereof the party shall have
been duly convicted.
Purpose: to abolish slavery of
whatever name, form, and all its
badges; to render impossible any state
of bondage; to make labor free by
prohibiting control by which the
personal services of one man is
disposed of or coerced for anothers
benefit which is the essence of
involuntary servitude27
XPN: In the exercise of the police
regulation of the state, citizens may be
required to help in the repair of public
highways.
4. Observance of equal protection of
the law
24
U.S. v. Barrias
25
Antamok Gold Fields v. CIR
26
Telephone Workers Union v. The Hon. Minister
27
Bailey v. Alabama
Equal protection means that no
person of class of persons shall be
denied the same protection of the law
which is enjoyed by other classes of
persons under like circumstances, in
their lives, in their liberty, and in their
pursuit of happiness.
GR: Classification violates the very
essence of the principle
o XPN: If the classification is not
capricious or arbitrary but
natural and reasonable, then
the guaranty is not violated
Test of reasonableness:
o It must rest on substantial and
real distinctions
o It must be germane to the
purpose of law
o It must apply to all members of
the same class
A law which suspends court actions for
ejectment for leases covered by such
employee
law does not violate the equal
protection clause. It is a police power
legislation intended to remedy the
situation of the lessee28
Constitutional and Statutory Basis
Promotion of the common good
in order to build a just and humane
society and establish a Government
that shall embody our ideals and
aspirations, promote the common
good
Protective service clause
Art. II, Sec. 5. The enjoyment by the people
of the blessings of democracy can be attained
through the maintenance of peace and order,
the protection of life, liberty and property, and
promotion of the general welfare.
Freedom from poverty
28
Gutierrez v. Cantada
Protektado ni:
Art. II, Sec. 9 The State is mandated to free
the people from poverty through policies that
provide adequate social service, promote
employment, a rising standard of living, and an
improved quality of life for all.
Poverty generally means a low status
Freedom of poverty can be attained
only upon full satisfaction of the basic
necessities of life brought about by full
employment, a rising standard of living
and an improved quality of life for all.
Standard and cost of living, distinguished
Standard of living Cost of living
Defined as a social Defined as a social
and economic and economic concept
concept which which deals with how
deals with what much facilities that
facilities are an employee could
needed by an cost in order to
maintain his standard
necessary to assure of living worthy of
himself and his human dignity
family a life worthy
of human dignity
Plane of living the level upon which
an employee actually lives. It
represents his actual expenditures and
his actual consumption of goods and
services.
Escalator clause in the CBA
Escalator clauses - wage rates under
periodically usually with specific rises in the
consumer price index or cost-of-living index,
but prohibit a decrease to reflect a drop in the
cost of living
Purpose: To adjust the monetary features of
the contract to meet inflationary situation
which is robbing the employees of the gains
they have previously made of any of the fruits
of their increasing productivity.
Promotion of human dignity
Kung ano-anong SHIT sa Labor Standards General Principles and Concepts
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Art. II, Sec. 11. The State values the dignity
of every human person and guarantees full
respect for human rights.
In a democracy, the preservation and
enhancement of the dignity and worth
of the human personality is the central
core as well as the cardinal article of
faith of our civilization 29
Constitutional provisions protecting
labor are in line with the predominant
thinking all over the world
safeguarding human dignity30
The view that the pay or compensation
of the worker for his toil should be the
topmost priority in the scale of values,
which view is anchored on the worth
and dignity of the human person, is
reiterated.31
Principle of distributive justice
Art. XII, Sec. 6. The use of property bears a
social function, and all economic agents shall
contribute to the common good. Individuals
and private groups, including corporations,
cooperatives, and similar collective
organizations, shall have the right to own,
establish, and operate economic enterprises,
subject to the duty of the State to promote
distributive justice and to intervene when the
common good so demands.
To effect the above provisions: Art XIII,
Sec. 1. The Congress shall give highest priority
to the enactment of measures that protect and
enhance the right of all the people to human
dignity, reduce social, economic, and political
inequalities, and remove cultural inequities by
equitably diffusing wealth and political power
for the common good.
To this end, the State shall regulate the
acquisition, ownership, use, and disposition of
property and its increments.
29
PBM Employees Organization v. PBM Co., Inc.
30
Central Textile Mills, Inc. v. NLRC
31
DBP v. NLRC
Freedom of initiative and self-reliance
Art. XII, Sec. 2. The promotion of social
justice shall include the commitment to create
economic opportunities based on freedom of
initiative and self-reliance
Right to due process
No person shall be deprived of life,
liberty, or property without due process
of law, nor shall any person be denied
the equal protection of the laws
Due process of law is synonymous with
law of the land
o A law which hears before it
condemns
o Which proceeds upon inquiry,
and
o Renders judgment only after
trial
Audie alteram partem no man should
be condemned unheard
It is incumbent upon the employer to
conduct a formal investigation and
inform him of the specific charges
against him. The employer must be
reminded that, under our system of
government, even the most hardened
criminals are given their day in court.
The twin requirement of notice and
hearing constitutes essential elements
of due process which cannot be
dispensed without running afoul of the
due process requirement of the
Constitution.32
Right to equal protection of the law
See Observance of the equal
protection of the law
The equal protection clause extends
only to civil rights. It does not extend
to rights which are political or which
arises from the form of government
and its mode of administration33
32
Century Textile Mills, Inc., et. al. v. NLRC, et. al.
33
Ex Parte Virginia
Protektado ni:
Aliens cannot invoke denial of equal
protection against the prohibition that
they cannot exercise the right of
suffrage, engage in business reserved
for Filipinos, and hold public office.
Equal protection is designed to
safeguard against acts of the State and
not against the conduct of private
individuals or persons; it does not add
anything to the right which a citizen
has against another under the
Constitution. The right of equal
protection is a restraint on all three
grand departments of government and
on the subordinate instrumentalities
and subdivisions thereof34
Art. 245, as amended by EO 111.
Employees of government
corporations established under the
Corporation Code shall have the right
to organize and to bargain collectively
with their respective employers. All
other employees in the civil service
shall have the right to form
associations for purposes not contrary
to law.
Q: Do rights to organize and negotiate in
the government sector include the right
to strike?
A: No. The government as an employer
assumes that since it represents the sovereign
power, it must reserve the right to determine
the terms and conditions of employment under
which its employees work.
A strike of govt employees which
results from dissatisfaction over
wages, hours of work and other
working conditions becomes, un the
light of the principle of State
sovereignty, an insurrection against
public authority
Government employees and employees in the
private sector, distinguished
34
People v. Vera
Kung ano-anong SHIT sa Labor Standards General Principles and Concepts Protektado ni:
Asiong Salonga
Government Employees in the Right against involuntary servitude 3. Peonage is service of the peon to
employees private sector another on account of an enforced
The government is Private enterprise is Art. III, Sec. 18. No involuntary servitude in indebtedness, usually arising from
established to created for profit or any form shall exist except as a punishment for advances made by an employer in the
promote the gain a crime whereof the party shall have been duly form of food, clothing, housing or
common good convicted. transportation
Terms and Employment in the 4. Padrone system Is one where the
conditions in govt private sector is Art. 272. The RPC penalizes anyone workers are employed through their
employment are governed by labor who shall purchase, kidnap, or detain a leader known as the padroni who
fixed by law and laws and the collective human being for the purpose of advances transportation charges and
governed by civil bargaining enslaving him supplies food and clothing for them. In
service law Art. 273. It also penalizes any person return for these services, the worker
Public funds are Funds are contributed who, under the pretext of reimbursing agrees to serve any employer with
appropriated by private individuals himself a debt incurred by an whom the padroni had contracted to
pursuant to law or institutions ascendant, guardian or person sell a workers labor38
enacted by entrusted with the custody of a minor,
Congress shall against the latters will, retain Right against imprisonment for debt
The doctrine of Private entity does not him in his service.
Art. III, Sec. 20. No person shall be
State sovereignty possess sovereign will
XPN: imprisoned for debt or non-payment of a poll
which underlies the
tax
existence of all
governments based 1. When involuntary servitude is imposed
on salus populi est as a punishment for a crime whereof Conversion of the monetary indemnity
suprema lex the party shall have been duly imposed as part of criminal liability into
convicted; subsidiary imprisonment does not
2. When the citizens are required to violate the prohibition of imprisonment
It is noteworthy that the right to form
render personal military or civil service; foe debt, obligation to indemnity being
and join associations and unions is not
3. It does not apply to an ordinary case of ex-contractu not ex-delicto.
absolute or unlimited. Thus, if a person
restraint of personal liberty, such as
accepts employment that falls under
the obligation of the child to his Capital-labor relations impressed with
the civil service law and his employer
parents public interest
performs governmental function, he
4. In the exercise of the police regulation
may resort to and exercise the right to
of the state or citizen, citizens may be Art. 1700 to 1712 of the Civil Code
strike because that is prohibited by
law.
required to help for the repair of public Labor contracts are not merely
highways and streets36 contracts because they are impressed
5. It does not apply to exceptional with public interest
Right to free access to the courts
service, such as military or naval
enlistment37 Principle of non-oppression
Art. III, Sec. 11. Free access to the courts and
quasi-judicial bodies and adequate legal
Forms of involuntary servitude Art. 1702. Neither capital nor labor
assistance shall not be denied to any person by
reason of poverty. shall act oppressively against the
1. Servitude denotes a condition of other, or impair the interest or
voluntary or compulsory subjection of a convenience of the public.
Without this provision, a person is still
person to a master The law, in protecting the rights of the
entitled to free access to courts by 2. Slavery or bondage is the entire labourer, authorizes neither oppression
reason of the due process and equal subjection of one to another nor self-destruction of the employer39
protection clause of the Constitution35

36 38
Henley v. State Rubi v. Provincial Board of Mindoro
35 37 39
Barbier v. Connolly Robertson v. Baldwin Colgate-Palmolive Philippines, Inc. v. Ople
Kung ano-anong SHIT sa Labor Standards General Principles and Concepts
Asiong Salonga
The employer may be liable for
damages if, in terminating the
employment, it also committed an anti-
social and oppressive abuse of its right
to investigate and dismiss its employee
in violation of Art. 1701 of the Civil
Code which prohibits oppression by
either capital or labor against the
other40
As a measure of self-protection against
acts inimical to its interest, a company
has the right to dismiss its erring
employees. The law does not impose
unjust situations on either labor or
management41
To require a company to continue being
generous when it is no longer in a
position to do so would certainly be
unduly oppressive, unfair and most
revolting42
Principle of liberal construction in favour
of labor
Art. 1702. in case of doubt, all labor
legislations and all labor contracts shall
be construed in favour of the safety
and decent living for the labourer
Applies only when there is doubt
Verba legis non est recedendum from
the words of the statute there can be
no departure
While the Constitution is committed to
the policy of social justice and the
protection of the working class, it
should not be supposed that every
labor dispute will be automatically
decided in favour of labor.
Management also has its own rights
which are entitled to respect and
enforcement in the interest of simple
fair play43
Labor wages not subject to execution
40
Hilario v. NLRC
41
Mercury Drug Corp. v. NLRC
42
North Davao Mining Corp. v. NLRC
43
Mercury Drug Corp. v. NLRC
Protektado ni:
Art. 1708. the laborers wages shall not be
subject to execution or attachment, except for
debts incurred for food, shelter, clothing and
medical attendance.
XPN: debts incurred for food, shelter, clothing
and medical attendance
It is settled that earned salaries of
government employees still in the
hands of public officers cannot be
garnished until they are paid to the
employees for to do otherwise would
violate the rule on non-suability of the
State44
Salaries of employees in the private
sector can be subject to garnishment
or attachment45
Employer cannot retain laborers tool
Art. 1709. the employer shall neither seize
nor retain any tool or other articles belonging
to the labourer.
Dismissal of an employee must be
done without abuse of discretion. The
right of an employer to freely select or
discharge his employees is regulated
by the State, because the preservation
of the lives of the citizens is a basic
duty of the State, more vital than the
preservation of corporate profit46
LIFO rule last in, first out. In
absence of LIFO, the method shall yield
to the sound discretion of the
management47
44
Dir. of Commerce and Industry v. Concepcion
45
Gaa v. CA
46
Esmalin v. NLRC
47
Maya Farms Employees Org. v. NLRC