Labor Rev: Introduction
INTRODUCTION
LABOR LAW CONCEPTS, CONTEXT, AND AIMS
1. LABOR LEGISLATION: DEFINITIONS
Labor legislation consists of statutes, regulations and jurisprudence governing the relations between capital and labor, by providing for:
certain employment standards and
a legal framework for defining, adjusting and administering the standards and other incidents of employment or related productive work relationships.
The above definition shows that labor legislation is broadly divided into labor standards and labor relations.
Broadly viewed in legal context, "standards" are all matters required or established by law.
Minimum wage set by law is a labor standard; so also are the employees' rights to organize and to retain their jobs until a lawful cause of dismissal occurs. Legal standards, broadly, are norms set by law that must be observed, or else, the act is "substandard," i.e., unlawful.
In short, labor standards refer to terms and conditions of employment that employers must comply with and to which employees are entitled as a matter of legal right.
Labor standards, as defined more specifically by jurisprudence, are the minimum requirements prescribed by existing laws, rules and regulations relating to wages, hours of work, cost-of-living allowance, and other monetary and welfare benefits, including occupational, safety, and health standards.
Maternity Children's Hospital vs. Secretary of Labor, G.R. No. 78909, June 30, 1989:
Employees of Maternity Children’s Hospital filed a complaint with the Regional Director of Labor and Employment, Region X, alleging underpayment of salaries and Emergency Cost-of-Living Allowances (ECOLAs). The Supreme Court held that the Regional Director does have jurisdiction in labor standards cases under Article 128-b, empowered to enforce compliance and adjudicate money claims when an employer–employee relationship still exists and findings are uncontested.
Relevance: Labor standards are minimum mandates that employers must comply with and enforcement mechanisms (like those vested in the Regional Director) operate to uphold these basic rights effectively.
Labor relations law, on the other hand, covers the status, rights and duties, and the institutional mechanisms that govern the individual and collective interactions of employers, employees or their representatives.
Issues about employment tenure and termination fall in the area of labor relations.
The Supreme Court itself, in a decision penned by a former labor secretary, said: “It is an elementary rule in the law on labor relations that even a probationary employee is entitled to security of tenure.”
Sameer Overseas Placement Agency, Inc. vs. NLRC and P. Endozo, G.R. No. 132564, October 20, 1999:
Priscila Endozo was deployed to Taiwan as a domestic helper under a 1-year contract, with a 6-month probationary period, and required to pay P30,000 (no receipt issued). She began working, but was terminated for “incompetence” after just 11 days. The Court ruled that “even a probationary employee is entitled to security of tenure.” Termination is allowed only for (1) a just cause, or (2) when he fails to qualify as a regular employee in accordance with reasonable standards made known by the employer to the employee at the time of his engagement.
Even prior to the Labor Code, when labor laws were scattered in more than 60 statutes, employment termination was treated academically as a subject in labor relations. For instance, writers Perfecto V. Fernandez and Camilo D. Quiazon took up the subject of employee dismissal in their Volume I titled "Labor Relations" and not in Volume II "Labor Standards" (1963 and 1964 editions).
In practice, in many private business firms, the line between labor standards and labor relations is not an issue except perhaps to identify the specialization of staff in the human resource department. To cover both labor standards and labor relations, including motivational and developmental programs, the name "employment relations" is used, all covered by "employment law."
Although the distinction between labor standards and labor relations is useful for academic purposes, they in reality overlap. For instance, the grievance machinery (the in-house method to resolve usually an employee's complaint) is a labor relations mechanism, but very often the subject of the complaint is labor standards such as unpaid overtime work or a disciplinary action.
Figuratively, one may think of labor standards as the material or the substance to be processed while labor relations is the mechanism that processes the substance.
The Philippines' "labor relations law" is simply called "labor law" in most US universities; our "labor standards law" roughly corresponds to US "employment law." Labor management relations cover a broad spectrum of activities which concern the relationship of employees to employers both union and non-union.
Is "labor" different from "industrial" relations?
Again, the question is largely theoretical. Some academics use labor relations to refer to situations involving unionized companies and industrial relations for non-unionized ones, or labor relations to refer to matters internal to the labor sector and industrial relations to management-labor interactions. The two terms are, practically, interchangeable.
"Labor," in ordinary signification, is understood as physical toil although it does not necessarily exclude the application of skill, thus there is skilled and unskilled labor.
"Skill," by dictionary definition, is the familiar knowledge of any art or science, united with readiness and dexterity in execution or performance or in the application of the art or science to practical purposes.
"Work" is broader than "labor" as "work" covers all forms of physical or mental exertion, or both combined, for the attainment of some object other than recreation or amusement per se.
For this reason, "worker" is broader than "employee," as "workers" may refer to self-employed people and those working in the service and under the control of another, regardless of rank, title, or nature of work. A messenger, as well as a manager, is a worker. In fact, under Article 13 of the Labor Code, any member of the labor force, whether employed or unemployed, is a "worker."
1.1 Essentiality of Employer-Employee Relationship
Before going any further, we have to stress a basic point.
Entitlement to protection of or benefits from labor laws requires the existence of employer-employee relationship. ("Em-Rel" for short).
That is, the worker has to be an employee, but not every worker is an employee.
"Employee" is a salaried person working for another who controls or supervises the means, manner or method of doing the work.
For now, it should be pointed out that "Em-Rel" must exist so that the worker becomes an "employee" covered by labor laws and company regulations.
Distinguishing an employee from a non-employee is not an easy matter.
The distinction carries significant effects, and this we will begin to see in Book III.
1.2 Labor Law and Social Legislation
Distinction exists between "labor law" and "social legislation" but it is not easy to delineate. No law dictionary, local or foreign, defines "social legislation." But a definition is called for.
We define social legislation as those laws that provide particular kinds of protection or benefits to society or segments thereof in furtherance of social justice.
In that sense, labor laws are necessarily social legislation.
Agrarian reform law is a social legislation, so is the law providing for a social security system.
The Labor Code provisions on State Insurance Fund to cover work-related injuries and occupational diseases are, likewise, pieces of social legislation.
Insisting to differentiate, some authors contend that "labor laws" directly affect employment while "social legislation" governs effects of employment. This insistence hardly makes things clear. For instance, it is hardly defensible to say that emergency medical treatment rendered at the worksite to a worker is covered by "labor law" but not by social legislation, while medical treatment rendered outside the workplace to the same person for the same injury involves a "social legislation" but not a labor law. Specifically, how can one say that medical treatment under Article 162 of the Labor Code is labor law but not social legislation, while sickness benefit under Section 14 of the Social Security Law is social legislation but not labor law?
If distinction must be stressed at all, it is simply in the sense that labor laws are social legislation but not all social legislations are labor laws. In other words, in relation to each other, social legislation as a concept is broader, labor laws narrower.
2. LABOR LAW OBJECTIVES: CONSTITUTIONAL GOAL OF FREEDOM FROM POVERTY
What are labor laws for? Why do labor laws exist?
The Labor Code does not say, but the Constitution supplies the answer.
The aim and the reason and, therefore, the justification of labor laws is social justice.
Social justice is best seen in poverty alleviation.
Our 1987 Constitution gives fundamental significance to social justice.
In Article II, Section 9 (Declaration of Principles and State Policies) provides that:
The State shall promote a just and dynamic social order that will ensure the prosperity and independence of the nation and free the people from poverty.
How may freedom from poverty happen? The Article says: through policies that —
provide adequate social services,
promote full employment,
a rising standard of living, and
improved quality of life for all.
The Constitution in Article XII, Section 1 further declares that the goals of the national economy are
a more equitable distribution of opportunities, income and wealth;
a sustained increase in the amount of goods and services produced by the nation for the benefit of the people; and
expanding productivity as the key to raising the quality of life for all, especially the underprivileged.
Calalang v. Williams, 70 Phil. 726 (1940):
Social justice, according to Dr. Jose P. Laurel, is neither communism, nor despotism, nor atomism nor anarchy, but the humanization of laws and the equalization of social and economic forces by the State so that justice in its rational and objectively secular conception may at least be approximated. Social justice means the promotion of the welfare of all the people, the adoption by the Government of measures calculated to ensure economic stability of all the component elements of society through the maintenance of proper economic and social equilibrium in the interrelations of the members of the community, constitutionally, through the adoption of measures legally justifiable, or extra-constitutionally, through the exercise of powers underlying the existence of all governments, on the time-honored principle of salus populi est suprema lex.
Background: Maximo Calalang, a private citizen and taxpayer, sought to prohibit enforcement of a regulation that banned animal-drawn vehicles, including kalesas, from certain streets in Manila for a year. Calalang argued that it violated the constitutional mandate to promote social justice, which safeguards the well-being and economic security of the people. The Supreme Court upheld the regulation and ruled that it did not violate social justice.
Guido vs. Rural Progress Administration, L-2089, October 31, 1949:
Social justice does not champion division of property or equality of economic status; what it and the Constitution do guarantee are equality of opportunity, equality of political rights, equality before the law, equality between values given and received, and equitable sharing of the social and material goods on the basis of efforts exerted in their production.
In essence, social justice is both a juridical principle and societal goal.
As a juridical principle, it prescribes equality of the people, rich or poor, before the law.
As a societal goal, it means the attainment of a decent quality of life of the masses through humane productive efforts.
The process and the goal are inseparable because one is the synergistic cause and effect of the other. Legal equality opens opportunities that strengthen equality, and equality allows more opportunities.
To give social justice a human face, we can visualize it as legal and economic equality best manifested in freedom from poverty. Visible alleviation of poverty is the best evidence of social justice. It begins with free and easy access to education and economic opportunities. Lack of education and poverty perpetuate each other, one causing the other.
The role and justification of our labor laws have to be judged by their contribution to the distribution of wealth.
3. CONSTITUTIONAL BASIS
The Constitution, our Supreme Law, prescribes the boundaries of labor and social laws because the country's economic system and governance are inscribed in the national constitution.
One of our first constitutionalists, Justice George Malcolm, explains that "the fundamental conception [of a constitution] is that of a supreme law, expressed in written form, in accordance with which all private rights must be determined and all public authority administered."
The Philippine Constitution, for instance, allows property ownership including establishments of private business, and the "right of businesses to expansion and growth." At the same time, the Constitution recognizes labor as a primary economic force entitled to equal protection of the laws.
These key constitutional provisions recognize that some Filipinos can have privately owned properties — even vast tracts of private lands along the main boulevard of the metropolis. But millions of other Filipinos have nothing. And the disparity worsens. Some are wealthy, very wealthy; others are poor, very poor.
Article II – Declaration of Principles and State Policies
Sec. 9 – The State shall promote a just and dynamic social order that will ensure the prosperity and independence of the nation and free the people from poverty through policies that provide adequate social services, promote full employment, a rising standard of living, and an improved quality of life for all.
Sec. 10 – The State shall promote social justice in all phases of national development.
Sec. 14 - The State recognizes the role of women in nation-building, and shall ensure the fundamental equality before the law of women and men.
Sec. 18 – The State affirms labor as a primary social economic force. It shall protect the rights of workers and promote their welfare.
Sec. 20 – The State recognizes the indispensable role of the private sector, encourages private enterprise and provides incentives to needed investments.
Article III – Bill of Rights
Sec. 1 - 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.
Sec. 4 – No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances.
Sec. 8 – The right of the people, including those employed in the public and private sectors, to form unions, associations, or societies for purposes not contrary to law shall not be abridged.
Sec. 10 – No law impairing the obligation of contracts shall be passed.
Sec. 16 – All persons shall have the right to a speedy disposition of their cases before all judicial, quasi-judicial or administrative bodies.
Sec. 18(2) – No involuntary servitude in any form shall exist except as a punishment for a crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.
Article XIII – Social Justice and Human Rights
Sec. 2 – The promotion of social justice shall include the commitment to create economic opportunities based on freedom of initiative and self-reliance.
Sec. 3 – The State shall afford full protection to labor, local and overseas, organized and unorganized, and promote full employment and equality of employment opportunities for all. It shall guarantee the rights of all workers to self-organization, collective bargaining and negotiations, and peaceful concerted activities, including the right to strike in accordance with law. They shall be entitled to security of tenure, humane conditions of work, and a living wage. They shall also participate in policy and decision-making processes affecting their rights and benefits as may be provided by law. The State shall promote the principle of shared responsibility between workers and employers and the preferential use of voluntary modes in settling disputes, including conciliation, and shall enforce their mutual compliance therewith to foster industrial peace. The State shall regulate the relations between workers and employers, recognizing the right of labor to its just share in the fruits of production and the right of enterprises to reasonable returns to investments, and to expansion and growth.
Sec. 13 – The State shall establish a special agency for disabled persons for their rehabilitation, self-development and self-reliance and their integration into the mainstream of society.
Sec. 14 – The State shall protect working women by providing safe and healthful working conditions, taking into account their maternal functions, and such facilities and opportunities that will enhance their welfare and enable them to realize their full potential in the service of the nation.
4. PHILIPPINE ECONOMIC SYSTEM
The country's legal system of substantive and procedural law is interlocked with its economic system or the goal, framework, and methods of economic activities.
Economics is more than just a way to see patterns or to unravel puzzling anomalies.
Its fundamental concern is with the material standard of living of society as a whole and how that is affected by particular decisions made by individuals and institutions.
This means that consequences matter more than intentions — and not just the immediate consequences but also the longer-run repercussions of decisions, policies, and institutions.
A government policy that weakens or strengthens the managing ability of businesses is an economic policy.
Every law that promotes or hinders ways for business to expand or grow is an economic policy.
And any law that either extricates the poor or buries the poor in poverty is an economic policy.
Law and economics are not two separate coins.
They are two sides of the same coin and each side consists of thought, expression, and impact with ill-defined lines.
Labor laws are instruments of poverty reduction.
But labor laws are not independent sets of laws; they are embedded in the country's legal and economic system. This is the broad structure that allows but also constricts what labor laws can initiate or pursue.
How may our economic system be characterized?
Geoffrey M. Hodgson, in his magisterial work Conceptualizing Capitalism, mentions private property as the first in his list of the characteristics of capitalism. The legal system supports widespread individual rights and liberties to own, buy, and sell private property.
Widespread is the private ownership of the means of production by firms producing goods or services for sale in the pursuit of profits. Similarly widespread is wage labor and employment contracts in private firms.
Eminent economist Gerardo P. Sicat states that the Philippines follows a capitalist economic system with many features of regulation and welfare laws. He then asserts that this qualifies under the description of mixed economy or regulated capitalism. The basic foundation of the production system is private ownership of enterprises.²
4.1 Private Enterprise
The fundamental specification of goals in our Constitution is followed by equally fundamental provisions that categorically recognize and encourage private enterprises.
on State Policies categorically acknowledges the role of the private sector:
The State recognizes the indispensable role of the private sector, encourages private enterprise, and provides incentives and needed investments.
Creation of opportunities has to be based on initiative, in Article XIII, Section 2:
The promotion of social justice shall include the commitment to create economic opportunities based on freedom of initiative and self-reliance.
Even as the Constitution allows the State to regulate the relations between workers and employers, it recognizes in Article XIII, Section 3:
right of enterprises to reasonable returns on investment and to expansion and growth.
In the pursuit of these goals, all sectors of the economy and all regions of the country shall be given optimum opportunity to develop.
Private enterprises, including corporations, cooperatives, and similar collective organizations, shall be encouraged to broaden the base of their ownership.
Right to Expand and Grow
Interdependence - If labor laws are to serve as labor's protectors, labor laws should as well serve as multipliers of employment opportunities.
Is it legal and just to require the thirteenth-month pay from firms adversely affected by a pandemic?
Right to Manage
Private business is not managed by the government but by the enterprise itself. Government is a regulator, an umpire, but not the manager or the driver of the enterprise.
Labor Code, Art. 218:
To encourage a truly democratic method of regulating the relations between the employers and employees by means of agreements freely entered into through collective bargaining, no court or administrative agency or official shall have the power to set or fix wages, rates of pay, hours of work or other terms and conditions of employment, except as otherwise provided under this Code.
Never Absolute
Philippine Airlines, Inc. vs. Pascua, G.R. No. 143258, Aug 15, 2003:
Joselito Pascua, in his and on behalf of other 79 part-time station attendants, filed with the Department of Labor and Employment a complaint for regularization, underpayment of wages, benefits, and other claims. The Supreme Court held that it must be borne in mind that the exercise of management prerogative is not absolute. While it may be conceded that management is in the best position to know its operational needs, the exercise of management prerogative cannot be utilized to circumvent the law and public policy on labor and social justice. That prerogative accorded management could not defeat the very purpose for which our labor laws exist: to balance the conflicting interests of labor and management, not to tilt the scale in favor of one over the other, but to guarantee that labor and management stand on equal footing when bargaining in good faith with each other. By its very nature, encompassing as it could be, management prerogative must be exercised always with the principles of fair play at heart and justice in mind.
Management Prerogatives
In workplaces, managers often cite "management prerogative" to defend an action or decision.
Does "management prerogative" have a legal standing? Yes.
Does the abuse of rights principle exempt "prerogatives"? No.
Restricted meaning and restricted by:
provisions of law
principles of justice and equity
contractual stipulations
It justifies the suspension of payment of salary but does not justify keeping an employee beyond six months in "'floating status," without work and without pay, without legal justification.
5. LABOR LAW AS CIVIL LAW
Labor laws are part of civil law as labor laws apply to civil rights and relationship in work situations.
Civil law is that broad branch of law or of legal system dealing with the rights and relations of persons as individuals or as members of society.
It covers such subjects as status and relations of persons, inside or outside of the family; property ownership and related rights; obligations of contracts; liabilities for quasi-crimes; damages; contractorships and other commercial arrangements; and prescriptions (time limit to pursue court actions).
Work relations are economic and human relations, and these are basic subjects of the Civil Code (Articles 19 to 36). Hence, civil law applies to workplace relations.
Principle of Abuse of Rights
Art. 19 – Every person must, in the exercise of his rights and in the performance of his duties, act with justice, give everyone his due, and observe honesty and good faith.
It justifies a judging authority to render justice as demanded by the circumstances of the case even in the absence of a written law squarely answering the question at hand. Even a legal right, such as a contract stipulation, if abused, becomes a legal wrong.
Social Security System vs. UbaΓ±a, G.R. No. 200114. August 24, 2015:
Debbie Ubana filed a civil case against Social Security System (SSS) alleging she was employed but not paid the proper salary for her position as a Processor for more than 5 years. There being no employer-employee relation or any other definite or direct contract between respondent and petitioner, the latter being responsible to the former only for the proper payment of wages, respondent is thus justified in filing a case against petitioner, based on Articles 19 and 20 of the Civil Code, to recover the proper salary due her as SSS Processor.
Human Relations
Art. 20 – Every person who, contrary to law, willfully or negligently causes damage to another, shall indemnify the latter for the same.
Art. 21 – Any person who willfully causes loss or injury to another in a manner that is contrary to morals, good customs or public policy shall compensate the latter for the damage.
Art. 24 – In all contractual, property or other relations, when one of the parties is at a disadvantage on account of his moral dependence, ignorance, indigence, mental weakness, tender age or other handicap, the courts must be vigilant for his protection.
Art. 28 – Unfair competition in agricultural, commercial or industrial enterprises or in labor through the use of force, intimidation, deceit, machination or any other unjust, oppressive or highhanded method shall give rise to a right of action by the person who thereby suffers damage.
Our Civil Code calls “Contract of Labor” what is more popularly called today an employment contract. Article 1700 in part states:
The relations between capital and labor are not merely contractual. They are so impressed with public interest that labor contracts must yield to the common good...
On the other hand, independent contractorship is referred to as “Contract for a Piece of Work” covering Articles 1713 to 1731.
Principle of Equity
Art. 9 – No judge or court shall decline to render judgment by reason of the silence, obscurity or insufficiency of the laws.
Art. 10 – In case of doubt in the interpretation or application of the laws, it is presumed that the lawmaking body intended right and justice to prevail.
In Philippine economic or work relations, may the precepts of equity, good faith or honesty be enforced as though they were formal laws? Are those precepts enforceable by court orders?
Cases can be decided on the basis of law or equity.
Equity means a sense of justice or fairness, and Philippine courts are courts of law and/or equity. The two systems of jurisprudence – law and equity – have merged.
Del Monte vs. Betonio, G.R. No. 223485, Dec 4, 2019:
Reynaldo P. Betonio was employed by petitioner Del Monte Fresh Produce (Phil.) Inc. (DMFPPI) as its manager for port operations. An administrative committee found him inefficient in port management but recommended against dismissal. Despite the committee's recommendation, top management issued a notice of disciplinary action terminating Betonio's employment. Applying in this case the concept of equity or the principle of social and compassionate justice to the cause of labor, the Court agrees with the National Labor Relations Commission, that Betonio is entitled to separation pay as a measure of financial assistance. This is in consideration of the fact that Betonio’s dismissal was not due to any act attributable to his moral character.
Principle of Non-Oppression
Art. 1701 – Neither capital nor labor shall act oppressively against the other, or impair the interest or convenience of the public.
Others
Art. 1700 – The relations between capital and labor are not merely contractual. They are so impressed with public interest that labor contracts must yield to the common good. Therefore, such contracts are subject to the special laws on labor unions, collective bargaining, strikes and lock outs, closed-shop, wages, working conditions, hours of labor, and similar subject.
Art. 1702 – In case of doubt, all labor legislation and all labor contracts shall be construed in favor of the safety and decent living for the laborer.
Art. 1703 – No contract which practically amounts to involuntary servitude, under any guise whatsoever, shall be valid.
Art. 1704 – In collective bargaining, the labor union or members of the board or committee signing the contract shall be liable for non-fulfillment thereof.
Art. 1708 – The laborer’s wages shall not be subject to execution or attachment, except for debts incurred for food, shelter, clothing, and medical attendance.
Art. 1709 – The employer shall neither seize nor retain any tool or other articles belonging to the laborer.
Art. 1710 – Dismissal of laborers shall be subject to the supervision of the Government, under special laws.
5.1 Enforceability of Rules of Equity
The Philippine legal system is substantially a mixture of civil law and common law rules and principles.
Spanish colonization planted the civil law system while the American rule brought the common law system into the Philippines.
Laws in the civil law system are mostly written formulations by the legislature, while precepts or principles in the common law system are mostly judge-made rulings that are based on and retained in mores and traditions.
But the written rules (or statutes) and the unwritten precepts, such as about duty, honesty, or good faith, have merged.
Those precepts, for instance, are stated in our Civil Code.
What used to be unwritten precepts and tenets have become recognized in written statutes. In other words, equity, honesty, and good faith carry the character and binding force of written rules. They become enforceable by judicial orders.
Thus, truly, our courts have become courts of both “law” and “equity.”
The Civil Code (R.A. No. 386) has institutionalized the role of general principles of law which are largely based on equity. Its Article 10 states:
In case of doubt in the interpretation or application of laws, it is presumed that the lawmaking body intended right and justice to prevail.
Thus, Philippine laws are veritable repositories of moral laws that provide various kinds of proscriptions against immoral conduct. Over the 19th century to the present, the notable thing in the history of law is the gradual merger of the two systems of jurisprudence, namely law and equity.
5.2 Business Ownership and Management of People
In civil law, property ownership includes the right to use the property or dispose of it as the owner desires.
This right does not apply to treatment of employees because they are not property. They also have rights upheld in law and equity.
Though they can be managed, they cannot be owned.
Because property law cannot apply to people, labor laws developed.
The civil law on human relations, as already mentioned, actively operates at the workplace.
The first eight articles of the chapter on human relations should be reiterated in a company’s human resource management policy, especially these three principles of equity:
Article 19. Every person must, in the exercise of his rights and in the performance of his duties, act with justice, give everyone his due, and observe honesty and good faith.
Article 20. Every person who, contrary to law, willfully or negligently causes damage to another shall indemnify the latter for the same.
Article 21. Any person who willfully causes loss or injury to another in a manner that is contrary to morals, good customs, or public policy shall compensate the latter for the damage.
Article 19 is known in civil law as the principle of abuse of right.
In sum, law and equity permeate Philippine labor laws.
The relationship among workers, managers, and capitalists-investors has to be governed by fairness, good faith, and justice.
For instance, fairness justifies the grant of financial assistance to an employee who was dismissed on the ground of neglect of duty but whose many years of service were otherwise satisfactory and unblemished.
The Civil Code, not the Labor Code, describes basically the nature of labor-management relations. It states:
The relations between capital and labor are not merely contractual. They are so impressed with public interest that labor contracts must yield to the common good. Therefore, such contracts are subject to the special laws on labor unions, collective bargaining, strikes and lockouts, closed shop, wages, working conditions, hours of labor, and similar subjects.
This being so, neither capital nor labor shall act oppressively against the other, or impair the interest or convenience of the public.
Also applicable to labor cases are other provisions of the Civil Code, such as those about wages, contracts, waivers, preference of workers’ claims, damages, and fixed-period employment.
6. SPECIAL LABOR LAWS
Although the Labor Code contains most of the laws on labor, there are other labor laws that are not found in the Code.
We designate them simply as special labor laws, and they include the SSS law, the sexual harassment law, the Kasambahay law, and others.
7. SIGNIFICANCE OF FOREIGN DECISIONS
The fact that the Industrial Peace Act, precursor of the present labor relations law, was modeled after U.S. laws is significant because American court decisions influence our courts’ rulings.
The Philippine Supreme Court has ruled that where our labor statutes are based upon or patterned after statutes in foreign jurisdictions, the “decisions of the high courts in those jurisdictions construing and interpreting the Act should receive the careful attention of this court in the application of our own law.”
Numerous Labor Code provisions, such as those relating to employer-employee relations, unfair labor practices, bargaining unit, duty to bargain, and strikes and lockouts, are substantially similar to those of the Industrial Peace Act.
It follows that the court rulings construing the pertinent Industrial Peace Act provisions are still applicable to the Labor Code provisions, unless there is substantial statutory departure.
“Judicial decisions applying or interpreting the laws or the Constitution form part of the legal system of the Philippines.”
8. INTERNATIONAL ASPECT
Not to be overlooked is the international aspect of our labor laws, considering that the Philippines is a member of the ILO. The International Labour Organization (ILO) is the UN specialized agency which seeks the promotion of social justice and internationally recognized human and labor rights.
The ILO formulates international labor standards in the form of Conventions and Recommendations setting minimum standards of basic labor rights:
freedom of association,
the right to organize,
collective bargaining, and other standards.
Being an ILO member, the Philippines subscribes to the fundamental principles on which the ILO is based and, in particular, that:
labor is not a commodity;
freedom of expression and of association are essential to sustained progress;
poverty anywhere constitutes a danger to prosperity everywhere; and,
the war against want requires to be carried on with unrelenting vigor within each nation, and by continuous and concerted international effort.
8.1 ILO Core Conventions
In May 1995, a campaign to achieve universal ratification of seven core Conventions was launched by the ILO. An eighth Convention was added in 1999. As identified by the Governing Body, these eight core Conventions are deemed fundamental to the rights of human beings at work, irrespective of the level of development of member States. These rights are in fact a precondition for all other rights.
The eight core Conventions are as follows:
Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29)
Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize Convention, 1948 (No. 87)
Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98)
Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100)
Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105)
Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111)
Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138)
Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182)
8.2 Ratification Generally Needed; Exception
As a rule, ILO conventions are binding only for those member states that ratify them.
In 1999, however, the ILO adopted a Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work concerning an obligation of all ILO members to respect and promote the fundamental rights even if they have not ratified the conventions.