Constructive illegal dismissal sa trabaho sa ibang bansa

ni Atty. Persida Rueda-Acosta - @Magtanong Kay Attorney | November 21, 2020

Dear Chief Acosta,

Dalawang buwan pa lamang ang aking ina sa ibang bansa nang siya ay pagtangkaang pagsamantalahan ng kanyang amo. Nang isumbong niya ito sa asawa ng kanyang amo, hindi siya pinaniwalaan, bagkus ay madalas na niya itong saktan kaya siya ay tumakas na lamang siya buhat dito patungo sa accommodation house ng kanyang agency upang humingi ng tulong. Hindi man lamang siya binigyan ng bagong trabaho ng kanyang agency sa loob ng higit dalawang buwan at matapos pa ang anim na buwan ng paghihintay ay saka siya pinauwi sa bansa ng ahensiya ng ating pamahalaang hinigian na naming ng tulong. Nais namin malaman kung maituturing bang illegal dismissal ang nangyari sa aking ina? – Cristina

Dear Cristina,

Para sa inyong kaalaman, ang kasong napagdesisyunan ng ating Kagalang-galang na Korte Suprema na Donna Jacob vs. First Step Manpower (G.R. No. 229984, 8 July 2020, Ponente: Honorable Associate Justice Marvic M. V. F. Leonen), ay naangkop sa inyong sitwasyon.

Maliwanag na ipinabatid ng Kagalang-galang na Korte Suprema na:

“To gauge if constructive dismissal exists, the test is whether a reasonable person in the employee’s standing was impelled to surrender his or her post under the given situation. It is a dismissal in disguise because the doing equates to a “dismissal [,] but made to appear as if it were not.” Hence, “the law recognizes and resolves this situation in favor of employees in order to protect their rights and interests from the coercive acts of the employer.
It is discernable from petitioner’s declaration that the controversy emanated from the lewd actuations of her male foreign employer on January 31, 2015. To avert a commotion, she reported the matter to her female employer but unfortunately, she was merely discredited and even blamed for the incident. From then on, petitioner's female foreign employer treated her · differently. Jacob was subjected to physical and verbal harm that she was left with no other choice but to relinquish her employment. Certainly, the treatment petitioner experienced in the hands of her foreign employers fostered a hostile and unbearable work setting which impelled her not only to leave her employers but also, as in petitioner's words, to escape (tumakas). The conclusion is all too clear that there exists a well-grounded fear on her part prompting her to run away despite having been employed overseas for barely two (2) months.” (Binigyang-diin.)

Sa sitwasyon ng inyong ina, na kahalintulad din ng naganap sa kasong binigyang-sipi, maaaring maitaguring illegal dismissal ang kanyang sinapit, kung mapapatunayan niyang siya ay napunta sa ipinabatid na sitwasyon at walang ginawa ang ahensiyang nagpaalis sa kanya tungkol dito, kahit pa siya ay dumulog ng tulong.

Nawa ay nasagot namin ang inyong mga katanungan. Nais naming ipaalala sa inyo na ang opinyong ito ay nakabase sa inyong mga naisalaysay sa inyong liham at sa pagkakaintindi namin dito. Maaaring maiba ang opinyon kung mayroong karagdagang impormasyon na ibibigay. Mas mainam kung personal kayong sasangguni sa abogado.

Maraming salamat sa inyong patuloy na pagtitiwala.