Kinikilala ng batas ang pagtanggal sa empleyado kaugnay ng redundancy

ni Atty. Persida Rueda-Acosta - @Magtanong Kay Attorney | September 3, 2022

Dear Chief Acosta,

Napag-uusapan sa kompanya ng misis ko na magkakaroon diumano ng tanggalan sa ibang departamento nila dahil kukuha na lamang diumano sa labas o ia-outsource ang serbisyong ibinibigay ng mga posibleng tanggalin na empleyado. Maaari bang gawin iyon? Ang sabi ng misis ko ay redundancy diumano kasi iyon at matagal nang pinag-aaralan sa kanilang kompanya ang naturang pagtatanggal dahil diumano hindi naman talaga kailangan ang serbisyo ng mga nasabing manggagawa. Sana ay mapaliwanagan ninyo ako. - Jester

Dear Jester,

Bagama’t ang layunin ng ating mga batas ay maprotektahan ang karapatan ng bawat manggagawa, mayroong ilang basehan na kinikilala ang ating batas kung saan pinapayagan ang mga employers na legal na magtanggal ng serbisyo ng manggagawa. Isa na rito ay ang redundancy. Kailangan lamang na sumunod sa tamang proseso ang isang employer upang maging lehitimo ang pagtanggal sa mga empleyado at maiwasan ang illegal dismissal.

Ayon sa batas, ang sinumang manggagawa na matatanggal dahil sa redundancy ay dapat mabigyan ng paunawa o notice. Ang angkop na regional office ng Kagarawan ng Paggawa at Empleo ay dapat ding mabigyan ng kaukulang notice. At, kapwa mahalagang rekisito ang pagbabayad ng angkop na separation pay sa manggagawang matatanggal. Alinsunod sa ating batas:

“Article 298 [283]. Closure of Establishment and Reduction of Personnel. -The employer may also terminate the employment of any employee due to the installation of labor-saving devices, redundancy, retrenchment to prevent losses or the closing or cessation of operation of the establishment or undertaking unless the closing is for the purpose of circumventing the provisions of this Title, by serving a written notice on the workers and the Ministry of Labor and Employment at least one (1) month before the intended date thereof. In case of termination due to the installation of labor-saving devices or redundancy, the worker affected thereby shall be entitled to a separation pay equivalent to at least his one (1) month pay or to at least one (1) month pay for every year of service, whichever is higher. x x x” (Article 298, Labor Code of the Philippines, as renumbered; Underscoring supplied)

Ipinaliwanag ng ating Korte Suprema na ang pagtatanggal ng manggagawa, kung may sapat na batayan, tulad ng redundancy at hindi ginawa nang may masamang layunin ay kinikilala:

“Redundancy exists where the services of an employee are in excess of what is reasonably demanded by the actual requirements of the enterprise. xxx The determination that the employee's services are no longer necessary or sustainable and, therefore, properly terminable is an exercise of business judgment of the employer. The wisdom or soundness of this judgment is not subject to discretionary review of the labor tribunals and the courts, provided there is no violation of law and no showing that it was prompted by an arbitrary or malicious act.

Of course, a company cannot simply declare redundancy without basis. It is not enough for a company to merely declare that it has become overmanned. It must produce adequate proof that such is the actual situation to justify the dismissal of the affected employees, for redundancy. We have considered evidence such as the new staffing pattern, feasibility studies, proposal on the viability of the newly created positions, job description and the approval by the management of the restructuring, among others, as adequate to substantiate a claim for redundancy.

In the present case. We agree with the CA and the NLRC that WPI substantially proved that its Headcount Optimization Program was a fair exercise of business judgment. The decision to outsource clinic operations can hardly be considered as whimsical or arbitrary. As both the CA and the NLRC found, WPI had deliberated on the feasibility of the Headcount Optimization Program as early as February 2007 for the purpose of streamlining the organization and increasing productivity. WPI's rationale for outsourcing its clinic operations is reasonable—it wanted to focus on the core business of gum manufacturing, and clinic operations is not an integral part of it. x x x Management cannot be denied the faculty of promoting efficiency and attaining economy by a study of what units are essential for its operation. It has the ultimate determination of whether services should be performed by its personnel or contracted to outside agencies. Contracting out of services is an exercise of business judgment or management prerogative. x x x” (Gertrudes D. Mejila vs. Wrigley Philippines, Inc., G.R. No. 199469, September 11, 2019; Wrigley Philippines, Inc. vs. Gertrudes D. Mejila, G.R. No. 199505, Ponente, Former Associate Justice (Francis H. Jardeleza)

Sana ay nabigyan namin ng linaw ang inyong katanungan. Ang payong aming ibinigay ay base lamang sa impormasyon na inyong inilahad at maaaring magbago kung mababawasan o madaragdagan ang mga detalye ng inyong salaysay.

Maraming salamat sa inyong patuloy na pagtitiwala.