Moral at exemplary damages para sa illegal dismissal

ni PAO Chief Persida Rueda-Acosta @Magtanong Kay Attorney | March 27, 2026

Dear Chief Acosta,

Nais kong magsampa ng pormal na kaso ng illegal dismissal laban sa dati kong employer dahil tinanggal ako nang walang sapat na basehan. May nakapagsabi sa akin na maaari rin akong maghabol ng danyos laban sa kanila, bukod sa separation pay na maaaring igawad sa empleyado. Ano ba ang mga danyos na ito at papaano magkakaroon nito? — Cryill

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Dear Cryill,

Ang isang manggagawa na napatunayang ilegal na tinanggal sa trabaho ay maaaring magawaran ng tinatawag na back wages at/o separation pay, batay sa ebidensya. Bukod dito ay may mga pagkakataon din na ginagawaran ng danyos ang nasabing manggagawa.  Ito ay ipinaliwanag sa kasong Marlon Butial Agapito vs. Aeroplus Multiservices, Inc. and Mitzi Therese P. De Guzman (G.R. No. 248304, April 20, 2022, sa panulat ni Honorable Associate Justice Amy C. Lazaro-Javier). 

“A dismissed employee is entitled to moral damages when the dismissal is attended by bad faith or fraud or constitutes an act oppressive to labor, or is done in a manner contrary to good morals, good customs, or public policy. Exemplary damages may be awarded if the dismissal is effected in a wanton, oppressive, or malevolent manner.

"Bad faith, under the law, does not simply connote bad judgment or negligence. It imports a dishonest purpose or some moral obliquity and conscious doing of a wrong, or a breach of a known duty through some motive or interest or ill will that partakes of the nature of fraud."

"It must be noted that the burden of proving bad faith rests on the one alleging it since basic is the principle that good faith is presumed and he who alleges bad faith has the duty to prove the same. Allegations of bad faith and fraud must be proved by clear and convincing evidence.

That the petitioner was illegally dismissed is insufficient to prove bad faith. A dismissal may be contrary to law but by itself alone, it does not establish bad faith to entitle the dismissed employee to moral damages. The award of moral and exemplary damages cannot be justified solely upon the premise that the employer dismissed his employee without cause.”

Malinaw sa nabanggit na kung ang pagbabasehan lamang ay ang pagtanggal sa trabaho nang walang sapat na basehan, hindi ito sasapat upang maggawad ng danyos. Kailangan ay maipakita rin ng nagrereklamong empleyado na may bad faith, panloloko, o pang-aapi. 

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

Maraming salamat sa iyong patuloy na pagtitiwala.