Case D|gest by Mark .

"
Comm|ss|on on numan k|ghts Lmp|oyees' Assoc|at|on (CnkLA) v. Comm|ss|on on numan k|ghts (Cnk)
C.8. no. 13336, november 24, 2004

(roper arty)

Iacts:
lebruary 1998 - Congress passed 8epubllc AcL no. 8322 (aka Lhe Ceneral ApproprlaLlons AcL of 1998). 1he
acL provlded for speclal provlslons appllcable Lo all ConsLlLuLlonal Cfflce en[oylng llscal AuLonomy, one of
whlch was Lhe auLhorlLy Lo flx salarles and make ad[usLmenLs ln Lhe organlzaLlonal sLrucLures, 8CvluLu
LhaL Lhese changes shall be ln accordance wlLh salary raLes, allowances and oLher beneflLs auLhorlzed
under compensaLlon sLandardlzaLlon laws.
SepLember 4, 1998 - 1he Commlsslon on Puman 8lghLs (CP8) promulgaLed 8esoluLlon no. A98-047, whlch
upgraded and rec|ass|f|ed se|ected pos|t|ons.
CcLober 19, 1998 - 1he CP8 lssued 8esoluLlon no. A98-033 whlch deLalled Lhe upgradlng or ralslng of
salary grades of cerLaln poslLlons ln Lhe CP8.
november 17, 1998 - 1he CP8 lssued 8esoluLlon no. A98-062, whereln Lhe CP8 "collapsed" vacanL
poslLlons Lo provlde addlLlonal fundlng for Lhelr sLafflng modlflcaLlons. 1he resoluLlon was Lhe forwarded
Lo Lhe ueparLmenL of 8udgeL and ManagemenL (u8M) for approval.
1he D8M den|es the request for approva|. lL argues LhaL under Lhe CompensaLlon SLandardlzaLlon Law
(8.A. no. 6738), Lhe u8M ls dlrecLed Lo admlnlsLer Lhe unlfled compensaLlon and poslLlon classlflcaLlon
sysLem ln Lhe governmenL. ln Lhe case of Cruz v. CourL of Appeals (C.8. no. 119133), Lhe Supreme CourL
sLaLes LhaL Lhe u8M has "the so|e power and d|scret|on to adm|n|ster the compensat|on and pos|t|on
c|ass|f|cat|on system of the Nat|ona| Government."
March 29, 1999 - ln llghL of Lhe u8M's dlsapproval, Lhe CSC-naLlonal CaplLal 8eglon Cfflce recommends Lo
Lhe CSC-CenLral Cfflce LhaL Lhe appolnLmenLs/reclasslflcaLlons be re[ecLed. Llkewlse, Lhe Cnk Lmp|oyees'
Assoc|at|on (CnkLA), represenLlng Lhe rank-and-flle employees of Lhe CP8, requesLed Lhe CSC-CenLral
Cfflce Lo afflrm Lhe recommendaLlon of CSC-naLlonal CaplLal 8eglon Cfflce.
uecember 16, 1999 - 1he CSC-CenLral Cfflce denles Lhe CP8LA's requesL and reverses Lhe
recommendaLlon of Lhe CSC-naLlonal CaplLal 8eglon Cfflce. 1he emp|oyee rec|ass|f|cat|on w||| cont|nue.
!une 9, 2000 - 1he CP8LA flles a moLlon for reconslderaLlon wlLh Lhe CSC-CenLral Cfflce. 1he|r mot|on |s
den|ed.
november 29, 2001 - 1he CourL of Appeals susLalns Lhe valldlLy of Lhe prevlous resoluLlons of Lhe CP8
(uecember 16, 1999 and !une 9, 2000), clLlng LhaL Lhe reclasslflcaLlon of employees ls wlLhln Lhe scope of
Lhe CP8's flscal auLonomy.
SepLember 11, 2002 - 1he CourL of Appeals den|es the CnkLA's mot|on for recons|derat|on.

CP8LA flles for a peLlLlon for revlew wlLh Lhe Supreme CourL.

Issues:
!"#$ &'# ()* +##, -../"0-1 2/"3 &'# !45 6#2"/# 73.1#3#+&7+8 &'# 9.8/-,7+8:/#;1-$$727;-&7"+ "2 ."$7&7"+$<
=$ &'# ()*>? &'# ./".#/ .-/&@ &" 6/7+8 2"/&' &'7$ $97&<

ne|d]kat|o:
A#$B C#&7&7"+ "2 &'# ()*>? 7$ 8/-+&#,B D'# ()* /#E97/#$ &'# -../"0-1 "2 &'# !45B

1he approval of Lhe u8M musL be soughL before Lhe lmplemenLaLlon of any reclasslflcaLlon or upgradlng of
poslLlons ln Lhe CovernmenL. Accordlng Lhe 8evlsed AdmlnlsLraLlve Code (SecLlon 3, ChapLer 1, 1lLle xvll), Lhe u8M
shall asslsL Lhe resldenL ln "admlnlsLraLlon of compensaLlon and poslLlon classlflcaLlon sysLems." 1he auLhorlLy of
Lhe u8M was also recognlzed by Lhe CP8 when lL soughL approval for Lhe proposed reclasslflcaLlons.

1he CourL also flnds no |ega| bas|s to support the c|a|m that the Cnk en[oys f|sca| autonomy. Cnly Lhe !udlclary,
CSC, Lhe CCMLLLC, Lhe Commlsslon on AudlL and Lhe Cfflce of Lhe Cmbudsman en[oy flscal auLonomy. AlLhough
Lhe CP8 ls a member of Lhe ConsLlLuLlonal llscal AuLonomy Croup, Lhe CourL says LhaL flscal auLonomy ls "noL a Lag
Case D|gest by Mark .
#
obLalnable by membershlp." 1he employee reclasslflcaLlon/upgrades of Lhe CP8 musL be wlLhln Lhe parameLers of
Lhe Sa|ary Standard|zat|on Law, wh|ch |s adm|n|stered by the D8M.

A#$B D'# ()*>? ;-+ 6# /#;"8+7F#, -$ &'# ./".#/ .-/&@ &" 6/7+8 &'# $97&B

A proper party |s one who has or |s |n |mmed|ate danger of susta|n|ng |n[ury as a resu|t of the act comp|a|ned of.
1he CP8LA, whlch conslsLs of rank-and-flle employees, alleges LhaL Lhe reclasslflcaLlon/upgradlng of poslLlons
would beneflL only a few upper-level employees. 1he CourL agrees LhaL Lhls would eaL lnLo Lhe savlngs of Lhe
Commlsslon, whlch would have been allocaLed for ersonnel Servlces, from whlch employee beneflLs, lncludlng
Lhose for Lhe rank-and-flle, are derlved.

1he CP8 conLends LhaL Lhe CP8LA has no locus sLandl (sLandlng) and lL ls noL recognlzed as a bona flde
organlzaLlon of employees. Powever, Lhe CP8LA's personallLy Lo flle a case was recognlzed by Lhe CSC when lL Look
cognlzance of lLs peLlLlon. 1he CP8LA's personallLy was llkewlse a non-lssue when lLs case was wlLh Lhe CourL of
Appeals. "An |ssue that was ne|ther ra|sed |n the comp|a|nt nor |n the court be|ow cannot be ra|sed for the f|rst
t|me on appea|."