Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Illegal Dismissal Labor Relations
Illegal Dismissal Labor Relations
Illegal Dismissal Labor Relations
DOCULMG K31
MEET ME HALFWAY:
A review on the Validity of Fixed-term Employment in the Philippines
The rise in the different foreign companies called for the increase in
the number of the labor force in the Philippines. Due to this, the need for flexibility
and modernization in labor market force were recognized, thus, non-standard
work arrangements were brought into existence. Non-standard work
arrangement or also known as fixed-term contracts, just like its growing presence
in other countries, are also being practiced here in the Philippines.
In the same vein, the Labor Code has also gave its standpoint on the
probationary period involving the labor employment, under Article 281 5 which
states that:
Art. 281. Probationary employment. Probationary
employment shall not exceed six (6) months from the date
the employee started working, unless it is covered by an
apprenticeship agreement stipulating a longer period. The
services of an employee who has been engaged on a
probationary basis may be terminated for a just cause or
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. An employee who is allowed to work after a
probationary period shall be considered a regular
employee.
In the case of Brent v. Zamora 10, the Court ruled that fixed-term
contracts are by all means valid, and an employment, which requires
performance of usual and desirable functions, and does not exceed one year,
does not always result in regular employment .Emanating from the Civil Code of
the Philippines, it states that:
Under the Civil Code, therefore, and as a general
proposition, fixed-term employment contracts are not limited,
as they are under the present Labor Code, to those by
nature seasonal or for specific projects with pre- determined
dates of completion; they also include those to which the
parties by free choice have assigned a specific date of
termination.
x
Another reason for the validity of the fixed-term contracts is that, the
Labor Code has been silent on whether or not these kinds of contracts are
against the law. According to the case of Mercado, et al. v. AMACC 11, the Court
has stated that:
REFERENCES:
A. CONSTITUTION
CONST. art. XIII Sec. 3
B. LABOR CODE
LABOR CODE, Art. 282
LABOR CODE, Art. 281
LABOR CODE, Art. 280
C. CIVIL CODE
CIVIL CODE, Art. 1305
CIVIL CODE, Art. 1306
D. JURISPRUDENCE
Brent v. Zamora. G.R. No. L-48494 (Feb. 5, 1990).
San Miguel Corp. v. Eduardo L. Teodosio. G.R. No. 163033 (Oct. 2, 2009)
Mercado, et al. v. AMACC. G.R. No. 183572 (Apr. 13, 2010)
E. INTERNET SOURCE
Legal Match, (Aug. 14, 2014, 4:30 pm), http://www.legalmatch.com/lawlibrary/article/employee-probationary-periods.html
F. JOURNALS
Torres, Quisimbing. Guide to Philippine Employment Law: An Overview of
Employment Laws for Private Sector (2013).
G. NEWSPAPER
Lopez, Philippines GDP growth at 7.2% in 2013, Manila Bulletin, January
31, 2014, p. 1, col. 3