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Labor Law and Social Legislation Syllabus-based Reviewer for the 2024 Bar by Atty. Rehne Gibb N. Larena

Introduction Table of Contents

Civil Code
The Syllabus-based eReviewers of eCodal+Pro is now on its Labor Code
Fundamental Principles and Concepts
4th edition. This passion project started in 2021 while the
DOLE Issuances
author, Atty. RGL, reviewed for the 2020_21 #BestBarEver.
Recruitment and Placement of Workers
State Policies
The review materials are painstakingly curated to address
the topics of the current bar syllabi. Know that the aim here Employer-Employee Relationship Labor as Primary Social Economic
is to be as concise and direct as possible, while making sure Force
all topics are covered. The materials are not envisioned to be Labor Standards Full Protection to Labor
a primary review material as we give deference to the
scholarly works of legal luminaries. It is highly advised that Security of Tenure
Social Welfare Benefits
the materials are to be treated as supplements to reviewers
Social Justice
as prescribed by law school professors.
Management Prerogative Equal Work Opportunities
Please note as well that the author has no crystal ball and is
not in the business of predicting what topics will come out Right to Self-Organization and
Post-Employment
in the Bar. What the author would like to impart to the Collective Bargaining
reader is the sense of security and confidence that after
Labor Relations Construction in Favor of Labor
finishing the materials, all topics have been covered.
Lastly, the author wishes to request the reader to be Jurisdiction and Remedies A Sources of Labor Laws
vanguards of the law. If you happen to grab a copy of this
material without having subscribed to eCodal+Pro, please
contact the author at fb.com/ecodalplus, or email him at 1 1987 Constitution
Fundamental Principles and
ecodalplus@gmail.com. I
Concepts Provides limitations in the enactment of Labor Laws.
May you have the strength and peace of mind as you take
one more step into becoming members of the noblest of all 1. Non-impairment Clause. Sec 10 Art III. No law
Sources of Labor Laws
professions. impairing the obligation of contracts shall be
1987 Constitution passed.
Padayon!

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 Labor Law and Social Legislation
2. Equal Protection Clause. Sec 1 Art III. No person
shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without
due process of law, nor shall any person be denied
the equal protection of the laws.
3. Prohibition Against Involuntary Servitude. Sec 18(2)
Art III. No involuntary servitude in any form shall
exist except as a punishment for a crime whereof the
party shall have been duly convicted.
4. Due Process Clause. Sec 1 Art III. No person shall be
deprived of life, liberty, or property without due
process of law, nor shall any person be denied the
equal protection of the laws.
Constitutional provisions on the protection of labor are
NOT SELF-EXECUTING, and are mere guidelines that need
enabling laws. They are not judicially enforceable.
Council of Teachers & Staff of Colleges & Universities of the
Phils. v. Sec. of Education 2018 En Banc
The constitutional mandates of protection to labor and
security of tenure may be deemed as self-executing in the
sense that these are automatically acknowledged and
observed without need for any enabling legislation.
However, to declare that the constitutional provisions are
enough to guarantee the full exercise of the rights
embodied therein, and the realization of ideals therein
expressed, would be impractical, if not unrealistic.
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Subsequent legislation is still needed to define the
parameters of these guaranteed rights to ensure the
protection and promotion, not only the rights of the labor
sector, but of the employers' as well.
2 Civil Code
Article 1700. The relations between capital and labor are
not merely contractual. They are so impressed with public
interest that labor contracts must yield to the common
good. Therefore, such contracts are subject to the special
laws on labor unions, collective bargaining, strikes and
lockouts, closed shop, wages, working conditions, hours
of labor and similar subjects.
Article 1701. Neither capital nor labor shall act
oppressively against the other, or impair the interest or
convenience of the public. (Principle of Non-oppression)
Article 1702. In case of doubt, all labor legislation and
all labor contracts shall be construed in favor of the safety
and decent living for the laborer.
The Provincial Bus Operators Association of the Philippines et
al v. DOLE, et al. 2018 En Banc
Syllabus-based Reviewer for the 2024 Bar by Atty. Rehne Gibb N. Larena
A statute passed to protect labor is a "legitimate exercise of
police power, although it incidentally destroys existing contract
rights." Contracts regulating relations between capital and
labor are not merely contractual, and said labor contracts
are impressed with public interest, and must yield to the
common good.
The relations between capital and labor are not merely
contractual as provided in Article 1700 of the Civil Code.
By statutory declaration, labor contracts are impressed
with public interest and, therefore, must yield to the
common good. Labor contracts are subject to special laws
on wages, working conditions, hours of labor, and similar
subjects. In other words, labor contracts are subject to the
police power of the State. The DO was issued to grant bus
drivers and conductors minimum wages and social
welfare benefits.
3 Labor Code
a) PD 442, as amended;
b) Omnibus Rules implementing the Labor Code.
4 DOLE Issuances
a) 2011 NLRC Rules of Procedure;
b) Single Entry Approach (SEnA IRR);
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 Labor Law and Social Legislation
c) The Revised National Conciliation and Mediation
Board Manual of Procedures for Conciliation and
Preventive Mediation Cases.
B State Policies
§3 Art XIII 1987 Constitution. The State shall
1. afford full protection to labor, local and overseas,
organized and unorganized, and
2. promote full employment and equality
employment opportunities for all.
Labor as Primary Social Economic
1 i)
Force
§18 Art II 1987 Constitution. The State affirms labor
as a primary social economic force. It shall protect the
rights of workers and promote their welfare.
2 Full Protection to Labor
Constitution, Art. XIII, Sec. 3
3 Security of Tenure
ART 294. Security of Tenure. — In cases of regular
employment, the employer shall not terminate the services
of an employee except for a just cause or when authorized
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by this Title. An employee who is unjustly dismissed from
work shall be entitled to
a) reinstatement without loss of seniority rights and
other privileges and
b) his full backwages, inclusive of allowances, and
c) his other benefits or their monetary equivalent
computed from the time his compensation was
withheld from him up to the time of his actual
reinstatement.
of
4 Social Justice
Labor Code, Art. 218, as renumbered by DOLE D.A. No.
01-2015
§10 Art II 1987 Constitution. The State shall
promote social justice in all phases of national
development.
Calalang v. Williams
The promotion of the welfare of all the people, the
adoption by the Government of measures calculated to
insure economic stability of all the component elements of
society, through the maintenance of a proper economic
and social equilibrium in the interrelation of the members
of the community, constitutionally, through the adoption
of measures legally justifiable, or extra-constitutionally
through the exercise of powers underlying the existence of
Syllabus-based Reviewer for the 2024 Bar by Atty. Rehne Gibb N. Larena
all Governments on the time-honored principle of Salus
Populi est suprema lex.
5 Equal Work Opportunities
Constitution, Art. XIII, Sec. 3; Labor Code, Art. 3
a) The State shall promote full employment and
equality of employment opportunities for all.
b) A manifestation of this is the enactment of RA 10911
or the Anti-Age Discrimination in Employment Act.
The law however accepts of exceptions
Age is a bona fide occupational qualification
reasonably necessary in the normal
operation of a particular business or where
the differentiation is based on reasonable
factors other than age;
ii) The intent is to observe the terms of a bona
fide seniority system that is not intended to
evade the purpose of this Act;
iii) The intent is to observe the terms of a bona
fide employee retirement or a voluntary early
retirement plan consistent with the purpose
of this Act; or
iv) The action is duly certified by the SOLE.
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 Labor Law and Social Legislation
Right to Self-Organization and
6 Only when the law is ambiguous or of doubtful
Collective Bargaining
Constitution, Art. XIII, Sec. 3; Labor Code, Arts. 3 and 253
a) An employee can join a union on the first day of
Reyes v. Rural Bank of San Rafael (Bulacan), Inc 2022
employment.
The CA erred in affirming the NLRC Decision.
b) Collective bargaining is a contract between workers
and employers on terms and conditions of
employment over and above those mandated by law.
7 Construction in Favor of Labor
Labor Code, Art. 4; Civil Code, Art. 1702
Art 4. Construction in Favor of Labor. — All doubts in
the implementation and interpretation of the
provisions of this Code, including its implementing
rules and regulations, shall be resolved in favor of
labor.
a) In Peñaflor v. Outdoor Clothing 2010, this principle has
been extended to cover doubts in the evidence
presented by the employer and the employee.
b) If doubt exists between the evidence presented by
the employer and the employee, the scales of justice
must be tilted in favor of the latter. (Dreamland Hotel
Resort v. Johnson 2014)
c) The rule is that where the law speaks in clear and
categorical language, there is no room for
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interpretation; there is only room for application.
meaning may the court interpret or construe its true
intent. (Leoncio v. MST Marine Services 2017)
A. Respondents were not denied due process. A
liberal interpretation of the procedural rules was
not warranted.
B. Here, during the proceedings before the arbiter,
respondents have been accorded ample
opportunity to present their side.
1. They missed at least two settings.
2. They have already obtained a copy of the
amended complaint which would have enabled
them to intelligently respond.
C. While it may be true that the arbiter failed to issue
summons, such circumstance cannot operate as a
denial of respondents' right to due process because
the fact remains that respondents have already
obtained a copy of the amended complaint, and
have been duly notified of the hearing.
1. The issuance of the summons would have been
a mere superfluity since again, respondents
have already obtained a copy of the amended
Syllabus-based Reviewer for the 2024 Bar by Atty. Rehne Gibb N. Larena
complaint and notified of the upcoming
hearing date.
D. Loon v. Power Master, Inc. pronounced that the
liberality of procedural rules is qualified by two
requirements:
1. a party should adequately explain any delay in
the submission of evidence; and
2. a party should sufficiently prove the allegations
sought to be proven.
E. Here, respondents failed to adequately explain and
justify their non-participation in the proceedings
before the arbiter.
F. Thus, the application of a more liberal policy is
unwarranted.
G. Relaxed and liberal interpretation of labor
procedures — mainly for the benefit of employee,
and NOT the employer.
H. The principles embodied by all prevailing labor
rules, legislations, and regulations are derived
from the Constitution, which intensely protects
the working individual and deeply promotes social
justice.
I. Of course, in certain cases, a liberal approach to
the rules may be had even if it favors the employer.
1. Such allowance, however, must be measured
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Labor Law and Social Legislation Syllabus-based Reviewer for the 2024 Bar by Atty. Rehne Gibb N. Larena

against standards stricter than that imposed

against the worker, and only in compelling and
justified cases where the employer will
definitely suffer injustice should such liberal
interpretation be disallowed.

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