LEGAL ISSUES IN

EMPLOYEE RELATIONS
CATHERINE A. CANDIA, MAED EM
BAHAO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
SIRUMA DISTRICT
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• To discuss the importance of the grievance machinery

• To explain the steps in grievance handling
• To describe what voluntary arbitration is
• To discuss the advantages of violation arbitration
• To explain the importance of discipline to the work place
• To discuss the just authorized and valid grounds for terminating employees
• To define sexual harassment and discuss when sexual harassment is committed
• To identify the forms of sexual harassment
• To discuss the consequences of sexual harassment for the victim, perpetrator and the employer
 Organizational operations succeed or fail
depending on the people comprising the
organization. Employees are, therefore the
heart of every organization and employees
should take extra effort in its human
relations responsibility.
Grievance handling
Discipline
Termination
Sexual harassment
 GRIEVANCE HANDLING

• Human resource practitioners and industrial relations

officers can address employees problems by setting up a
grievance machinery which will hear and settle as
expeditiously as possible all complaints and grievances
regardless of whether they are trivial or complex, real or
imagined, meritorious or unfounded.
Republic Act 6715
Which introduced amendments to the Labor Code
mandates the use of the grievance machinery as a
prerequisite step to voluntary arbitration of dispute arising
from a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) interpretation
and enforcement of company personnel policies.
A. How a Grievance is Filed
The aggrieved employee ordinarily brings grievances,
usually with the union representative called the shop steward
or grievance officer to the foreman either orally or in writing.
Usually, a grievance form is provided for the purpose. If no
settlement is reached employee or the grievance officer may
bring the grievance through the successive steps in the
grievance procedure provided for in the CBA.
B. The Grievance Procedure
Grievance are handled either formally or informally.
There are two informal methods of handling grievances.

1. For the supervisor to assume an autocratic attitude,

asserting his authority by either disregarding the
grievance or immediately imposing a sanction on the
employee.
II. The human relations approach which
considers the grievance as an opportunity to
help the employee by using human,
individualized and democratic methods.
In the formal method of handling grievances,
The grievance procedure set by the organization is
usually observed and the different steps are closely
followed. The grievance procedure has been found to be
the most effective method of handling complaints and
grievances for the speedy settlement of disputes without
resorting to violence strikes or interruption of operation.
 In the public sector, the grievance procedure refers
to the method of determining and finding the best
way to remedy the specific cause or causes of the
complaint or grievances. The employee however,
should first discuss his complaint informally with his
immediate supervisor before considering filing a
formal written complaint.
Department of Labor and Employment
Order No. 40-03 issued by on February 17,
2003 makes it mandatory for the parties to a
collective bargaining to establish a
machinery for the expeditious resolution of
grievances.
These are the suggested standards which may be used as
guides in the formation of an effective grievance procedure.

1.Collective bargaining agreements should contain provisions

that grievances and disputes involving the interpretation or
appreciation of the terms of the agreement are to be settled
without resorting to strikes, lockouts, or other interruptions to
normal operations by an effective grievance procedure with
arbitration as its final step.
II. The successive steps in the grievance
procedure, the method of presenting the
grievances or disputes and the method of
taking an appeal from one step to another
should be clearly stated in the agreement.
III. The procedure should be adaptable to
the handling of various types of grievances
and disputes, which come under the terms
of the agreement.
IV. The procedure should be designed to facilitate
the immediate settlement of grievance and
disputes. The agreement should provide for
adequate time limits for the presentation of
grievances and disputes for rendering of
decision, and for asking of appeals.
V. Issues should be clearly formulated at the
earliest possible time and the positions of both
sides should be reduced in writing.
VI. Management and union should encourage
their representatives to settle at the lower step
or level, grievances which do not involve broad
questions of policy or contract interpretation,
and should delegate sufficient authority to them
to accomplish this end.
VII. Provisions should be made for
priority handling of grievances involving
discharge, suspension, or other
disciplinary action.
VIII. Management and unions
should inform and train
representatives in the proper
conduct of the grievance procedure.
C. Steps in the Grievance Procedure
A grievance procedure usually consists of a series
of steps to be taken within the specified time limits.
The nature of the procedure will depend upon the
structure of the organization and on the needs and
desires of the parties but there is a tendency to
follow a fairly definite pattern.
• Small organizations can be expected to have
short, simple grievance procedures,
sometimes with only one or two steps.
• Larger organizations usually adopt a multi-
stage procedure consisting of three or four
steps.
D. Effective Grievance Presentation
To effectively present a grievance, the
Trade Union Congress of the Philippines
(TUCP) recommends that the following
questions or issues be considered (Manual
for Shop Stewards).
I. Determine first if there is a genuine
grievance and whether the same is justified
or not. Is there a violation of the CBA? Is the
worker a victim of any unfair treatment or
action of the company? Is the employer
responsible?
2. Study the collective bargaining agreement and
company personnel policies. The steward or the
grievant must be familiar with the CBA and company
personnel policies.
3. One must make sure that he/she gets all the facts
of the case. Seek out the answers to the W’s – WHO,
WHEN, WHERE, WHY, and WHAT.
4. There may be an informal discussion of the
grievance with the union or other stewards to learn
how the contract should be interpreted and what kind
of settlement or adjustment will have to be made.
5. Finally, it may be important to know about past
grievance settlements of similar nature as the
grievance to be presented.
E. Referral to Voluntary Arbitration
In the Philippines, the government
encourages voluntary arbitration of all labor-
management disputes. This policy is
operationalized by this provision in Article
260 of the Labor Code.
 “All grievances submitted to the grievance machinery
which are not settled within seven (7) calendar days from
the date of their submission shall automatically be
referred to voluntary arbitration prescribed in the CBA.
The seven calendar days shall be reckoned from the date
the grievance is submitted to the last step in the grievance
machinery immediately prior to voluntary arbitration.”
Dubbed as a “private judicial system” by Azucena in the
Primer on Grievance Settlement and Voluntary Arbitration
published by the National Conciliation and Mediation
Board, DOLE in 2003, voluntary arbitration involves referral
of a dispute by both labor and management to an impartial
third person (an accredited voluntary arbitrator or panel of
arbitrators) for a final and binding resolution.
 EMPLOYEE DISCIPLINE
Discipline is an employers action against an
employee for infraction of the organization’s policies
or rules.
It is a process of control to protect the interests of
the company (Sison, 2003).
A.Causes of Discipline Problems
Supervisors should be aware of the possible causes of
unacceptable or inappropriate behavior so that they can
better analyze an employee’s situation and provide
assistance to the employee through appropriate referral.
For instance, an employee may be referred for
counseling.
 CHECKLIST OF POSSIBLE CAUSES (MINER, 1985)

o Problems of intelligence and job o Problems caused by the work

knowledge group
o Emotional problems o Problems originating from
o Motivational problems company policies

o Physical problems o Problems stemming from society

and its values
o Family problems
o Problems from the work context
o The work itself
B. The Discipline Process
There is a need for the employer to come up with
policies related to disciplinary processes and these
should reflect in general the vision, mission,
cooperative values, philosophy and goals of the
organization.
The following guidelines should be observed in the formulation
of the policies, rules and regulations on discipline.
1. Simplicity of language.
2. Delineation of authority.
3. Reasonableness of the rules.
4. Procedure in the investigation.
5. Sanctions.
C. Types of Discipline
Discipline as a means of management control is
needed to achieve the objectives of the organization.
Preventive discipline is the first line of defense of
every good supervisor.
Progressive discipline
Progressive discipline, which is a
process for dealing with job related
behavior that does not meet
expected and communicated
performance.
The steps in a progressive discipline system may
include:
a.) Counseling the employee about performance and
ascertaining his/her understanding of the
requirements,
b.) Verbally reprimanding the employee for poor
performance;
c.) Transmitting a written warning to the employee’s
file, in an effort to improve his/her performance;
d.) Providing an escalating number of days in which
the employee is suspended from work, and
e.) Ending the employment of an individual who
refuses to improve.
D. Forms of Discipline Action
After proper investigation of the infarction of the employee and
guilt having been established, the possible actions that may be taken
are:
1. Admonition 5. Demotion

2. “Bawl-out” 6. Suspension
3. Reprimand 7. Discharge or dismissal
4. Transfer
 TERMINATION
In the Philippines, it is the constitutional duty of
the State to protect the rights of workers to security
of tenure which means that the employer shall not
terminate the services of an employee except for a
just cause or when authorized by the law and after
due process (Art. XIII. Sec. 3, 1987 Constitution)
 The Webster dictionary defines “due
process” as a course of action which hears
before it condemns, proceeds upon inquiry
and renders judgement only after hearing.
Due process entails the twin requirements
of NOTICE and HEARING.
DUE PROCESS FLOWCHART
Reply Investigation

Interaction of Show cause

Decision
employee memo

Waive right to
No reply present
evidence
The Law (Art. 282 of the Labor Code)
Provides that an employer may terminate any
employee for any of the following just causes:

a. Serious misconduct or willful disobedience by the

employee or representative in connection with
his/her work;
b. Gross and habitual neglect by the
employee of his/her duties;
c. Fraud or willful breach by the
employee of the trust reposed in him/her
by his/her employer or duly authorized
representative;
d. Commission of a crime or offense by the
employee against the person of his./her
employer or any immediate members of his/her
family or his/her duly authorized representative
and
e. Other causes analogous to the foregoing.
The Labor Code (Articles 283 and 284) also provides for the
following authorized causes of terminations:
a. Installation of labor-saving devices
b. Redundancy
c. Retrenchment to prevent losses
d. Cessation of operation of the establishment or
undertaking
e. disease
SEXUAL HARASSMENT
Sexual harassment is a complex issue involving
the norms of society. It is not confined to any
one class or status in society or to a particular
profession. It may occur without economic injury
to or discharge of the victim.
 Sexual harassment can create
widespread problems with significant
consequences for the perpetrator, the
victim and the working or educational
environment if not addressed
A.Theoretical Bases
There are three models that attempt to explain the
reasons for sexual harassment.
a. the natural or biological model,
b. the organizational model, and
c. the socio-cultural model developed by Tangri, Burt
& Johnson (1982).
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS ON SEXUAL
HARASSMENT
• Vaux (1993) agrees that sexual harassment is a
form of misuse of power, using sexuality to
achieve it.
• Zalk (1996) considers sexual harassment as one
of the many culturally ingrained and promoted
expressions of women’s oppression, and serves
to perpetuate that oppression.
• Fitzgerald (1990) explains that sexual harassment can be
considered as a behavioral construct composed of three
related but conceptually distinct and non overlapping
dimensions namely:
(a) Gender harassment,
(b) unwanted sexual attention, and
(c) sexual coercion.
 The Philippines is the first country in Asia to
enact a Law against sexual harassment.
Philippine Congress passed on February 8, 1995,
Republic Act No. 7877, otherwise known as the
Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995.
A. Acts Considered as Sexual Harassment
a. When a sexual favor is made as a condition in
the hiring or in the employment, re-employment
or continued employment of a person.
b. When a sexual favor is made in exchange for
favorable compensations of employment,
promotions and other privileges.
c. When the sexual favor is made as a condition
to the giving of a passing grade or the granting
of honors or scholarships to a student.
d. When the sexual favor is made as a condition
to the payment of a stipend allowance or other
benefits, privileges or considerations to either
an employee or student.
e. When the refusal to grant the sexual favor
results in limiting, segregating or classifying the
employee which in any way would discriminate
deprive or diminish employment opportunities
or otherwise adversely affect the employee or
student.
f. When the refusal to grant sexual favor impairs
the employee’s rights or privileges under
existing labor laws.
g. When the sexual act results in an intimidating,
hostile or offensive environment for the
employee.
B. Forms of Sexual Harassment
Generally, sexual harassment
comes in two forms: a) quid pro quo
and b) hostile working environment.
 Quid pro quo is a straightforward- like when
the boss says. “Sleep with me or you are fired”
Essentially, quid pro quo harassment involves
making conditions of employment as hiring,
promotion, retention, etc. contingent upon the
victim’s providing sexual favors.
 Hostile working environment harassment is defined
as a speech or conduct of a sexual discriminatory
nature which was neither welcomed nor encouraged
and committed by or permitted by a superior which
would be so offensive to a reasonable person as to
create an abusive working environment and/or
impair his/her performance.
C. Liabilities of the Offender
RA 7877 is a penal law and therefore, if found guilty,
the offender is criminally liable and may be penalized
by either imprisonment which is not less than one
month nor more than 6 months or a fine of
PhP10,000.00 to PhP20,000.00, or both imprisonment
and fine.
D. Effects of Sexual Harassment
The victim in any sexual harassment case
normally suffers the most. There is mental and
emotional anguish including feelings of shame and
self-doubt, guilt and inability to trust others. The
victim may also experience physical effects such as
sleeplessness, nausea, vomiting and headaches.
On the other hand, the offender may likewise
experience anxiety and stress. He faces possible
disciplinary action, which may include job loss
and the embarrassment of public exposure.
GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

Seven out of 23 Industrialized countries

surveyed by the International Labor Organization
(ILO) in 1992 have specific laws on sexual
harassment and these countries are: Australia,
Canada, France, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden,
and the US.
SEXUAL HARASSMENT CASES FILED
 Conflict is inherent in human society. Because of
this , much effort has been expended by
organizations in devising ways of resolving conflict.
One of the most important aspects of the
employer-employee relationship is the manner in
which complaints or grievances are treated.