574 Phil. 56
AUSTRIA-MARTINEZ, J.:
Private respondent Reynaldo Chua was hired by the petitioner shipping company, Bahia Shipping Services, Inc., as a restaurant waiter on board a luxury cruise ship liner M/S Black Watch pursuant to a Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) approved employment contract dated October 9, 1996 for a period of nine (9) months from October 18, 1996 to July 17, 1997. On October 18, 1996, the private respondent left Manila for Heathrow, England to board the said sea vessel where he will be assigned to work.The Labor Arbiter rendered a Decision dated March 5, 1998, holding petitioner liable to respondent for illegal dismissal and unauthorized deductions, viz:
On February 15, 1997, the private respondent reported for his working station one and one-half (1½) hours late. On February 17, 1997, the master of the vessel served to the private respondent an official warning-termination form pertaining to the said incident. On March 8, 1997, the vessel's master, ship captain Thor Fleten conducted an inquisitorial hearing to investigate the said incident. Thereafter, on March 9, 1997, private respondent was dismissed from the service on the strength of an unsigned and undated notice of dismissal. An alleged record or minutes of the said investigation was attached to the said dismissal notice.
On March 24, 1997, the private respondent filed a complaint for illegal dismissal and other monetary claims, which case was assigned to Labor Arbiter Manuel M. Manansala.
The private respondent alleged that he was paid only US$300.00 per month as monthly salary for five (5) months instead of US$410.00 as stipulated in his employment contract. Thus, he claimed that he was underpaid in the amount of US$110.00 per month for that same period of five (5) months. He further asserted that his salaries were also deducted US$20.00 per month by the petitioner for alleged union dues. Private respondent argued that it was his first offense committed on board the vessel. He adverted further that the petitioner has no proof of being a member of the AMOSUP or the ITF to justify its claim to deduct the said union dues [from] his monthly salary.
The petitioner disputed the said allegations of the private respondent by arguing that it received a copy of an addendum to the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) from the petitioner's principal, Blackfriars Shipping Company, Ltd. Consequently, the petitioner requested permission from the POEA through a letter dated March 17, 1997 to amend the salary scale of the private respondent to US$300.00 per month. The petitioner justified its monthly deduction made for union dues against the private respondent's salary in view of an alleged existing CBA between the Norwegian Seaman's Union (NSU, for brevity) and the petitioner's principal, Blackfriars Shipping Co., Ltd. The petitioner further asseverated that the private respondent has violated the terms and conditions of his contract as manifested in the said official warning-termination form by always coming late when reporting for duty even prior to the February 15, 1997 incident.[3]
WHEREFORE, premises considered, judgment is hereby rendered:
1. Declaring [petitioner] Bahia Shipping Services, Inc. (BSSI) and its foreign principal Blackfriars Shipping Co., Ltd. (BSCL) guilty of illegal dismissal. Accordingly, the aforenamed [petitioner] BSSI and its foreign principal BSCL are hereby directed to pay jointly and severally, [private respondent] Reynaldo Chua the sum of US$1,230.00 as earlier computed, representing his salary for the unexpired portion of the contract of employment limited to three (3) months under Republic Act 8042, and convertible to Philippine currency upon actual payment.
2. Directing the aforenamed [petitioner] BSSI and its foreign principal BSCL to pay, jointly and severally, [private respondent] Reynaldo Chua the following money claims as earlier computed:
Reimbursement/Refund of Plane Fare | ---- | US$ 638.99 |
Illegal Deductions (“Union Dues”) | ---- | 100.00 |
Differential Pay (Underpayment of Wages) | ---- | 550.00 |
========== | ||
US$1,288.99 |
convertible to Philippine currency upon actual payment.Petitioner appealed to the NLRC which issued on December 23, 1998 a Decision, the dispositive portion of which reads:
3. Directing the aforenamed [petitioner] BSSI and its foreign principal BSCL to pay, jointly and severally, the [private respondent] Reynaldo Chua ten (10%) percent attorney's fees based on the total monetary award.
4. Dismissing the other money claims and/or charges of [private respondent] Reynaldo Chua for lack of factual and legal basis.
SO ORDERED.[4]
WHEREFORE, premises considered, the appealed Decision is hereby MODIFIED in that the award on the unexpired portion of the contract is deducted the amount equivalent to a day's work of complainant. The other findings stand AFFIRMED.Petitioner filed a Motion for Reconsideration but the NLRC denied the same in a Resolution dated February 15, 1999.[6]
SO ORDERED.[5]
WHEREFORE, premises considered, the assailed decision dated December 23, 1998, and the resolution dated February 15, 1999, of the public respondent NLRC are hereby AFFIRMED, with the MODIFICATION that the monetary award representing the salary of the petitioner for the unexpired portion of the contract which is limited to three (3) months under Republic Act No. 8042 is DELETED.The CA denied petitioner's Motion for Reconsideration.
SO ORDERED.[7]
a) Whether or not the Court of Appeals could grant additional affirmative relief by increasing the award despite the fact that respondent did not appeal the decision of both the Labor Arbiter and the NLRC.It is noted that petitioner does not question the monetary awards under Item Nos. 2 and 3 of the dispositive portion of the LA Decision, which were affirmed in toto by the NLRC and CA.
b) Whether or not reporting for work one and one-half (1½) hours late and abandoning his work are valid grounds for dismissal.
c) Whether or not respondent is entitled to overtime pay which was incorporated in his award for the unexpired portion of the contract despite the fact that he did not render overtime work, and whether or not, it is proper for the NLRC to award money claims despite the fact that the NLRC decision, and affirmed by the Court of Appeals, did not state clearly the facts and the evidence upon which such conclusions are based.[8]
Judicial Review of labor cases does not go beyond the evaluation of the sufficiency of the evidence upon which its labor officials’ findings rest. As such, the findings of facts and conclusion of the NLRC are generally accorded not only great weight and respect but even clothed with finality and deemed binding on this Court as long as they are supported by substantial evidence.[16]In the present case, petitioner has failed to establish a compelling reason for the Court to depart from this rule. In fact, as pointed out by the CA, petitioner's claim that respondent's tardiness was habitual lacks evidentiary support as “no other documents on record were attached to substantiate that the private respondent was forewarned for the first and second time for any infraction or offense, work-related or not, vis-à-vis the performance of his regular duties and functions.”[17]
On the matter of the award of backwages, petitioners advance the view that by awarding backwages, the appellate court "unwittingly reversed a time-honored doctrine that a party who has not appealed cannot obtain from the appellate court any affirmative relief other than the ones granted in the appealed decision." We do not agree.The Court has consistently applied the foregoing exception to the general rule. It does so yet again in the present case.
The fact that the NLRC did not award backwages to the respondents or that the respondents themselves did not appeal the NLRC decision does not bar the Court of Appeals from awarding backwages. While as a general rule, a party who has not appealed is not entitled to affirmative relief other than the ones granted in the decision of the court below, the Court of Appeals is imbued with sufficient authority and discretion to review matters, not otherwise assigned as errors on appeal, if it finds that their consideration is necessary in arriving at a complete and just resolution of the case or to serve the interests of justice or to avoid dispensing piecemeal justice.
Article 279 of the Labor Code, as amended, mandates that an illegally dismissed employee is entitled to the twin reliefs of (a) either reinstatement or separation pay, if reinstatement is no longer viable, and (b) backwages. Both are distinct reliefs given to alleviate the economic damage suffered by an illegally dismissed employee and, thus, the award of one does not bar the other. Both reliefs are rights granted by substantive law which cannot be defeated by mere procedural lapses. Substantive rights like the award of backwages resulting from illegal dismissal must not be prejudiced by a rigid and technical application of the rules. The order of the Court of Appeals to award backwages being a mere legal consequence of the finding that respondents were illegally dismissed by petitioners, there was no error in awarding the same.[21] (Emphasis supplied)