332 Phil. 78
BELLOSILLO, J.:
Whether it is redundancy or retrenchment, no employee may be dismissed without observance of the rudiments of good faith. This is the point of our assailed order. If the Company (were) really convinced of the reasons for dismissal, the least it could have done to the employees affected was to observe fair play and transparency in implementing the decision to dismiss. To stress, the redundancy was implemented without the Company so much apprising the Union of any fair and reasonable criteria for implementation.Petitioner argues next that granting that procedural due process was not afforded the dismissed employees, still, the award of two (2) months salary for each of them is not in accord with existing jurisprudence. The Wenphil doctrine teaches, as in other cases, that where the dismissal of an employee is for a just cause but without due process, the employer must indemnify the dismissed employee.
As a matter of fact, this office called the parties to a conference on 14 March 1994, at which the Company was given an opportunity to clarify the criteria it used in effecting redundancy. Represented by Ms. Ma. Lourdes Mendoza of Mercado and Associates, its counsel of record, the Company submitted quitclaims which do not contain any amounts purportedly executed by five of the eight dismissed employees. More importantly, the minutes of the conference show that within two days thereafter, the Company committed to submit a pleading to explain the criteria it used in effecting the redundancy; where no such submission is made by 17 March 1994, the case shall be deemed submitted for resolution. The Company never complied with this commitment.
As has been made clear, even this Office recognized that an authorized cause for dismissal did exist; what it could not countenance is the means employed by the Company in making the cause effective. But no matter what kind of justification the Company presents now, this has become moot, academic and irrelevant. The same should have been communicated to the affected employees prior to or simultaneously with the implementation of the redundancy, or at the very least, before the assailed order was rendered.
In any event, the explanation being advanced by the Company now purportedly based on areas of assignment - loses significance from the more compelling viewpoint of efficiency and seniority. For instance, during the period covered by the Company’s own time and motion analysis, Rogelio Varona delivered 96 messages but was dismissed; Ressurecion Bordeos delivered only an average of 75 but was retained. In terms of seniority, the Company itself states the "Ms. Bordeos holds the same position/area as Rogelio Varona, however, she was retained because she is more senior than the latter." The Company should look at its own evidence again. Bordeos had only 16 years of service. Varona had 19, Neves 18, and Valle, Basig and Santos 17, yet all five were dismissed.
One should also consider that the redundancy was implemented at the height of bargaining negotiations. The bargaining process could have been the best opportunity for the Company to apprise the Union of the necessity for redundancy. For unknown reasons, the Company did not take an advantage of it. Intended or not, the redundancy reinforced the conditions for a deadlock, giving the Union members the impression that it was being used by the Company to obtain a bargaining leverage.[7]
x x x x Wenphil, however, simply provides the authority to impose the indemnity; it is not meant to be definitive as to the amount of indemnity applicable in all cases, this being dependent on the particular circumstances of a case. Indeed, in the later case of Maritime Seahorse v. NLRC, G.R. No. 84712, 5 May 1989, the Supreme Court applied the Wenphil doctrine but awarded an indemnity of P5,000.00. Clearly, there is a recognition that the amount of indemnity to be awarded is subject to the discretion of the agency making the award, considering all attendant circumstances.[9]Lastly, petitioner argues that the retirement benefits granted by respondent Secretary of Labor are in excess of what is required of it under the law and what the Union demands. In particular, R.A. 7641 grants to the employee retirement pay equivalent to 21.82 days per year of service only but respondent Secretary of Labor granted the equivalent of 22.5 days. To this, six (6) more days were granted for compulsory retirement and three (3) days for optional retirement. The existing provisions of the CBA, the respective proposals of the parties, and the award of respondent Secretary of Labor are reproduced hereunder -
The records fail to disclose that petitioner bothered to inform the Court how it arrived at 21.82 days as basis in the computation of the retirement pay. Anyway, it is clear in the law that the term "one-half (1/2) month salary" means 22.5 days: 15 days plus 2.5 days representing one-twelfth (1/12) of the 13th month pay plus 5 days of service incentive leave. In this regard, there is no reason for petitioner to complain that the retirement benefits granted by respondent Secretary of Labor exceeded the requirements of law.EXISTING PROVISIONS OF THE CBA
a. Normal Retirement -
compulsory upon reaching 60 years of age or after 35 years of continuous service, whichever comes first, provided that those who reach 55 or have 10 years of uninterrupted service may be retired at employee’s or Compulsory option.PETITIONER'S PROPOSAL
a. Normal Retirement -
60 years old - R.A. 7641
b. Optional Retirement -
55 years old or 10 years of continuous service ½ month’s basic salary for every year of continuous service plus 1 day equivalent payUNION’S PROPOSAL
a. Normal Retirement -
150 % of basic salary
b. Optional Retirement -
50 % of basic salary commencing in the 5th year of serviceSECRETARY’S AWARD
a. Compulsory Retirement -
An employee shall be compulsory retired upon reaching the age of sixty (60), or after thirty-five (35) years of continuous service, whichever comes first.
An employee shall be entitled to a retirement benefit of ½ month salary plus six (6) days multiplied by the number of years in service.
b. Optional Retirement
At his option, an employee may retire upon reaching the age of fifty-five (55) or more if he has served for at least five (5) years;
Provided, however, that any employee who is under fifty-five (55) years old may retire if he has rendered at least ten (10) years of continuous service.
Such an employee shall be entitled to a retirement benefit of ½ month salary plus three (3) days multiplied by the number of years in service.
For purposes of computing compulsory sand optional retirement benefits and to align the current retirement plan with the minimum standards of Art. 287 of the Labor Code, as amended by R.A. 7641, and Sec. 5 (5.2) of its implementing rules, "1/2 month salary" means 22.5 days salary, exclusive of leave conversion benefits.
Article 287 of the Labor Code, as amended by R.A. 7641, provides -
Art. 287. Retirement. - Any employee may be retired upon reaching the retirement age established in the collective bargaining agreement or other applicable employment contract.
In case of retirement, the employee shall be entitled to receive such retirement benefits as he may have earned under existing laws and any collective bargaining agreement and other agreements: provided, however, That an employee’s retirement benefits under any collective bargaining and other agreements shall not be less than those provided herein.
In the absence of a retirement plan or agreement plan providing for retirement benefits of employees in the establishment, an employee upon reaching the age of sixty (60) years or more, but not beyond sixty-five (65) years which is hereby declared the compulsory retirement age, who has served at least five (5) years in the said establishment, may retire and shall be entitled to retirement pay equivalent to at least one-half (1/2) month salary for every year of service, a fraction of at least six (6) months being considered as one whole year.
Unless the parties provide for broader inclusions, the term ‘one-half (1/2) month salary’ shall mean fifteen (15) days plus one-twelfth (1/12) of the 13th month pay and the cash equivalent of not more than five (5) days of service incentive leaves x x x x (italics supplied).