601 Phil. 707
QUISUMBING, J.:
WHEREFORE, premises considered, judgment is hereby rendered in favor of the complainants, spouses ALWYN LIM and EVELYN LIM and LIGAYA DEBLOIS, and against the respondents LEGAZPI HOPE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL, CECILIO PEDRO, RAMON SIA, HELEN SIA and OMEGA SIA, ordering the latter to:Respondents appealed the decision of the Labor Arbiter to the NLRC. The NLRC found that petitioners were only part-time teachers who did not acquire permanent status; hence, their dismissal was legal. The dispositive portion of its decision reads:SO ORDERED.[10]
- Reinstate the three (3) complainants herein to their former position in the respondent school without loss of seniority rights; and
- Pay jointly and severally the complainants herein their back wages, 13th month pay, moral and exemplary damages and attorney's fees as computed above.
WHEREFORE, all the above facts considered, the judgments in favor of Alwyn Ong Lim and Evelyn Lukang Lim in the consolidated decision dated November 7, 2003 are hereby MODIFIED insofar as the award of 13th month and service incentive leave pays are concerned. Accordingly, the respondent Lega[z]pi Hope Christian School is hereby ordered to pay the said complainants their proportionate 13th month and service incentive leave pays for the year 2002, computed up to May 31, 2002, and based on their monthly salaries of PHP7,000.00 and PHP4,925.00, respectively. Their claims for illegal dismissal, and consequently for attorney's fees and damages, are hereby DISMISSED, for lack of merit.Petitioners filed a motion for reconsideration,[12] but it was denied in the Resolution[13] dated November 30, 2004. They then filed a petition for certiorari with the Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals affirmed the NLRC decision and disposed as follows:
SO ORDERED.[11]
WHEREFORE, in view of the foregoing, the instant petition for certiorari is PARTLY GRANTED. The assailed decision dated May 18, 2004 of public respondent NLRC insofar as NLRC RAB V Cases Nos. 04-00239-02 and 04-00240-02 involving Alwyn Ong Lim and Evelyn Lukang Lim are concerned is hereby AFFIRMED....The Court of Appeals denied petitioners' motion for reconsideration. Hence, petitioners now raise the following issues:
SO ORDERED.[14]
Petitioners contend that they were not issued any formal written probationary contract. They also contend that they were never informed of reasonable standards under which they would be evaluated or rated in connection with their supposed probationary period of employment. Thus, in the absence of a written contract of employment, upon their satisfactory completion of their three-year probationary period they contend that they are considered as, and became, regular and permanent teaching personnel of the respondent school.[16]I.
WHETHER OR NOT [PETITIONER-SPOUSES LIM] WERE HIRED AS PERMANENT TEACHING PERSONNEL ON THE BASIS OF ESTABLISHED FACTS.II.
WHETHER OR NOT [PETITIONER-SPOUSES LIM] WERE TERMINATED WITHOUT LAWFUL AND JUST CAUSE OR CAUSES AND IN VIOLATION OF [PETITIONER-SPOUSES LIM'S] RIGHTS TO DUE PROCESS OF LAW.III.
WHETHER OR NOT [PETITIONER-SPOUSES LIM] ARE ENTITLED TO THE RELIEF OF REINSTATEMENT PLUS BACK WAGES, FROM THE TIME THEY WERE UNLAWFULLY TERMINATED UNTIL ACTUAL REINSTATEMENT WITHOUT LOSS OF SENIORITY RIGHTS AND OTHER PRIVILEGES INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION TO MORAL/EXEMPLARY DAMAGES AS WELL AS ATTORNEY'S FEES.[15]
Section 45. Full-time and Part-time Faculty....In University of Sto . Tomas v. NLRC,[23] we ruled that for a private school teacher to acquire permanent status in employment, the following requisites must concur: (1) the teacher is a full-time teacher; (2) the teacher must have rendered three consecutive years of service; and (3) such service must have been satisfactory.[24]
Full-time academic personnel are those meeting all the following requirements:All teaching personnel who do not meet the foregoing qualifications are considered part-time. (Emphasis supplied.)
- Who possess at least the minimum academic qualifications prescribed by the Department under this Manual for all academic personnel;
- Who are paid monthly or hourly, based on the regular teaching loads as provided for in the policies, rules and standards of the Department and the school;
- Whose total working day of not more than eight hours a day is devoted to the school;
- Who have no other remunerative occupation elsewhere requiring regular hours of work that will conflict with the working hours in the school; and
- Who are not teaching full-time in any other educational institution.
x x x x
Section 92. Probationary Period. Subject in all instances to compliance with Department and school requirements, the probationary period for academic personnel shall not be more than three (3) consecutive years of satisfactory service for those in the elementary and secondary levels,...
Section 93. Regular or Permanent Status. Those who have served the probationary period shall be made regular or permanent. Full-time teachers who have satisfactorily completed their probationary period shall be considered regular or permanent. (Emphasis supplied.)
STATUS & PRIVILEGES OF TEACHERSConsidering that petitioners were new teachers, then in accordance with the above-quoted guidelines their unwritten contracts were considered to be for one school year at a time, they being required to submit a letter of re-application for each school year. After the end of each school year, the school did not have any obligation to give them any teaching loads, they being part-time teachers.[26] That respondents did not give any teaching assignment to the petitioners after the school year 2001-2002 did not amount to an actionable violation of petitioners' right. It did not amount to illegal dismissal.[27]x x x x
- New Teachers
- New Teachers are on probation for three (3) years, within the duration, they must submit a letter of re-application for each school year. After the expiration date of the contract, a new one must be signed if it is sent to you.
- A full time new teacher is under 10-month contract only. If his/her performance is satisfactory, he/she will be rehired and will be entitled to receive the salaries for the 2-month summer vacation. (Emphasis supplied.)