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RATIO DECIDENDI:
(On First issue)
The Eight-Hour Labor Law only has application where an employee or
laborer is paid on a monthly or daily basis, or is paid a monthly or daily
compensation, in which case, if he is made to work beyond the requisite
period of 8 hours, he should be paid the additional compensation prescribed
by law. This law has no application when the employee or laborer is paid on
a piece-work, "pakiao", or commission basis, regardless of the time
employed. The philosophy behind this exemption is that his earnings in the
form of commission based on the gross receipts of the day. His participation
depends upon his industry so that the more hours he employs in the work the
greater are his gross returns and the higher his commission.
According to a ruling by DOLE on Dec. 9, 1957, field sales personnel
receiving monthly salaries are not subject to the Eight-Hour Labor Law.
Although they are paid on a monthly basis, their commission shall be
considered as payment for extra time he renders in excess of 8 hours.
RADA v. NLRC
G.R. No. 96078, January 9, 1992
NATURE OF THE CASE: this is a special civil action for certiorari where
petitioner seeks to annul the NLRC decision reversing the ruling of the labor
arbiter which ordered the reinstatement of petitioner with backwages and
awarded him overtime pay.
FACTS: Petitioner was contracted in 1977 by private respondent Philnor
Consultants and Planners, Inc as a driver and was assigned to a specific
project in Manila for a period of 2.3 years. His task was to drive employees
to the project from 7am to 4pm. He was allowed to bring home the company
vehicle in order to provide a timely transportation service to the other project
workers.
The project he was assigned to was not completed as scheduled so the
company renewed his contract for 10 months on account of his satisfactory
record. 10 months has passed and the project was far from completion.
Several contracts thereafter were made until the project was finished in 1985
and Rada was terminated.
He later sued Philnor for non-payment of separation pay and overtime pay.
ISSUE: Whether Rada is entitled to separation pay and OT pay.
HELD: Rada was not entitled to Separation pay. He was entitled to
Overtime pay.
RATIO DECIDENDI:
On Separation Pay:
The Court held that although petitioner worked with Philnor as a driver for
eight years, the fact that his services were rendered only for a particular
project which took that same period of time to complete categorizes him as a
project employee. Petitioner was employed for one specific project.
The private respondent was a project employees whose work was
coterminous with the project for which he was hired. Project employees, as
distinguished from regular or non-project employees, are mentioned in
section 281 of the Labor Code as those "where the employment has been
fixed for a specific project or undertaking the completion or termination of
which has been determined at the time of the engagement of the employee."
Project employees are not entitled to termination pay if they are terminated
as a result of the completion of the project or any phase thereof in which
they are employed, regardless of the number of projects in which they have
been employed by a particular construction company. Moreover, the
company is not required to obtain clearance from the Secretary of Labor in
connection with such termination.
On Overtime Pay:
The Court held that petitioner was entitled to such pay. The fact that he picks
up employees of Philnor at certain specified points along EDSA in going to
the project site and drops them off at the same points on his way back from
the field office going home to Marikina, Metro Manila is not merely
incidental to petitioner's job as a driver. On the contrary, said transportation
arrangement had been adopted, not so much for the convenience of the
employees, but primarily for the benefit of the employer, herein private
respondent.
Because of his exclusion from the second report of the examiner, Malondras
asked the CIR to order for his compensation. Nassco opposed Malondras
arguing that its records do not indicate the actual number of working hours
rendered by him. After examining the documents, the chief examiner
credited Malondras five OT hours for the period in question.
On February 20, 1960, the Court ordered the examiner to make a reexamination of the records with a view to determining Malondras' total
overtime service from two periods. After looking at the documents, the
examiner, this time, credited Malondras a total of 16 OT hours a day.
The NASSCO moved for reconsideration, which was denied by the Court en
banc. Whereupon, the NASSCO appealed to the Supreme Court.
ISSUE: Whether Malondras should be credited for 16 hours of OT for being
detailed on board.
HELD: No.
RATIO DECIDENDI: The court examiner interpreted the words "Detail"
or "Detailed on Board" to mean that as long as respondent Malondras was in
his barge for twenty-four hours, he should be paid overtime for sixteen hours
a day or the time in excess of the legal eight working hours that he could not
leave his barge.
The Court did not agree with the CIR that respondent Malondras should be
paid OT compensation for every hour in excess of the regular working hours
that he was on board his vessel or barge each day, irrespective of whether or
not he actually put in work during those hours. Seamen are required to stay
on board their vessels by the very nature of their duties, and it is for this
reason that, in addition to their regular compensation, they are given free
living quarters and subsistence allowances when required to be on board. It
could not have been the purpose of our law to require their employers to pay
them overtime even when they are not actually working; otherwise, every
sailor on board a vessel would be entitled to overtime for sixteen hours each
day, even if he had spent all those hours resting or sleeping in his bunk, after
his regular tour of duty. The correct criterion in determining whether or not
sailors are entitled to overtime pay is not, therefore, whether they were on
board and cannot leave ship beyond the regular eight working hours a day,
but whether they actually rendered service in excess of said number of
hours.
While Malondras' daily time sheets do not show his actual working hours,
nevertheless, petitioner has already admitted in the Stipulation of Facts in
this case that Malondras and his co-claimants did render service beyond
eight hours a day when so required by the exigencies of the service; and in
fact, Malondras was credited and already paid for five hours daily overtime
work during the period covered by the first report of the examiner. Since
Malondras has been at the same job since 1954, it can be reasonably inferred
that the overtime service he put in whenever he was required to be aboard
his barge all day from 1954 to 1957 would be more or less consistent. In
truth, the other claimants who served with Malondras under the same
conditions and period have been finally paid for an overtime of 5 hours a
day, and no substantial difference exists between their case and the present
one, which was not covered by the same award only because Malondras'
time records not found until later.
DISPOSITIVE: The order appealed from is modified in the sense that
respondent Malondras should be credited five overtime hours instead of 16
hours a day for the periods covered by the examiner's report.
NATURE OF THE CASE: this was a petition for certiorari where the
petitioner sought to annul the NLRC decision which reversed the Labor
Arbiter who ruled in favor of the petitioner and held that the employees were
given two days of rest and that work performed on the first day of rest
should be compensated.
FACTS: Petitioner union filed a complaint for unfair labor practice against
respondent company alleging violations of the CBA. Union charged Caltex
with shortchanging its employees when it compensated work performed on
the first 2 hours of Saturday, an employees day of rest, at regular rates,
when it should be paying at day-off rates. This was grounded on the
contention that, according to the union, the CBA granted employees two day
offs.
Another point raised by the union was that Caltex was guilty of violating the
statutory prohibition against offsetting undertime for overtime work on
another day on the ground that the employees had been required to render
overtime work on a Saturday but compensated only at regular rates of pay,
because they had not completed the eight hours work period daily from
Monday thru Friday.
The labor arbiter ruled in favor of petitioner, which was reversed by the
NLRC upon appeal. The NLRC concluded that CBA granted only one day of
rest (which was Sunday).
ISSUE: Whether the CBA granted the employees two days of rest.
Corollarily, whether the union is correct in charging that rate on Saturday
should be for a day-off rate as against the normal rate.
HELD: No on both issues.
RATIO DECIDENDI:
(On First Issue)
After carefully examining the language of Article III, in relation to Annex
"B" of the 1985 CBA, quoted in limine, as well as relevant portions of
earlier CBAs between the parties, The Court agreed with the NLRC that the
intention of the parties to the 1985 CBA was to provide the employees with
only one (1) day of rest. The plain and ordinary meaning of the language of
Article III is that Caltex and the Union had agreed to pay "day of rest" rates
for work performed on "an employee's one day of rest". To the Court's mind,
the use of the word "one" describing the phrase "day of rest [of an
employee]" emphasizes the fact that the parties had agreed that only a single
day of rest shall be scheduled and shall be provided to the employee.
The Court also noted that the contract clauses governing hours of work in
previous CBAs executed between private respondent Caltex and petitioner
Union in 1973, 1976, 1979 and 1982 contained provisions parallel if not
identical to those set out in Article III of the 1985 CBA. In all these CBAs
(1973, 1976, 1979, 1982), Article III provided that only "work on an
employee's one day of rest "shall be paid on the basis of "day of rest rates".
The relevant point here was that petitioner Union had never suggested that
more than 1 day of rest had been agreed upon, and certainly Caltex had
never treated Article III or any other portion of the CBAs as providing two
(2) days of rest. It is well settled that the contemporaneous and subsequent
conduct of the parties may be taken into account by a court called upon to
interpret and apply a contract entered into by them.
The Court agreed with Respondent that the mathematical formulae contained
in Annex "B" are not all applicable to all classes of employees.Thus, "First
Day-off rates" and "Second Day-off rates" are applicable only to employees
stationed at the refinery and associated facilities like depots and terminals
which must be in constant twenty-four (24) hours a day, seven (7) days a
week, operation, hence necessitating the continuous presence of operations
personnel. The work of such operations personnel required them to be on
duty for six (6) consecutive days. Upon the other hand, "First Day-off rates"
and "Second Day-off rates" are not applicable to personnel of the Manila
Office which consisted of other groups or categories of employees (e.g.,
office clerks, librarians, computer operators, secretaries, collectors,
etc.), since the nature of their work did not require them to be on duty for six
(6) consecutive days.
(On Second Issue)
The company practice of allowing employees to leave thirty (30) minutes
earlier than the scheduled off-time had been established primarily for the
convenience of the employees most of whom have had to commute from
work place to home and in order that they may avoid the heavy rush hour
vehicular traffic. There is no allegation here by petitioner Union that such
practice was resorted to by Caltex in order to escape its contractual