Bar Question, Labor Law - 2010

Manila

Bar Exam Questions
Labor Law
2010

PART I
I
TRUE OR FALSE. Explain your answer briefly.
1. Deeds of release, waivers and quitclaims are always valid
and binding. (2%)
2. The relations between employer and employee are purely
contractual in nature. (2%)
3. As a general rule, direct hiring of Overseas Filipino Workers
(OFWs) is not allowed. (2%)
II
A. Distinguish the terms “conciliation,” “mediation” and
“arbitration.” (3%)
B. Differentiate “surface bargaining” from “blue-sky
bargaining.” (2%)
III
A, single, has been an active member of the Social Security
System for the past 20 months. She became pregnant out of
wedlock and on her 7th month of pregnancy, she was informed that
she would have to deliver the baby through caesarean section
because of some complications. Can A claim maternity benefits?
If yes, how many days can she go on maternity leave? If not, why
is she not entitled? (3%)
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IV
A, a worker at ABC Company, was on leave with pay on
March 31, 2010. He reported for work on April 1 and 2, Maundy
Thursday and Good Friday, respectively, both regular holidays. Is
A entitled to holiday pay for the two successive holidays? Explain.
(3%)
V
Company XYZ has two recognized labor unions, one for its
rank-and-file employees (RFLU), and one for supervisory
employees (SELU). Of late, the company instituted a restructuring
program by virtue of which A, a rank-and-file employee and
officer of RFLU, was promoted to a supervisory position along
with four (4) other colleagues, also active union members and/or
officers. Labor Union KMJ, a rival labor union seeking
recognition as the rank-and-file bargaining agent, filed a petition
for the cancellation of the registration of RFLU on the ground that
A and her colleagues have remained to be members of RFLU. Is
the petition meritorious? Explain. (3%)
VI
A is a member of the labor union duly recognized as the sole
bargaining representative of his company. Due to a bargaining
deadlock, 245 members of the 500-strong union voted on March
13, 2010 to stage a strike. A notice of strike was submitted to the
National Conciliation and Mediation Board on March 16, 2010.
Seven days later or on March 23, 2010, the workers staged a strike
in the course of which A had to leave and go to the hospital where
his wife had just delivered a baby. The union members later
intimidated and barred other employees from entering the work
premises, thus paralyzing the business operations of the company.
A was dismissed from employment as a consequence of the
strike.
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A. Was the strike legal? Explain. (3%)
B. Was A’s dismissal valid? Why or why not? (3%)
VII
A was an able seaman contracted by ABC Recruitment
Agency for its foreign principal, Seaworthy Shipping Company
(SSC). His employment contract provided that he would serve on
board the Almieda II for eight (8) months with a monthly salary of
US$450. In connection with his employment, he signed an
undertaking to observe the drug and alcohol policy which bans
possession or use of all alcoholic beverages, prohibited substances
and un-prescribed drugs on board the ship. The undertaking
provided that: (1) disciplinary action including dismissal would
be taken against anyone in possession of the prohibited substances
or who is impaired by the use of any of these substances, and (2)
to enforce the policy, random test sampling would be done on all
those on board the ship.
On his third month of service while the Almieda II was
docked at a foreign port, a random drug test was conducted on all
members of the crew and A tested positive for marijuana. He was
given a copy of the drug test result. In compliance with the
company’s directive, he submitted his written explanation which
the company did not find satisfactory. A month later, he was
repatriated to the Philippines.
Upon arrival in the Philippines, A filed with the National
Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) a complaint against the
agency and the principal for illegal dismissal with a claim for
salaries for the unexpired portion of his contract.
A. Was A’s dismissal valid? Explain. (3%)
B. Is his claim for salaries for the unexpired portion of his
contract tenable? Explain. (3%)
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VIII
ABC company and U labor union have been negotiating for a
new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) but failed to agree
on certain economic provisions of the existing agreement. In the
meantime, the existing CBA expired. The company thereafter
refused to pay the employees their midyear bonus, saying that the
CBA which provided for the grant of midyear bonus to all
company employees had already expired. Are the employees
entitled to be paid their midyear bonus? Explain your answer.
(3%)
IX
A was working as a medical representative of RX
pharmaceutical company when he met and fell in love with B, a
marketing strategist for Delta Drug Company, a competitor of RX.
On several occasions, the management of RX called A’s attention
to the stipulation in his employment contract that requires him to
disclose any relationship by consanguinity or affinity with coemployees
or employees of competing companies in light of a
possible conflict of interest. A seeks your advice on the validity of
the company policy. What would be your advice? (3%)
X
A, an employee of XYZ Cooperative, owns 500 shares in the
cooperative. He has been asked to join the XYZ Cooperative
Employees Association. He seeks your advice on whether he can
join the association. What advice will you give him? (3%)
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XI
Because of continuing financial constraints, XYZ, Inc. gave
its employees the option to voluntarily resign from the company.
A was one of those who availed of the option. On October 5,
2007, he was paid separation benefits equivalent to seven (7)
months pay for his six (6) years and seven (7) months of service
with the company and he executed a waiver and quitclaim.
A week later, A filed against XYZ, Inc. a complaint for
illegal dismissal. While he admitted that he was not forced to sign
the quitclaim, he contended that he agreed to tender his voluntary
resignation on the belief that XYZ, Inc. was closing down its
business. XYZ, Inc., however, continued its business under a
different company name, he claimed.
Rule on whether the quitclaim executed by A is valid or not.
Explain. (3%)
XII
On December 12, 2008, A signed a contract to be part of the
crew of ABC Cruises, Inc. through its Philippine manning agency
XYZ. Under the standard employment contract of the Philippine
Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), his employment
was to commence upon his actual departure from the port in the
point of hire, Manila, from where he would take a flight to the
USA to join the cruise ship “MS Carnegie.” However, more than
three months after A secured his exit clearance from the POEA for
his supposed departure on January 15, 2009, XYZ still had not
deployed him for no valid reason.
Is A entitled to relief? Explain. (3%)
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XIII
A is employed by XYZ Company where XYZ Employees
Union (XYZ-EU) is the recognized exclusive bargaining agent.
Although A is a member of rival union XYR-MU, he receives the
benefits under the CBA that XYZ-EU had negotiated with the
company.
XYZ-EU assessed A a fee equivalent to the dues and other
fees paid by its members but A insists that he has no obligation to
pay said dues and fees because he is not a member of XYZ–EU
and he has not issued an authorization to allow the collection.
Explain whether his claim is meritorious. (3%)
- END OF PART I –
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PART II
XIV
After working from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on a Thursday as one of
5,000 employees in a beer factory, A hurried home to catch the
early evening news and have dinner with his family. At around 10
p.m. of the same day, the plant manager called and ordered A to
fill in for C who missed the second shift.
A. May A validly refuse the plant manager’s directive? Explain.
(2%)
B. Assuming that A was made to work from 11 p.m. on
Thursday until 2 a.m. on Friday, may the company argue
that, since he was two hours late in coming to work on
Thursday morning, he should only be paid for work rendered
from 1 a.m. to 2 a.m.? Explain? (3%)
XV
Samahang Manggagawa ng Terracota, a union of
supervisory employees at Terracota Inc., recently admitted a
member of the company’s managerial staff, A, into the union
ranks.
A. Should A be a member of the supervisory union? Explain.
(2%)
B. Assuming that A is ineligible to join the union, should the
registration of Samahang Manggagawa ng Terracota be
cancelled? Explain. (3%)
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XVI
On the first day of collective bargaining negotiations between
rank-and-file Union A and B Bus Company, the former proposed a
P45/day increase. The company insisted that ground rules for
negotiations should first be established, to which the union agreed.
After agreeing on ground rules on the second day, the union
representatives reiterated their proposal for a wage increase. When
company representatives suggested a discussion of political
provisions in the Collective Bargaining Agreement as stipulated in
the ground rules, union members went on mass leave the next day
to participate in a whole-day prayer rally in front of the company
building.
A. The company filed a petition for assumption of jurisdiction
with the Secretary of Labor and Employment. The Union
opposed the petition, arguing that it did not intend to stage a
strike. Should the petition be granted? Explain. (2%)
B. The Union contended that assuming that the mass leave will
be considered as a strike, the same was valid because of the
refusal of the company to discuss the economic provisions of
the CBA. Rule on the contention. (2%)
C. Union member AA, a pastor who headed the prayer rally,
was served a notice of termination by management after it
filed the petition for assumption of jurisdiction. May the
company validly terminate AA? Explain. (2%)
XVII
A was hired to work in a sugar plantation performing such
tasks as weeding, cutting and loading canes, planting cane points,
fertilizing and cleaning the drainage. Because his daily presence in
the field was not required, A also worked as a houseboy at the
house of the plantation owner. For the next planting season, the
owner decided not to hire A as a plantation worker but as a
houseboy instead. Furious, A filed a case for illegal dismissal
against the plantation owner. Decide with reason. (3%)
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XVIII
Flight attendant A, five feet and six inches tall, weighing 170
pounds ended up weighing 220 pounds in two years. Pursuant to
the long standing Cabin and Crew Administration Manual of the
employer airline that set a 147-pound limit for A’s height,
management sent A a notice to “shape up or ship out” within 60
days. At the end of the 60-day period, A reduced her weight to
205 pounds. The company finally served her a Notice of
Administration Charge for violation of company standards on
weight requirements. Should A be dismissed? Explain. (3%)
XIX
Several employees and members of Union A were terminated
by Western Phone Co. on the ground of redundancy. After
complying with the necessary requirements, the Union staged a
strike and picketed the premises of the company. The management
then filed a petition for the Secretary of Labor and Employment to
assume jurisdiction over the dispute. Without the benefit of a
hearing, the Secretary issued an Order to assume jurisdiction and
for the parties to revert to the status quo ante litem.
A. Was the order to assume jurisdiction legal? Explain. (2%)
B. Under the same set of facts the Secretary instead issued an
Order directing all striking workers to return to work within
24 hours, except those who were terminated due to
redundancy. Was the Order legal? Explain. (3%)
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XX
A, a driver for a bus company, sued his employer for nonpayment
of commutable service incentive leave credits upon his
resignation after five years of employment. The bus company
argued that A was not entitled to service incentive leave since he
was considered a field personnel and was paid on commission
basis and that, in any event, his claim had prescribed. If you were
the Labor Arbiter, how would you rule? Explain. (6%)
XXI
A was approached for possible overseas deployment to Dubai
by X, an interviewer of job applicants for Alpha Personnel
Services, Inc., an overseas recruitment agency. X required A to
submit certain documents (passport, NBI clearance, medical
certificate) and to pay P25,000 as processing fee. Upon payment
of the said amount to the agency cashier, A was advised to wait for
his visa. After five months, A visited the office of Alpha
Personnel Services, Inc. during which X told him that he could no
longer be deployed for employment abroad. A was informed by
the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) that
while Alpha Personnel Services, Inc. was a licensed agency, X
was not registered as its employee, contrary to POEA Rules and
Regulations. Under POEA Rules and Regulations, the obligation
to register personnel with the POEA belongs to the officers of a
recruitment agency.
A. May X be held criminally liable for illegal recruitment?
Explain. (2%)
B. May the officers having control, management or direction of
Alpha Personnel Services, Inc. be held criminally liable for
illegal recruitment? Explain. (3%)
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XXII
A was recruited to work abroad by Speedy Recruitment
Agency as a technician for a Saudi Arabian construction firm, with
a monthly salary of $650.00. When she got to the construction
site, the employer compelled her to sign another contract that
referred her to another employer for a salary of $350.00. She
worked for the second employer and was paid $350.00 until her
two-year contract expired. Upon her return to the Philippines, she
filed a case against the agency and the two employers. May the
agency validly raise the defense that it was not privy to the transfer
of A to the second employer? Explain. (3%)
XXIII
A worked as a roomboy in La Mallorca Hotel. He sued for
underpayment of wages before the NLRC, alleging that he was
paid below the minimum wage. The employer denied any
underpayment, arguing that based on long standing, unwritten
policy, the Hotel provided food and lodging to its housekeeping
employees, the costs of which were partly shouldered by it and the
balance was charged to the employees. The employees’
corresponding share in the costs was thus deducted from their
wages. The employer concluded that such valid deduction
naturally resulted in the payment of wages below the prescribed
minimum. If you were the Labor Arbiter, how would you rule?
Explain. (3%)
XXIV
Rank-and-file workers from Peacock Feathers, a company
with 120 employees, registered their independent labor
organization with the Department of Labor and Employment
(DOLE) Regional Office. Management countered with a petition
to cancel the union’s registration on the ground that the minutes of
ratification of the union constitution and by-laws submitted to the
DOLE were fraudulent. Specifically, management presented
affidavits of ten (10) out of forty (40) individuals named in the list
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of union members who participated in the ratification, alleging that
they were not present at the supposed January 1, 2010 meeting
held for the purpose. The union argued that the stated date of the
meeting should have read “January 11, 2010,” instead of “January
1, 2010,” and that, at any rate, the other thirty (30) union members
were enough to register a union. Decide with reason. (3%)
XXV
Company C, a toy manufacturer, decided to ban the use of
cell phones in the factory premises. In the pertinent Memorandum,
management explained that too much texting and phone-calling by
employees disrupted company operations. Two employeesmembers
of Union X were terminated from employment due to
violation of the memorandum-policy. The union countered with a
prohibitory injunction case (with prayer for the issuance of a
temporary restraining order) filed with the Regional Trial Court,
challenging the validity and constitutionality of the cell phone ban.
The company filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that the case
should be referred to the grievance machinery pursuant to an
existing Collective Bargaining Agreement with Union X, and
eventually to Voluntary Arbitration. Is the company correct?
Explain. (3%)
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