Case Digest: Atok Big Wedge v. Gison
G.R. No. 169510: August 8, 2011
ATOK BIG WEDGE COMPANY, INC., Petitioner, v. JESUS P. GISON, Respondent.
PERALTA, J.:
FACTS:
Sometime in February 1992, respondent Jesus P. Gison was a part-time consultant on retainer basis by petitioner Atok Big Wedge Company, Inc.
Petitioner only required respondent to report at the office when occasionally requested by the management to discuss matters needing his expertise as a consultant. As payment for his services, respondent received a retainer fee of P3,000.00 a month. The parties executed a retainer agreement, but such agreement was misplaced and can no longer be found.
The said arrangement continued for the next eleven years.
Sometime thereafter, since respondent was getting old, he requested that petitioner cause his registration with the Social Security System (SSS), but petitioner did not accede to his request. He later reiterated his request but it was ignored by respondent considering that he was only a retainer/consultant. On February 4, 2003, respondent filed a Complaintwith the SSS against petitioner for the latter's refusal to cause his registration with the SSS.
On the same date, Mario D. Cera, in his capacity as resident manager of petitioner, issued a Memorandum advising respondent that within 30 days from receipt thereof, petitioner is terminating his retainer contract with the company since his services are no longer necessary.
On February 21, 2003, respondent filed a complaint for illegal dismissal, among others. After the parties have submitted their respective pleadings, Labor Arbiter Rolando D. Gambito rendered a Decision ruling in favor of the petitioner. Finding no employer-employee relationship between petitioner and respondent, the Labor Arbiter dismissed the complaint for lack of merit.
On appeal, the NLRC affirmed the decision of the Labor Arbiter. Thereafter, respondent filed a petition for review under Rule 65 of the Rules of Court before the CA. The appellate court rendered the assailed Decision annulling and setting aside the decision of the NLRC.
ISSUE:
Applying the aforementioned test, an employer-employee relationship is apparently absent in the case at bar. Among other things, respondent was not required to report everyday during regular office hours of petitioner. Respondent's monthly retainer fees were paid to him either at his residence or a local restaurant. More importantly, petitioner did not prescribe the manner in which respondent would accomplish any of the tasks in which his expertise as a liaison officer was needed; respondent was left alone and given the freedom to accomplish the tasks using his own means and method. Respondent was assigned tasks to perform, but petitioner did not control the manner and methods by which respondent performed these tasks. Verily, the absence of the element of control on the part of the petitioner engenders a conclusion that he is not an employee of the petitioner.
Moreover, the absence of the parties' retainership agreement notwithstanding, respondent clearly admitted that petitioner hired him in a limited capacity only and that there will be no employer-employee relationship between them.
Respondent was well aware of the agreement that he was hired merely as a liaison or consultant of the petitioner and he agreed to perform tasks for the petitioner on a temporary employment status only. However, respondent anchors his claim that he became a regular employee of the petitioner based on his contention that the "temporary" aspect of his job and its "limited" nature could not have lasted for eleven years unless some time during that period, he became a regular employee of the petitioner by continually performing services for the company.
Contrary to the conclusion of the CA, respondent is not an employee, much more a regular employee of petitioner. The appellate court's premise that regular employees are those who perform activities which are desirable and necessary for the business of the employer is not determinative in this case. In fact, any agreement may provide that one party shall render services for and in behalf of another, no matter how necessary for the latter's business, even without being hired as an employee. Hence, respondent's length of service and petitioner's repeated act of assigning respondent some tasks to be performed did not result to respondent's entitlement to the rights and privileges of a regular employee.
Furthermore, despite the fact that petitioner made use of the services of respondent for eleven years, he still cannot be considered as a regular employee of petitioner. Article 280 of the Labor Code, in which the lower court used to buttress its findings that respondent became a regular employee of the petitioner, is not applicable in the case at bar. Indeed, the Court has ruled that said provision is not the yardstick for determining the existence of an employment relationship because it merely distinguishes between two kinds of employees, i.e., regular employees and casual employees, for purposes of determining the right of an employee to certain benefits, to join or form a union, or to security of tenure; it does not apply where the existence of an employment relationship is in dispute. It is, therefore, erroneous on the part of the Court of Appeals to rely on Article 280 in determining whether an employer-employee relationship exists between respondent and the petitioner
Considering that there is no employer-employee relationship between the parties, the termination of respondent's services by the petitioner after due notice did not constitute illegal dismissal warranting his reinstatement and the payment of full backwages, allowances and other benefits.
GRANTED
ATOK BIG WEDGE COMPANY, INC., Petitioner, v. JESUS P. GISON, Respondent.
PERALTA, J.:
FACTS:
Sometime in February 1992, respondent Jesus P. Gison was a part-time consultant on retainer basis by petitioner Atok Big Wedge Company, Inc.
Petitioner only required respondent to report at the office when occasionally requested by the management to discuss matters needing his expertise as a consultant. As payment for his services, respondent received a retainer fee of P3,000.00 a month. The parties executed a retainer agreement, but such agreement was misplaced and can no longer be found.
The said arrangement continued for the next eleven years.
Sometime thereafter, since respondent was getting old, he requested that petitioner cause his registration with the Social Security System (SSS), but petitioner did not accede to his request. He later reiterated his request but it was ignored by respondent considering that he was only a retainer/consultant. On February 4, 2003, respondent filed a Complaintwith the SSS against petitioner for the latter's refusal to cause his registration with the SSS.
On the same date, Mario D. Cera, in his capacity as resident manager of petitioner, issued a Memorandum advising respondent that within 30 days from receipt thereof, petitioner is terminating his retainer contract with the company since his services are no longer necessary.
On February 21, 2003, respondent filed a complaint for illegal dismissal, among others. After the parties have submitted their respective pleadings, Labor Arbiter Rolando D. Gambito rendered a Decision ruling in favor of the petitioner. Finding no employer-employee relationship between petitioner and respondent, the Labor Arbiter dismissed the complaint for lack of merit.
On appeal, the NLRC affirmed the decision of the Labor Arbiter. Thereafter, respondent filed a petition for review under Rule 65 of the Rules of Court before the CA. The appellate court rendered the assailed Decision annulling and setting aside the decision of the NLRC.
ISSUE:
Whether or not the CA erred in applying Article 280 of the Labor Code in determining whether there was an employer-employee relationship between the petitioner and the respondent?
HELD: The petition is meritorious.
Well-entrenched is the doctrine that the existence of an employer-employee relationship is ultimately a question of fact and that the findings thereon by the Labor Arbiter and the NLRC shall be accorded not only respect but even finality when supported by substantial evidence. Being a question of fact, the determination whether such a relationship exists between petitioner and respondent was well within the province of the Labor Arbiter and the NLRC. Being supported by substantial evidence, such determination should have been accorded great weight by the CA in resolving the issue.
To ascertain the existence of an employer-employee relationship jurisprudence has invariably adhered to the four-fold test, to wit:
HELD: The petition is meritorious.
Well-entrenched is the doctrine that the existence of an employer-employee relationship is ultimately a question of fact and that the findings thereon by the Labor Arbiter and the NLRC shall be accorded not only respect but even finality when supported by substantial evidence. Being a question of fact, the determination whether such a relationship exists between petitioner and respondent was well within the province of the Labor Arbiter and the NLRC. Being supported by substantial evidence, such determination should have been accorded great weight by the CA in resolving the issue.
To ascertain the existence of an employer-employee relationship jurisprudence has invariably adhered to the four-fold test, to wit:
(1) the selection and engagement of the employee;
(2) the payment of wages;
(3) the power of dismissal; and
(4) the power to control the employee's conduct, or the so-called "control test."
Of these four, the last one is the most important. The so-called "control test" is commonly regarded as the most crucial and determinative indicator of the presence or absence of an employer-employee relationship. Under the control test, an employer-employee relationship exists where the person for whom the services are performed reserves the right to control not only the end achieved, but also the manner and means to be used in reaching that end.
Applying the aforementioned test, an employer-employee relationship is apparently absent in the case at bar. Among other things, respondent was not required to report everyday during regular office hours of petitioner. Respondent's monthly retainer fees were paid to him either at his residence or a local restaurant. More importantly, petitioner did not prescribe the manner in which respondent would accomplish any of the tasks in which his expertise as a liaison officer was needed; respondent was left alone and given the freedom to accomplish the tasks using his own means and method. Respondent was assigned tasks to perform, but petitioner did not control the manner and methods by which respondent performed these tasks. Verily, the absence of the element of control on the part of the petitioner engenders a conclusion that he is not an employee of the petitioner.
Moreover, the absence of the parties' retainership agreement notwithstanding, respondent clearly admitted that petitioner hired him in a limited capacity only and that there will be no employer-employee relationship between them.
Respondent was well aware of the agreement that he was hired merely as a liaison or consultant of the petitioner and he agreed to perform tasks for the petitioner on a temporary employment status only. However, respondent anchors his claim that he became a regular employee of the petitioner based on his contention that the "temporary" aspect of his job and its "limited" nature could not have lasted for eleven years unless some time during that period, he became a regular employee of the petitioner by continually performing services for the company.
Contrary to the conclusion of the CA, respondent is not an employee, much more a regular employee of petitioner. The appellate court's premise that regular employees are those who perform activities which are desirable and necessary for the business of the employer is not determinative in this case. In fact, any agreement may provide that one party shall render services for and in behalf of another, no matter how necessary for the latter's business, even without being hired as an employee. Hence, respondent's length of service and petitioner's repeated act of assigning respondent some tasks to be performed did not result to respondent's entitlement to the rights and privileges of a regular employee.
Furthermore, despite the fact that petitioner made use of the services of respondent for eleven years, he still cannot be considered as a regular employee of petitioner. Article 280 of the Labor Code, in which the lower court used to buttress its findings that respondent became a regular employee of the petitioner, is not applicable in the case at bar. Indeed, the Court has ruled that said provision is not the yardstick for determining the existence of an employment relationship because it merely distinguishes between two kinds of employees, i.e., regular employees and casual employees, for purposes of determining the right of an employee to certain benefits, to join or form a union, or to security of tenure; it does not apply where the existence of an employment relationship is in dispute. It is, therefore, erroneous on the part of the Court of Appeals to rely on Article 280 in determining whether an employer-employee relationship exists between respondent and the petitioner
Considering that there is no employer-employee relationship between the parties, the termination of respondent's services by the petitioner after due notice did not constitute illegal dismissal warranting his reinstatement and the payment of full backwages, allowances and other benefits.
GRANTED