Employees

“Employee” – includes any person in the employ of an employer.

1. Concept

“Employee” – includes any person in the employ of an employer. The term shall not be limited to the employees of a particular employer, unless the Code so explicitly states. It shall include any individual whose work has ceased as a result of or in connection with any current labor dispute or because of any unfair labor practice if he has not obtained any other substantially equivalent and regular employment. (Article 219, P.D. 442, Labor Code)

“Employer” – includes any person acting in the interest of an employer, directly or indirectly. The term shall not include any labor organization or any of its officers or agents except when acting as employer. (Article 219[e], Ibid.)

a. Legal basis

“Employee” includes any person in the employ of an employer. The term shall not be limited to the employees of a particular employer, unless the Code so explicitly states. It shall include any individual whose work has ceased as a result of or in connection with any current labor dispute or because of any unfair labor practice if he has not obtained any other substantially equivalent and regular employment. (Article 219[f], P.D. 442, Labor Code)

“Employer” includes any person acting in the interest of an employer, directly or indirectly. The term shall not include any labor organization or any of its officers or agents except when acting as employer. (Article 219[e], Ibid.)

b. Complementary definition: “includes”

The use of the word “includes” is intentional.

As with a much older law (R.A. 875), the Labor Code adopted a similar definition for employers and employees with the intention that the definition is not meant to be comprehensive “but only a complementary definition.” The intent being is for the term to encompass “those in the ordinary parlance” considered to be “employers” and “employees”. (See Feati University v. Bautista, En Banc, G.R. No. L-21278, 21462, and 21500, 27 December 1966)

FEATI UNIVERSITY v. BAUTISTA, G.R. No. L-21278, 21462, and 21500, 27 December 1966

⦁ It will be noted that in defining the term “employer” [r.a.875] Act uses the word “includes”, which it also used in defining “employee”. [Sec. 2 (d)], and “representative” [Sec. 2(h)]; and not the word “means” which the Act uses in defining the terms “court” [Sec. 2(a)], “labor organization” [Sec. 2(e)], “legitimate labor organization” [Sec. 2(f)], “company union” [Sec. 2(g)], “unfair labor practice” [Sec. 2(i)], “supervisor” [Sec. 2(k)], “strike” [Sec. 2(l)] and “lock-out” [Sec. 2(m)]. A methodical variation in terminology is manifest. This variation and distinction in terminology and phraseology cannot be presumed to have been the inconsequential product of an oversight; rather, it must have been the result of a deliberate and purposeful act, more so when we consider that as legislative records show, Republic Act No. 875 had been meticulously and painstakingly drafted and deliberated upon. In using the word “includes” and not “means”, Congress did not intend to give a complete definition of “employer”, but rather that such definition should be complementary to what is commonly understood as employer. Congress intended the term to be understood in a broad meaning because, firstly, the statutory definition includes not only “a principal employer but also a person acting in the interest of the employer”; and, secondly, the Act itself specifically enumerated those who are not included in the term “employer”, namely: (1) a labor organization (otherwise than when acting as an employer), (2) anyone acting in the capacity of officer or agent of such labor organization [Sec. 2(c)], and (3) the Government and any political subdivision or instrumentality thereof insofar as the right to strike for the purpose of securing changes or modifications in the terms and conditions of employment is concerned (Section 11). Among these statutory exemptions, educational institutions are not included; hence, they can be included in the term “employer”. This Court, however, has ruled that those educational institutions that are not operated for profit are not within the purview of Republic Act No. 875.

⦁ As stated above, Republic Act No. 875 does not give a comprehensive but only a complementary definition of the term “employer”. The term encompasses those that are in ordinary parlance “employers.” What is commonly meant by “employer”? The term “employer” has been given several acceptations. The lexical definition is “one who employs; one who uses; one who engages or keeps in service;” and “to employ” is “to provide work and pay for; to engage one’s service; to hire.” (Webster’s New Twentieth Century Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1960, p. 595). The Workmen’s Compensation Act defines employer as including “every person or association of persons, incorporated or not, public or private, and the legal representative of the deceased employer” and “includes the owner or lessee of a factory or establishment or place of work or any other person who is virtually the owner or manager of the business carried on in the establishment or place of work but who, for reason that there is an independent contractor in the same, or for any other reason, is not the direct employer of laborers employed there.” [Sec. 39(a) of Act No. 3428.] The Minimum Wage Law states that “employer includes any person acting directly or indirectly in the interest of the employer in relation to an employee and shall include the Government and the government corporations”. [Rep. Act No. 602, Sec. 2(b)]. The Social Security Act defines employer as “any person, natural or juridical, domestic or foreign, who carries in the Philippines any trade, business, industry, undertaking, or activity of any kind and uses the services of another person who is under his orders as regards the employment, except the Government and any of its political subdivisions, branches or instrumentalities, including corporations owned or controlled by the Government.”

2. General classification of Employees

Generally, employes may be classified as follows:

1) Government employees; or

2) Private sector employees.

a. Government Employees

Government employees are those who have been hired or engaged by a Government office, agency, or instrumentality, whether of the National Government, Local Government Unit (LGU), or by a Government -Owned and -Controlled Corporation (GOCC).

SECTION 2. (1) The civil service embraces all branches, subdivisions, instrumentalities, and agencies of the Government, including government-owned or controlled corporations with original charters. (Paragraph 1, Section 2, Article IX-B, 1987 Constitution)

GENERAL RULE: Government offices, agencies, or instrumentalities are subject to Civil Service laws and regulations.

EXCEPTION: GOCCs without original charter

PHILIPPINE NATIONAL CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION v. NLRC, G.R. No. 248401, 23 June 2021

⦁ Where a statute, by its terms, is expressly limited to certain matters, it may not, by interpretation or construction, be extended to others. Since PNCC is a non-chartered GOCC, incorporated under the Corporation Code, it is governed by the Labor Code, not by the Civil Service Law.

⦁ In Paloma v. Philippine Airlines Inc., the Court pronounced that prior to the privatization of the Philippine Airlines Inc. (PAL), it was a non-chartered GOCC in the sense that the GSIS owned majority of its stockholdings. Consequently, PAL personnel were covered by the Labor Code, not by the Civil Service Law. The same rule applies to PNCC employees.

b. Private Sector Employees

Private sector employees are those who have been hired or engaged by private individuals, businesses or organizations, or a labor organization.

3. Private sector

a. Rank of employees

Employees may be classified in terms of their rank as follows:

1) Managerial employees;

2) Supervisory employees; or

3) Rank-and-file employees.

b. Status of Employees

Employees may be classified in terms of their status as follows:

1) Regular employees;

2) Probationary employees;

3) Casual employees;

4) Project employees;

5) Seasonal employees; and

6) Fixed-term employees,

c. Categories of Employees

Employees may be categorized as follows:

1) Managerial employees

2) Officers or members of a managerial staff

3) Field personnel

4) Kasambahay

5) Those in the personal service of another

6) Apprentices

7) Learners

8) Homeworkers

9) Mine Workers

10) Minors

11) Women Workers

12) Night Workers

13) Teaching Personnel

14) Workers paid by results

15) Overseas Filipino Workers

16) Foreign workers

References

⦁ Book V, Presidential Decree No. 442, a.k.a. Labor Code of the Philippines

⦁ Book V, Omnibus Rules Implementing the Labor Code

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/Updated: February 8, 2023