Illegal termination.....

I am so blessed that when I search some sites at the internet it I discovered an active site who gives some legal advices which I badly needed now with my status.I hope there who have known a lot of legalities when it comes to labor code can give an advice to me what I must to do.So here's my brief story....and some of my questions....

This is Miss Marie Jan and I have discovered at the internet that I can seek legal advice to you.So I grab the opportunity.Here's my story Atty.......

I've been working one month of this establishment here in Makati but suddenly after one month I got terminated .The reason of my termination is nakasagutan ko yong account executive/sales agent namin and I am showing lack of respects towards fellow employee. According dun sa nakasulat sa papers my incident report na pinasa yong nakasagutan ko.However, on my side ni hindi ako pinagexplain,ni hindi dininig yong side ko.Ni hindi ako kinausap and just one day my manager gave me those termination paper.To be exact it is 6 days after the incident.Yong Manager ko sa department ang kinausap that I should be terminated pinagtanggol naman ako ng Manager ko dahil alam naman niya ang buong pangyayari.Six days ang span bago lumabas yong termination paper ko kasi yong Managing Director namin na siyang nagdecide na tanggalin ako ay out of country after four days of the incident dumating siya dito sa Pilipinas..I felt so uneducated dahil sa ginawa ng kompanya sa akin dahil basta nalang nila binagsak sa harapan ko yong termination paper will infact dapat sana kahit palabra de honor kinausap at dininig man lang yong side ko.Pero hindi nagyari.Deretsahang binagsak sa akin ng manager ko sinabing pinatatangal na daw ako sa kompanya kahit pinaglaban niya ang side ko still yon pa din daw ang naging desisyon .It is so unfair on my side dahil kahit ano stories ang pinagbibintang nila with out my knowledge and asking my sides.


My questions are......

1. Atty.Reyes so far with my knowledge It should have due process right?Tama ba to ginawa nila?
2.Nakasagutan ko man yong agent namin bat yong tiningnan nila eh yong disrespect ko lang?How about her?Eh ako din naman kung tutuusin siya nauna magdis respect kung yon ang batayan nila.
3.I never say foul words against her such as "Putang Ina Mo" "Bullshit" and etc. para maging disrespect on my side.Tama po ba ang ginawa nila?May mga rights paba ako dapat ipaglaban ko?I felt na inapakan nila ang side ko being employee.
4.What are those legal steps that I can do the rest to fight my rights being an employee?
5.My laban po ba ako kung sakali magfile po ako sa Labor?
6.Kung sakali man na ilaban ko yong karapatan ko at kampihan ako ng Labor.Mga ano yong pwede ko ma expect towards the company?
7.Di ba po dapat my letter muna ako matatanggap galing HR bago yong termination paper ko?That was according to my HR friend.
8.Kung anu-ano lang po ang pinagbatayan nila para pumangit yong side ko(pero yong nakalagay sa termination paper ko yong sagutan lang namin ng agent)...This is not fair pinapapangit nila ang image ko pwede ko ba sila habulin with regard dun sa mga sa mga sinabi nila sa pagkatao ko?They judge me so deep without asking my side.Nalaman ko lahat to sa Manager ko nu pinapirma nila ako.
9.Ibibigay daw po nila yong mga huling araw na pinasok ko.Kung sakali po ba tanggapin ko yon huling sahod ko sa kanila.Hindi po ba ibig sabihin nito na bayad na to?Or pwede pa ba ako kung sakali magfile ng case kahit nakuha ko na yong mga yon sa kanila?
10.I am not regular employee.......still I have the chance to fight this?


Thank you so much Atty.Reyes for hearing this mail and legal problem of mine.I am really hoping your help.Masakit maramdaman ng isang kagaya ko na inapakan lang ang mga karapatan ng isang kompanya kagaya ng napasukan ko.This only my hope and I am relly looking forward to your answers.



Thank you so much,

Marie Jan.

did you sign a probationary employment contract before entering the company? if you are not regular employee, what was supposed to be your status in the company?

yes,I have signed that I am probationary for six months after that as regular employee

oh, you addressed this message to an atty reyes.

if i may add, i believe that if you file your complaint at the nlrc, your case will prosper.

a probationary employee enjoys security of tenure during the probationary period. indeed, due process was not followed, you should have been given a notice to explain, a hearing before a notice of termination.

more important, you should focus on whether what you did was a terminable offense in the first place. try to create a transcript of what was said. good luck.

Oh Atty.LLL I am so sorry for the wrong addressed but thank you so much....Anyway,if ever I win with the case what I can expect in return with the company except of backwages?

an illegally terminated employee is awarded 1) backwages from the time of dismissal until finality of judgment and 2) reinstatement or separation pay. if warranted, moral, exemplary or nominal damages.

by the failure to follow due process alone, the current jurisprudential trend is to award P30,000 as nominal damages even if there is a warranted cause for dismissal.

Thank you so much for enlightening me Atty.LLL.You gave me the courage to fight my rights against them.Because I really don't know where to start with and I just felt so harrass with my rights being an employee and as a person.

I had a last question Atty.LLL....This coming 15th of the month they will give me the last unpaid salary dated from September 1 until September 9 plus the holidays on August which I work during rest days.My question is...If I am going to received this payment.I am afraid that I cannot filed my case anymore If I decided to put this on court.Is this a basis that I cannot fight my side anymore?

Thank you so much Atty..I hope you can enlighten me more with my last question with you.God Bless.More Power.

mariejan wrote:Thank you so much for enlightening me Atty.LLL.You gave me the courage to fight my rights against them.Because I really don't know where to start with and I just felt so harrass with my rights being an employee and as a person.

I had a last question Atty.LLL....This coming 15th of the month they will give me the last unpaid salary dated from September 1 until September 9 plus the holidays on August which I work during rest days.My question is...If I am going to received this payment.I am afraid that I cannot filed my case anymore If I decided to put this on court.Is this a basis that I cannot fight my side anymore?

Thank you so much Atty..I hope you can enlighten me more with my last question with you.God Bless.More Power.

The trend with companies nowadays is to have their outgoing employees sign a quitclaim. this could easily be overcome by signing it under protest. simply put a U.P. someone around your signature or U.D. (under duress). you may also put the entire word "under protest" but the company might make a fuss out of it.

Also, do not worry about receiving your last pay. the company could not use it as a defense against you since you have EARNED the said pay. In other words, you are simply being given something that is already yours.

.....I am so thankful Atty.LLL with your advices everything was cleared on me.And because of this advices pushing me to file a case against with them.I am hesitant at first to accept my last salary this coming week because I am planning to fight my rights.But I also need my last salary for my expenses.Maybe my manager will give this last salary of mine so it might not be a problem if i put that I am under protest.Because even him she is protesting with the outcome.But his power is not enough to justify my side.And let me receive and signed the termination paper even it is against his will.

Thank you for hearing my sides and daily advices.I hope you where still open with my follow up questions if ever saan man ako dalhin sa ipinaglalaban kong karapatan.

God Bless.....

^once may abugado kana wag kana mag tanong dito.

let your lawyer handle the case for you.

mariejan, you should be made aware that not all quitclaims are considered invalid if they were entered into intelligently. to my mind, there is always the possibility that your signing a quitclaim will be used by the company to defend against any case that you file.

of course i understand that not claiming your salary will definitely strain you financially and anyone who relies on you, but you should be aware of this risk when deciding what your next action should be. i foresee these notations of 'under protest' will lead the company not to issue your final pay and 'u.p.' is too unclear and may be held against you. good luck.

^attyLLL:

What about trying to sign the quitclaim with the words "with reservations?"

Question:

If she is in dire need of money and the only way for her to get her pay is to sign the quitclaim, then would the showing of her dire situation convince the labor arbiter or the Court that she just signed it out of desperation and not really because she recognizes the consequent effects of the quitclaim?

NOTE: the assumption here is that after receiving her last pay and signing the quitclaim, she files a labor case against the company right after she improves her financial situation but before her action prescribes.

To the thread starter:

Do note that when you file a labor case it would take sometime before you could get a final decision (read: YEARS). Also take into consideration the cost of the suit.

good luck!

b_9, if you do legal research, you will see that quit claims are not always considered void, and that represents a risk. some of it depends on the educational attainment of the employee. my objective is that marie jan should be aware of this risk when considering her options.

Atty. LLL,

They don't have any plan to relaease my salary as of now because I kept calling in the phone and they just told me that I need to sign the exit clearance of mine and nobody knows if ever I signed it when I could claim my salary.So I decided to finally file this case to NLRC...what do you think Atty.LLL? I'm going back here after a month.Ok lang ba magpaschedule ako ng hearing a month after pa mangyayari basta sa akin lang atleast ma i file ko para pagdating ko dito ulit sa Manila my schedule date na ang meeting namin.Ok lang po sa akin na years ang itakbo nito handa na po akong ilaban to.
Pano po ba ang kalakaran doon sa NLRC?what steps po ang kailangan kung gawin pag andoon na ako?Kanino ako lalapit?


Thanks alot for the help.

if you already filed your case and you have your dates of mandatory conciliation, then just attend them and hopefully both parties will use the opportunity to settle the case.

if after the conciliation conferences, there is no settlement, your next step will be to file your position papers. i would recommend you get legal counsel then.

Is there any free legal counsel at NLRC Atty.LLL?How about filing this to NLRc after 2 months is this alright to file the case?Is their any expiration date with regards on this matter?

the public attorney's office is at the ground floor of the ppsta bldg. 2 mos is fine. you had 3 years to file a money claim and 4 years for for illegal dismissal.

attyLLL wrote:b_9, if you do legal research, you will see that quit claims are not always considered void, and that represents a risk. some of it depends on the educational attainment of the employee. my objective is that marie jan should be aware of this risk when considering her options.

I know the general rule: that quitclaims are valid.

I'm just airing the other side of the coin just in case Marie is in desperate need of money. BUT, it seems she doesn't need the money at the moment. So your advice, in this case, is indeed better.

PS: I've heard that the IBP also give free legal counsel. I just dont know up to what extent.

What is IBP?Saan po ba makakakuha na nagooffer ng libreng legal service?I had heard atty. na pwede daw nila bilhin ng company namin ung mga case na ganito po.Ang sa akin lang po kasi marami na sila ginanito na mga empleyado mnoon pa man bago ako nakapasok sa kompanyang ito.Kaya kahit one month pa lang naman ako sa kompanya gusto ko po talaga mailaban yong case ko.