Is this a Just Cause Termination?

Hello,

I have just been terminated from work after a company-issued team laptop I used was found to have movies and adult videos after an audit from IT.  

The offense happened 5 years ago and I haven't accessed the laptop since that time. The offense occurred outside of work hours in the privacy of my home.

The punishment for the offense in our company Code of Conduct is suspension to dismissal.

I have gone thru the due process - served with a notice; sent my explanation letter; had a hearing; and was served a notice for termination.

I have been with the company for 10 years with no other misconduct aside from this.

My question is: can this be considered a legal dismissal?

According to the Labor Code, an employee can only be terminated by Serious Misconduct if it is related to work performance.

"ART. 282. Termination by employer. - An employer may terminate an employment for any of the following causes:

(a) Serious misconduct or willful disobedience by the employee of the lawful orders of his employer or representative in connection with his work;

(b) Gross and habitual neglect by the employee of his duties;

(c) Fraud or willful breach by the employee of the trust reposed in him by his employer or duly authorized representative;

(d) Commission of a crime or offense by the employee against the person of his employer or any immediate member of his family or his duly authorized representatives; and

(e) Other causes analogous to the foregoing."

Please enlighten me.

Thanks!

Let start off by saying na i think its too harsh to terminate someone's employment because of what you did.

Pero are you thinking na misuse of company property is not connected to your work? So if ganun yung thinking pag nagnakaw ka ng gamit or pera ng company after office hours hindi ka pwedeng i-terminate?

Anyways, you can try to file sa nlrc ng complaint, if you get a sympathetic arbiter perhaps you can get some sort of compensation

Backstory:

6 months ago nagkaroon ng workforce reduction sa company. 2/3 of our team was gonna be laid off due to "redundancy". I volunteered to receive the separation package but was declined. Hindi daw voluntary ang reduction. Hindi sila nag bigay ng guidelines kung paano ang selection.

Isa ako sa naiwan sa team. Ang binigay lang na rason is maganda ang performance ko and needed sa continuation sa strategy ng company.

Before the reduction naghigpit masyado ang company. Our leaves na sana pwedeng convertible to cash after year-end, pinaubos nila sa amin or else may warning daw sa HR. Wala silang memo na binigay pero pinadaan lang sa Managers during our department meetings. Pwede ba yun?

Mahirap na din ma-approve ang OT. Kahit ang dami ng trabaho na naiwan doing the work of 3 people kailangan daw ng "justification". Hindi enough justification ang maraming trabaho.

So yun masyadong questionable ang timing for me. Hindi nila ako tinanggal nung nag volunteer ako. Ngayon hahanapan nila ako ng mali para di ako mabayaran?

Yung guidelines ng IT resources usage hindi clear. Wala silang guidelines kung anong pwede at hindi pwede. Binigyan pa nila kami ng option na pwede dalhin ang laptop sa bahay. Tendency nun is gagamitin ng employee for personal use.

1. ganun talaga ang redundancy, employer ang kelangan mag file. the employee has no choice in the matter.
2. as long as the leaves are paid the company can force you to avail of them. this is to encourage employees to take time off. parang wellness program
3. ganun talaga ang OT kelangan approved. if mahirap mag pa approve then wag mag OT. ask for approval first bago mag OT para walang problema
4. i understand yung sinasabi mo re timing but this isn’t something na you can prove unless you can find a memo na sinasabing tanggalin ka para d ka kelangan bayaran, if i were you if you do decide to file a complaint focus more on the unfairness - na 10 years ka na and termination na kagad because of misuse lang ng laptop na hindi naman nasira.
5. common sense naman na ang gamit ng companya eh hindi mo dapat gamitin para sa personal na activities. if ipipilit mo na “you were not informed” tatawanan ka lang ng arbiter, much more baka murahin ka pa

Hello.
Binabaan po ako ng company ko ng memo for termanition due to Neglecting to obey oral/written instruction. and
ARTICLE VI:"OFFENSES AGAINST AUTHORITY:"
Section 1: Willfully failing to carry out verbal or written job or work instructions issued by immediate superiors, any senior officer of the company.

ang ngyari po una,April 2017.. sinuspende ako ng 2weeks dahil sa hindi naka connect ang boss namin (COB) sa youtube dahil po sa pinablock po ng superior nmin (COO) ang paggamit ng youtube sa oras ng trabaho. Nagbayad po sila ng outsource para makontrol ang bandwith ng internet at ako ang nagbantay. Dahil po ako ang IT ng company ako po ang sinisi sa nangyari. Minura nya ako sa message at pinasuspend ng 2weeks.Insubordanation yung grounds ko.. na hindi ko nmn po kasalanan na pinablock ng COO nmin ang youtube site.
Then December 2017, nghahanda kmi para sa xmas party.. nautusan ako ng COB na ung sounds na gagamitin ay ipadala sa isa nmin office, so ginawa ko po nmn. then yung COO nmin nagdecide na tanggalin din ung monitor para ipadala din na hindi po nmn inutos sa akin kaya di ko tinanggal. Ginaggal po nya at ipinadala nya rin, ng malaman ng COB nmin nagalit po sya at ako n nmn ang pinagbalingan ng glit nya pati sa group messenger ng aming company sinabihan nya ako ng gago. hindi raw ako mrunong sumunod. Kaya po ngalit sya sa akin na ang gumawa nmn po ay ung Superior ko at wala akong alm dun..Kaya nagalit sya at pinapatanggal ako.
Then.. January 2018, binigyan po ako ng memo written explanation dhil namn po sa miscommunication. ang nangyari po kasi nasira ung pc ng isang staff ng finance kaya po ang ginawa ko ay pinagamit ko po ung spare na laptop para po may magamit sya habang tinu- troubleshoot ko po ung pc nya. kinabukasan po Nag ask po ung isa nming superior regarding sa laptop dahil may employee po na bago na wala pang magamit na pc, ipinaalam ko po sa kanya na nasa staff ng finance ung laptop dahil pinagamit ko muna. then magpapa approve pa ako sa aming Finance head para sa new pc ng staff nila.. nag ok nman po sya. then nung nsa finance head na yung request sinabi na ipapa approve pa sa COB nmin.kaya it takes one day again bago na approve ung request and tht day is Saturday. Halfday lng kmi. kaya nbili ko ung pc monday na. Nagalit po ung isang superior nmin dhil miscom daw po. Nagreply nmn po ako sa memo nila gumawa ako ng explanation but i refuse to sign ung memo.

Yun pong mga na-recieve ko na memo ang ginawang ground sa akin para iterminate at wala daw po ako mkukuhang separation pay. 5 years na po ako sa company.
May karapatan po ba ako mghabol ng separation ko. Salamat po.

Lednar, if what you say is the whole scenario, I don't see a valid basis for termination

You can file for illegal dismissal, and claim not only separation pay (I would suppose you don't want to be reinstated anymore), but also backwages. https://www.alburovillanueva.com/discipline-suspension-termination Muka namang wala silang just cause sa pagtanggal sayo sa trabaho.