CONSTRUCTIVE DISMISSAL

Hello. I hope you could help me on this. I am a licensed engineer and this is my very first job.  I have been hired as a management trainee on November 2015 in a quite huge company (of a famous food brand in the country). I have been regularized as an Operations Supervisor on May 2016, and I am quite confident that I have been performing well. My managers and superiors would put me in-charge of several responsibilities in my area of assignment.

In August 2016 (if Im not mistaken), my previous manager was transferred to another department due to personal reasons, and we had a new manager. To make the story short, my new manager have become verbally abusive and unfair towards me. I have listed few instances below:

1. On late Spetember  2016, he called me to his office to 'talk' to me, but it turned out that he would only accuse and convict me of negligence, insubordination, etc without any solid proof that I am guilty of it;

2. On December 2016, he instructed me to go home at once and forced me to resign from my position. He even asked me to choose between termination and resignation right in front of my subordinates (rank and file) without any written notice/warning. One week later, he came to my office again and asked me to promise that I would not resign yet. Either way, i do not intend to resign without any formal document from our HR or from our General Manager. I continued to serve the company, do some of his tasks and take responsibily over other activities as I take my job seriously and because my manager has asked me to;

3. On February 27, 2017, there had been some changes in the company and my manager asked to resign once again, over a phone call. But i still refuse as I am confident that I did not do anything that will be a ground for immediate termination;

4. On march 31, 2017, my manager has informed me thru a phone call that i should report to our head office on april 3 as I will be transferred to another position (executive assistant of the general manager) and that, they already have  my documents prepared. Because of the disappointment towards my manager and my need to continue working as I have a family to support, I have accepted the position in our head office.  I did not sign any paper as there was no contract, no job offer or what. I even had to request for an employee movement form so i could have a proof of my transfer, but until now, i do not have a personal copy of the form yet.

For 3 months, i have been struggling with depression caused by low morale, demotion and humiliation. Only now that I have found out about the Constructive Dismissal. I will be handing over my resignation letter tomorrow as I could no longer stand the depression, look for another job, though I still wanted to be in that company and am still confident that I can improve our operations.

With this, I badly need your advise on this, as I do not really know what to do next. I cant afford to be unemployed for so long as I am sending my sister to school. But as early as now, I thank you for your taking time to know my situation. I would be very glad if you could help me out.

whats your question?

Oh. Right. Sorry about that. Here are my concerns:

1. What are the requirements/prerequisite of filing a constructive dismissal claim?
2. Should I resign from my position prior to my application of complaint?
3. Could I file this claim even if I have only been in the company for 19months?
4. How long would the process take? And how much should I prepare for the expenses?
5. Could the respondent on this claim be my managers, our HR, etc (basically the specific people wiho have caused this) or do I have to drag the name of my company?

Thank you.

1. NONE, you only to need to prove your claim of constructive dismissal.
2. Your choice.
3. Yes. Length of service is irrelevant.
4. No one can predict the period. Even the Arbiters cannot dictate the length of time a case can be concluded.
5. In actuality, your action is against the company. The people are just the private respondents.

Acknowledged. Thanks.

Last question. Do you think, I could stand a chance on this? Will this be worth the risk?
Or am I merely wasting my time?

Depression caused by low morale and humiliation. Does NOT tantamount to constructive Dismissal.

Demotion may be a basis so it depends if were really demoted as the same is NOT CLEAR in your statements.

In my opinion, based only on your statements, you have a slim chance if you dwell on constructive dismissal. However, your statements can be a ground for your immediate resignation.

If you wish to file for constructive dismissal.. Do not resign.

To HrDude, thank you. I guess you're right - I have a slim chance on this. But I am determined to sue my IS. Prolly you can enlighten me how I could actually prove that there has been a "demotion"?

Also, what are the "just or authorized cause" that my employer should present to support the dismissal? And if I question my employer based on procedural grounds, will I stand a chance then?

To Patok, why do you think I should not resign? I am resigning because I do not like what I am doing and this is not what I have applied for. Operations-wise, I can definitely do the job. May I know your thoughts on this, please? Thank you.

If your gonna sue, what would be your claim? Constructive Dismissal? What are your grounds? For low morale and humiliation? If none, the case would just be dismissed for lack of cause of action.

Demotion is said to exist when there is a reduction in salary, rank and/or position. Generally, demotion is allowed as a valid exercise of management prerogative, often as a consequence of an employee’s failure to comply with company productivity standards.

Are you demoted or Terminated? If i'm your employee, i can only terminate you on the basis of failing your required metrics. But the metrics should have been clearly discussed to you and that you know the bounds of your metrics. Besides this and the just and authorized causes under the law, your employer cannot terminate you.

No, not just for low morale and humiliation. I was not given the chance to present my side and justify my right to remain in my previous position. I am entitled with the Right to Security of Tenure but the managers of my company avoid having this talked about, and could not present a reasonable cause of my transfer. They should have set a trial and let me justify my case. Perhaps, if it turns out that my employer could not prove or provide reasonable cause of my transfer then my claim for constructive dismissal is valid, is that right?

Hi! Mag ask lang po ako ng advice kung anong pwedeng gawin sa sitwasyon ko ngayon sa opisina namin. Sa BPO po ako nagwowork. 3 years ago nag apply po ako sa Senior Operations Manager job opening dahil paresign na po yung Group Manager namin noon and luckily nakuha ko ung trabaho. Ako yung pinagmanage ng site namin dito sa Manila para sa account na sinusuportahan namin. Yung promotion ko po is from operations manager to senior operations manager pero ung task na naka-assign sakin is yung trabaho ng group manager namin na umalis. Sa akin po nagrereport ung mga operations manager at ako ang in-charge sa buong site. Last year nitransfer po nila yung isang group manager galing ibang lugar at inassign po sa account namin. Nung November 2016 sinabihan nya po ako na mag hati kami sa hawak namin para daw po makafocus sa iba't ibang line ng business namin. Ung dalawang operations manager po pinagreport nya sa kanya tas ung isa naiwan sakin. Ang reason po nya dun eh dahil need daw po magfocus dun sa line of business na binigay sakin since madaming gagawin dun. Hinayaan ko lang po sya thinking na baka kapakanan ng negosyo ang iniisip nya. Ang naiwan po sakin na manager may dalawang work group na hawak at may isa syang teamleader/supervisor kada work group. tas bigla nung april 2017 po sinabi ng boss ko sa meeting namin na hindi ko na daw po hahawakan ung isang manager instead ung isang team leader/supervisor dun sa dalawang work group ay direkta na daw po magrereport sakin. Umalma po ako na sabi ko hindi un ang designation ko kasi nung na promote ako nakalagay sa job description ko na managers hahawakan ko. Hiningan ko sya ng document ng mga sinabi nya tas biglang namatay ung issue at pinagpatuloy nalang na sakin mag report ung isang manager. 2days ago nag email po sya sa mga team mates namin sa america saying sakin na magrereport ung isang tl tas ung manager na dating hawak ko sa kanya na magrereport at sinabi nya sa email nya para daw may focus sa kanya kanyang line of business. Wala pong changes sa salary ko pero ung ginawa is parang demotion sakin in terms of function since hindi naman yun ang role ko. Not to mention na nakakababa ng morale kasi ung hawak mo dati puro managers tas ngaun teamleader na. Part pa nung change na ginawa nya nung november ay sakin nya pinagrereport ng direkta ung dalawang ahente. Kailangan ko po yung trabaho ko dahil ako ang sumusuporta sa pamilya ko pero parang hindi naman na po tama. Gustuhin ko mang mag resign wala naman po akong iba pang trabaho. Maaari po ba akong mag file ng complaint sa nlrc under constructive dismissal? Valid po ba na grounds ung ginawa sakin ng boss ko? Natatakot din kasi ako na since employed pa ako sa company namin e baka paginitan nya ako. Hope to hear your suggestion po. Thanks!

Please do correct me if im wrong pero may part ng labor law na nag proprotect for employees if their superior are forcing them to resign without valid reason i.e. intimidating subordinates or false accusation of insubordination (which pang military or law enforment lang nag fafall for court marshal). However bago ang kasuhan sa HR muna yun bago umabot sa labor.