procedure in business closure

I filed an Establishment Termination Report last April 29 to effectively close the business on May 29, 2011 due to financial losses. I learned through the net thatthe company does not have an obligation to pay separation pay to its employees if the reason is due to financial losses. The employees went t DOLE and a meeting was held on May 27. The moderator explained the purpose of the meeting. However, the employees want DOLE to do more and the moderator's response was to have transferred to a different department who will audit the assets which the company is turning over to its employees. Up to this time I have not heard from DOLE nor the employees. If this case is not settled before the end of June, we will have to pay the rent on the place where the assets are stocked. This bring more losses to the company who cannot shoulder these expenses anymore. What can I do?

did you also give written notice to the employees? is this a corporation or proprietorship?

you can write a letter to the auditor that you will no longer continue the lease and inform him where you transferred the assets, or they can witness the sale.

yes I gave them the notice the same day that I submitted the ETR to DOLE. and yes, it is a corporation.

Which auditor do I inform sir? Ours?

the different department who will audit in dole that you mentioned.

thank you so much for the advice sir but there is no other place I could transfer the assets without paying rent. what other options do I have?

God bless!

let senior management decide how to dispose the assets, then. and the proceeds should be reported to DOLE and held in trust.

thank you so much. would you recommend that we ask the assistance of a lawyer before we dispose of the assets or is this just a normal procedure in cases like these?

it will be best if you are advised by a lawyer. Before disposing of the assets, you should have an inventory and give it to DOLE and inform them of the situation and the intention to dispose.

pwede po ba kayo?

anyway, maraming salamat po!

Sir, the last time I logged on to this site was June 30, 2011. Nothing happened with the first complaint of my employees to DOLE Quezon Ave because they did not follow it up. Then they went to DOLE Banawe and I was served a notice to a conference which I attended last september. In that meeting the arbiter asked me about the estimated amount of the assets and I said less than 200,000. She then computed the amount of 50,000 to be given to each of the 3 cooks who filed the complaint and 15,000 each to the other 2 staff for a total of 180,000. She asked if the amount is okay with us. She said that DOLE will not entertain any other employees once we agree to the amounts. So we agreed. However, i was only able to sell 87,000 worth of the assets and I had to set aside the rental of the place where the assets are stored (45,000). So I brought the 40,000 to the meeting this morning and promised to sell the rest of the assets. But the employees did not accept it and now we have to hire lawyers to settle the case. The corporation is already bankrupt. What do I do sir? Please help...

you will have to file your position paper. are they claiming salaries or separation pay? it is the private respondents who are really in need of protection.

They are claiming separation pay. The company closed because of losses and is now bankrupt. Last March in our monthly meeting I offered the last 300,000 pesos the company has together with the assets but they refused the offer. Then in May when I offered the restaurant for sale I asked them how much they would be willing to accept in case a buyer is interested. They stuck to their full separation pay so when a buyer offered 500,000 pesos I did not accept the offer and we ended up without any buyer. Now that the corporation is bankrupt they want separation pay. Please help. The arbiter who handled our case told us to get a lawyer and file our position paper on Oct 18. The corporation do not have the funds to hire a lawyer. What can I do sir? What is a position paper and can I prepare it myself? God bless?

his advice is correct. you should indeed get a lawyer to assist you.

equally important, you need an independent auditor which will attest that the company is bankrupt.

thank you so much sir.