LABOR LITIGATION

JURISDICTION OF
LABOR ARBITERS
Unfair labor practice
Termination disputes
Cases involving wages, rates of pay, hours
of work and other terms and conditions of
employment, if accompanied with a claim
for reinstatement
Claims for damages arising from employeremployee relations
Legality of strikes and lock-outs
All other claims arising from EE relations
involving an amount exceeding 5000
[Article 224]

JURISDICTION OF
LABOR ARBITERS
Money claims arising out of employeremployee relationship or by virtue of any
law or contract, involving Filipino workers
for overseas deployment, including claim
for actual, moral, exemplary and other
forms of damages as well as termination of
OFWs [Section 10, RA 8042]
Wage distortion disputes in an unorganized
establishments [Article 124]
Enforcement of compromise agreements
when there is non-compliance by the
parties [Article 33]

Correlation of
Jurisdiction
EXCEPT
AS
OTHERWISE
PROVIDED UNDER THIS CODE
Not all labor cases should be tried
and decided or are within the
jurisdiction of the Labor Arbiter.
Article 224 should be correlated with
other provisions of the Labor Code.

Correlation of
Jurisdiction

VENUE
Regional
Arbitration
Branch
having
jurisdiction over the workplace of the
complainant.
Where to or more RAB, the first to acquire
jurisdiction
Venue can be waived
The venue may be changed by written
agreement of the parties or on motion by
party, by the order of the Commission or
Labor Arbiter

Where is the workplace

for purposes of venue?
Workplace shall be understood as a place
where the employee is regularly assigned at
the time the cause of action accrues. It shall
include the place where the employee is
supposed to report back after temporary
detail or assignment.
In case of field employees, their work place is
where they are regularly assigned or where
they are supposed to regularly receive their
salaries or work instruction from or report the
result of their assignments.

Discussion on Cases
under the Jurisdiction of
the Labor Arbiter
Unfair Labor Practice
BUT:
Before the VA may
have jurisdiction over ULP,
it must be expressly agreed
by the parties, otherwise LA
will have jurisdiction over it.

May it be
decided by
Voluntary
Arbitrator or
the Secretary
of Labor?

Yes. Articles
274 and
Article 277

Termination Disputes
ISSUES:
Dismissal
on
account
of
interpretation of company personnel
policies.
The rule is termination dispute is
within the jurisdiction of the LA
unless expressly agreed upon by the
parties (SMC vs. NLRC, March 15,
1996)

Termination Disputes
Issue
Sec. 5, PD 902-A
Termination
of Corporate
Officers:
Which has
jurisdiction
Labor Arbiter
Or RTC?

B) Controversies arising out

of intra-corporate or
partnership relations
between and among
stockholders, members or
associates;
between any and all of
them and the
corporation, partnership
and association
And between such
coproration, partnership
and association and the
State with respect to their
franchise.

Termination Dispute
Issue
Mainland vs. Movilla
[1995]

Tabang vs. NLRC, Jan.

21, 1997

The fact that the

parties involved in the
controversy are all
stockholders or that
the parties involved
are the stockholders
and the corporation
does not necessarily
place the dispute
within the ambit of
jurisdiction of SEC.

An intra-corporate
controversy is one which
arises between a
stockholder and the
corporation. There is no
distinction, qualification,
nor any exemption
whatsoever. The provision
is broad and covers all
kinds of controversies
between stockholders and
corporations.

Termination Dispute
Issue
Matling Industrial vs. Coros,
October 13, 2010
Conformably with Section 25, a position
must be expressly mentioned in the ByLaws in order to be considered as a
corporate office. Thus, the creation of
an office pursuant to or under a By-Law
enabling provision is not enough to
make a position a corporate office.

Money Claims Issues

THE LA HAS JURISDICTION:
If the money claim regardless of the
amount
is
accompanied
with
reinstatement
If money claim is beyond 5000.
BUT: under the new Kasambahay Law,
money claims of any amount shall be
within the jurisdiction of DOLE Regional
Office. [Section 37]

Money Claims Issues

When is money claim to have arisen
from employment?
Where the claim to the principal relief
sought is to be resolved not by reference
to the Labor Code or other labor relations
or a collective bargaining agreement but
by general civil law, the jurisdiction
between the dispute belongs to the regular
court of justice and not to the Labor Arbiter
(SMC vs. NLRC, May 31, 1988)