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5. Piercing the Corporate Veil

DOCTRINE OF SUCCESSOR - EMPLOYER

A new company will be treated as a continuation or successor of the one that closed if the new or take-over company is engaging in the same business as the closed company or department, or is owned by the same people, and the "closure" is calculated to defeat the worker's organizational right in which case the closure may be declared a subterfuge.

This doctrine is just an enforcement of the piercing the veil of corporate entity. (Azucena Vols. II-A and II-B, 9th ed., 2016, p. 327).

Two Companies with Related Business

General Rule: Two corporations cannot be treated as a single bargaining unit even if their businesses are related. (Diatagon Labor Federation Local v. Ople, G.R. No. L-44493-94, 1980)

Exception: Application of Piercing Doctrine The cross-linking of the agencies command, control, and communication systems indicate their unitary corporate personality. Accordingly, the veil of corporate fiction should be lifted for the purpose of allowing the employees of the three agencies to form a single labor union. (Philippine Scouts Veterans v. Torres, G.R. No. 92357, 1993)