BAGUIO COUNTRY CLUB CORPORATION, vs. NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS COMMISSION, ASSOCIATED LABOR UNION (ALU) and JIMMY CALAMBA.
- G.R. Number: G.R. No. 71664
- Promulgated: 1992-02-28
- Ponente: Medialdea, J.
Doctrine
An employment is deemed casual unless covered otherwise; any employee who has rendered at least one year of service, continuous or broken, is considered a regular employee with respect to the activity in which he is employed.
The primary test for regular employment is the reasonable connection between the employee's activity and the usual business or trade of the employer; repeated and continuing need for the work indicates regularity.
The law overrides contractual provisions labeling work as 'day to day' or 'temporary' when such terms are used to circumvent the employee's security of tenure; such agreements are rigorously disapproved.
Facts
Petitioner seeks certiorari to annul the NLRC resolution of 10 June 1985 dismissing petitioner's appeal and affirming the Executive Labor Arbiters' 15 September 1982 decision declaring respondent Calamba a regular employee entitled to reinstatement with backwages and 13th month pay.
The pivotal issue is whether Jimmy Calamba had acquired regular employee status at the time his employment was terminated.
The Court found that by operation of law Calamba became a regular employee one year after his employment began; the Court rejects day-to-day or temporary labels in employment contracts that circumvent security of tenure.
Issues
Whether Jimmy Calamba acquired the status of a regular employee at the time his employment was terminated.
Ruling
The Court held that Calamba became a regular employee by operation of law after one year of service and that the NLRC resolution affirming the labor arbiter's decision was not tainted with arbitrariness; the petition for certiorari is dismissed.