Firms affected by Boracay cannot terminate employees: labor dep’t official

April 10, 2018

The labor department warned business firms affected by the temporary closure in Boracay this month against laying off their workers because their employees may sue them for illegal dismissal, a senior official said Monday.

In an interview, Labor Undersecretary Dominador Say said: “For example, if an employee is terminated within the six-month period during the suspension of operations, they can run to court to allege illegal dismissal.”

Say said the law provides that suspension of operations that will not exceed six months will not result to termination.

“If they are terminated and the reason given them is the suspension of operations, that is not an allowable action,” he explained.

Say said this action may only be exercised by regular employees or those covered by the security of tenure clauses.

“We cannot assume that all are regular employees. Probably there are project-based, seasonal workers there,” said Say.

His warning came after the labor department released an advisory saying adversely affected Boracay establishments are prohibited from laying off their workers.

Instead, the department said employers should observe the “No Work, No Pay” principle or require  employees to go on forced leave by using leave credits.

The temporary closure in Boracay is expected to affect 17,328 registered workers and 9,365 unregistered laborers. DMS