The core issue to be resolved is whether the termination of Sy, a probationary employee, was valid or not.
The petitioners pray for the reversal of the CA decision arguing that Sy was a probationary employee with a limited tenure of six months subject to regularization conditioned on her satisfactory performance. They insist that they substantially complied with the requirements of the law having apprised Sy of her status as probationary employee. The standard, though not written, was clear that her continued employment would depend on her over-all performance of the assigned tasks, and that the same was made known to her since day one of her employment. According to the petitioners, reasonable standard of employment does not require written evaluation of Sy’s function. It is enough that she was informed of her duties and that her performance was later rated below satisfactory by the Management.
Citing Alcira v. NLRC[12] and Colegio San Agustin v. NLRC,[13] the petitioners further argue that Sy’s constitutional protection to security of tenure ended on the last day of her probationary tenure or on
Sy counters that she was illegally terminated from service and insists that the petitioners cannot invoke her failure to qualify as she was not informed of the standards or criteria which she should have met for regular employment. Moreover, no proof was shown as to her alleged poor work performance. She was unceremoniously terminated to prevent her from becoming a regular employee and be entitled to the benefits as such.
The Court finds the petition devoid of merit.
The pertinent law governing the present case is Article 281 of the Labor Code which provides as follows:
Art. 281. Probationary employment. — Probationary employment shall not exceed six months from the date the employee started working, unless it is covered by an apprenticeship agreement stipulating a longer period. The services of an employee who has been engaged in a probationary basis may be terminated for a just cause or when he fails to qualify as a regular employee in accordance with reasonable standards made known by the employer to the employee at the time of his engagement. An employee who is allowed to work after a probationary period shall be considered a regular employee. (Underscoring supplied)
There is probationary employment where the employee upon his engagement is made to undergo a trial period during which the employer determines his fitness to qualify for regular employment based on reasonable standards made known to him at the time of engagement.[14] The probationary employment is intended to afford the employer an opportunity to observe the fitness of a probationary employee while at work, and to ascertain whether he will become an efficient and productive employee. While the employer observes the fitness, propriety and efficiency of a probationer to ascertain whether he is qualified for permanent employment, the probationer, on the other hand, seeks to prove to the employer that he has the qualifications to meet the reasonable standards for permanent employment. Thus, the word probationary, as used to describe the period of employment, implies the purpose of the term or period, not its length.[15]
On the basis of the aforequoted provisions and definition, there is no dispute that Sy’s employment with Tamson’s on
It is settled that even if probationary employees do not enjoy permanent status, they are accorded the constitutional protection of security of tenure. This means they may only be terminated for a just cause or when they otherwise fail to qualify as regular employees in accordance with reasonable standards made known to them by the employer at the time of their engagement.[16] Consistently, in Mercado v. AMA Computer College-Paranaque City, Inc.,[17] this Court clearly stressed that:
Labor, for its part, is given the protection during the probationary period of knowing the company standards the new hires have to meet during the probationary period, and to be judged on the basis of these standards, aside from the usual standards applicable to employees after they achieve permanent status. Under the terms of the Labor Code, these standards should be made known to the [employees] on probationary status at the start of their probationary period, or xxx during which the probationary standards are to be applied. Of critical importance in invoking a failure to meet the probationary standards, is that the [employer] should show – as a matter of due process – how these standards have been applied. This is effectively the second notice in a dismissal situation that the law requires as a due process guarantee supporting the security of tenure provision, and is in furtherance, too, of the basic rule in employee dismissal that the employer carries the burden of justifying a dismissal. These rules ensure compliance with the limited security of tenure guarantee the law extends to probationary employees.[18] [Emphases supplied]
In this case, the justification given by the petitioners for Sy’s dismissal was her alleged failure to qualify by the company’s standard. Other than the general allegation that said standards were made known to her at the time of her employment, however, no evidence, documentary or otherwise, was presented to substantiate the same. Neither was there any performance evaluation presented to prove that indeed hers was unsatisfactory. Thus, this Court is in full accord with the ruling of the CA when it wrote that:
Private respondents were remiss in showing that petitioner failed to qualify as a regular employee. Except for their allegations that she was apprised of her status as probationary and that she would be accorded regular status once she meets their standards, no evidence was presented of these standards and that petitioner had been apprised of them at the time she was hired as a probationary employee. Neither was it shown that petitioner failed to meet such standards.
Petitioner should have been informed as to the basis of private respondents’ decision not to extend her regular or permanent employment. This case is bereft of any proof like an evaluation or assessment report which would support private respondents’ claim that she failed to comply with the standards in order to become a regular employee.
One of the conditions before an employer can terminate a probationary employee is dissatisfaction on the part of the employer which must be real and in good faith, not feigned so as to circumvent the contract or the law. In the case at bar, absent any proof showing that the work performance of petitioner was unsatisfactory, We cannot conclude that petitioner failed to meet the standards of performance set by private respondents. This absence of proof, in fact, leads Us to infer that their dissatisfaction with her work performance was contrived so as not to regularize her employment.[19]
For failure of the petitioners to support their claim of unsatisfactory performance by Sy, this Court shares the view of the CA that Sy’s employment was unjustly terminated to prevent her from acquiring a regular status in circumvention of the law on security of tenure. As the Court previously stated, this is a common and convenient practice of unscrupulous employers to circumvent the law on security of tenure. Security of tenure, which is a right of paramount value guaranteed by the Constitution, should not be denied to the workers by such a stratagem. The Court can not permit such a subterfuge, if it is to be true to the law and social justice.[20]
In its attempt to justify Sy’s dismissal, the petitioners relied heavily on the case ofAlcira v. NLRC[21] where the Court stressed that the constitutional protection ends on the expiration of the probationary period when the parties are free to either renew or terminate their contract of employment.
Indeed, the Court recognizes the employer’s power to terminate as an exercise of management prerogative. The petitioners, however, must be reminded that such right is not without limitations. In this connection, it is well to quote the ruling of the Court in the case of Dusit Hotel Nikko v. Gatbonton, [22] where it was written:
As Article 281 clearly states, a probationary employee can be legally terminated either: (1) for a just cause; or (2) when the employee fails to qualify as a regular employee in accordance with the reasonable standards made known to him by the employer at the start of the employment. Nonetheless, the power of the employer to terminate an employee on probation is not without limitations. First, this power must be exercised in accordance with the specific requirements of the contract. Second, the dissatisfaction on the part of the employer must be real and in good faith, not feigned so as to circumvent the contract or the law; and third,there must be no unlawful discrimination in the dismissal. In termination cases, the burden of proving just or valid cause for dismissing an employee rests on the employer.[23] [Emphases supplied]
Here, the petitioners failed to convey to Sy the standards upon which she should measure up to be considered for regularization and how the standards had been applied in her case. As correctly pointed out by Sy, the dissatisfaction on the part of the petitioners was at best self-serving and dubious as they could not present concrete and competent evidence establishing her alleged incompetence. Failure on the part of the petitioners to discharge the burden of proof is indicative that the dismissal was not justified.
The law is clear that in all cases of probationary employment, the employer shall make known to the employee the standards under which he will qualify as a regular employee at the time of his engagement. Where no standards are made known to the employee at that time, he shall be deemed a regular employee.[24] The standards under which she would qualify as a regular employee not having been communicated to her at the start of her probationary period, Sy qualified as a regular employee. As held by this Court in the very recent case of Hacienda Primera Development Corporation v. Villegas,:[25]
In this case, petitioner Hacienda fails to specify the reasonable standards by which respondent’s alleged poor performance was evaluated, much less to prove that such standards were made known to him at the start of his employment. Thus, he is deemed to have been hired from day one as a regular employee. Due process dictates that an employee be apprised beforehand of the condition of his employment and of the terms of advancement therein. [Emphasis supplied]
Even on the assumption that Sy indeed failed to meet the standards set by them and made known to the former at the time of her engagement, still, the termination was flawed for failure to give the required notice to Sy. Section 2, Rule I, Book VI of the Implementing Rules provides:
Section 2. Security of tenure. – (a) In cases of regular employment, the employer shall not terminate the services of an employee except for just or authorized causes as provided by law, and subject to the requirements of due process.
(b) The foregoing shall also apply in cases of probationary employment;Provided however, that in such cases, termination of employment due to failure of the employee to qualify in accordance with the standards of the employer made known to the former at the time of engagement may also be a ground for termination of employment.
xxx
(d) In all cases of termination of employment, the following standards of due process shall be substantially observed:
xxx
If the termination is brought about by the completion of a contract or phase thereof, or by failure of an employee to meet the standards of the employer in the case of probationary employment, it shall be sufficient that a written notice is served the employee, within a reasonable time from the effective date of termination. [Emphasis and Underscoring supplied]
In this case, the petitioners failed to comply with the requirement of a written notice. Notably, Sy was merely verbally informed that her employment would be terminated on
Being a regular employee whose termination was illegal, Sy is entitled to the twin relief of reinstatement and backwages granted by the Labor Code. Article 279 provides that an employee who is unjustly dismissed from work shall be entitled to reinstatement without loss of seniority rights and other privileges, to her full backwages, inclusive of allowances, and to her other benefits or their monetary equivalent computed from the time her compensation was withheld from her up to the time of actual reinstatement. Likewise, having been compelled to come to court and to incur expenses to protect her rights and interests, the award of attorney’s fees is in order.[28]
