Title
Nippon Paint Philippines, Inc. vs. Nippon Paint Philippine Employees Association
Case
G.R. No. 229396
Decision Date
Jun 30, 2021
Nippon Paint's payment of Eidul Adha holiday pay for two years became a company practice, preventing unilateral withdrawal under labor law.

Case Digest (G.R. No. 229396)
Expanded Legal Reasoning Model

Facts:

  • Parties and CBA terms
    • Nippon Paint Philippines, Inc. (petitioner) and Nippon Paint Philippines Employees Association (NIPPEA; respondent) executed a Collective Bargaining Agreement (2007 CBA) effective January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2011
    • Article 13, Section 1 of the 2007 CBA provided:
      • regular holidays enumerated therein paid at 100% of daily rate even if unworked
      • premium pay of 200% for unworked regular holidays, 300% for worked regular holidays
  • Eidul Adha declared regular holiday and company practice
    • Republic Act No. 9849 (Dec. 11, 2009) declared Eidul Adha as national regular holiday
    • In 2010 and 2011, petitioner’s payroll system paid Eidul Adha holiday remuneration in line with company practice
  • 2012 CBA renewal and cessation of pay
    • New CBA (2012–2016) executed March 21, 2012 omitted Eidul Adha from the list of regular holidays
    • Petitioner corrected alleged payroll “glitch” and did not pay additional holiday remuneration for Eidul Adha in 2012
  • Procedural history
    • Dispute referred to Voluntary Arbitrator (VA); October 31, 2014 VA Decision held payments were system error, no company practice, no refund required
    • NIPPEA appealed via Rule 43 petition before Court of Appeals (CA); July 18, 2016 CA Decision set aside VA decision, found company practice, remanded for computation; November 28, 2016 CA Resolution denied reconsideration
    • Petitioner filed Rule 45 petition before the Supreme Court

Issues:

  • Entitlement to additional 100% holiday pay in 2012 and 2013 for Eidul Adha
  • Entitlement of petitioner to refund payments made in 2010 and 2011 for Eidul Adha holiday on grounds of system error

Ruling:

  • (Subscriber-Only)

Ratio:

  • (Subscriber-Only)

Doctrine:

  • (Subscriber-Only)

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