Title
Mauricio vs. National Labor Relations Commission
Case
G.R. No. 164635
Decision Date
Nov 17, 2005
Probationary employee terminated for failing to submit required clearance; bank's policy upheld as valid management prerogative, no bad faith found.
bank
clearance
probationary employee

Case Summary (G.R. No. 164635)

Employment Requirements and Mauricio’s Non-Compliance

As a pre-employment requirement, the bank directed Mauricio to submit, among others, a 1x1 ID picture, a 2 x 2 ID picture, two reference letters, and a clearance from the employee’s previous employment. Mauricio failed to submit the required documents. The bank then gave her until December 15, 1999 to comply, and informed her that her regularization as an employee would be held in abeyance.

Even after the deadline, Mauricio still failed to comply. The bank issued a Memorandum dated December 27, 1999, signed by Clarence D. Guerrero, granting her until December 29, 1999 to submit the requirements. The memorandum warned that failure to do so would result in termination of her employment effective December 29, 1999.

Mauricio’s Request for Abeyance and the Bank’s Denial

Mauricio, in a letter dated December 28, 1999, informed the bank that she could not secure the clearance from Manila Bankers Life Insurance Corporation (MBLIC), a sister company of the bank, because she had a pending case there. She requested that action regarding her employment be held in abeyance while she followed up the resolution of the pending matter.

By reply memorandum dated December 28, 1999, the bank denied the request. It stated that submission of the pre-employment requirements—including clearance from a previous employer if previously employed—was a standing policy applicable especially to bank officers. The bank added that granting an exemption would create a precedent that could prejudice an established hiring policy, and it stressed the legal implications of alleged waiver. The bank indicated that once the required clearance from MBLIC was secured, it would consider Mauricio’s future employment.

Filing of Complaint for Illegal Dismissal and Related Claims

Mauricio filed a complaint on January 21, 2000 for illegal dismissal, unpaid salary, and moral and exemplary damages against the bank and Guerrero. The Labor Arbiter framed the issues as follows: whether Mauricio’s probationary employment was validly terminated; whether she was unpaid for fifteen days from December 16–30, 1999; and whether she was entitled to moral and exemplary damages.

Labor Arbiter’s Decision: Valid Termination Based on Reasonable Clearance Requirement

By Decision dated September 12, 2000, the Labor Arbiter dismissed the complaint. On the first issue, it held that submission of clearance from a previous employer was a reasonable requirement for qualifying as a regular employee upon expiration of a six-month probationary period. It described the requirement as mandatory in the sense that it related to the employee’s character before regularization.

The Labor Arbiter reasoned that no employer would engage a regular service unless it was certain of a probationary employee’s moral character and relied on San Miguel Brewery Sales Force Union vs. Ople, quoting that, except as limited by special laws, an employer is free to regulate aspects of employment, including hiring. It concluded that the bank’s pre-employment requirements had not been shown unreasonable and that Mauricio’s denial as a regular employee was therefore ineffective. It emphasized that Mauricio had been given time to produce the clearance and had been directed as early as November 26, 1999 to submit the required documents for regularization, yet she allegedly “dilly-dallied.”

The Labor Arbiter further noted that Mauricio only wrote MBLIC on December 28, 1999, a day before the deadline. It added that MBLIC could not issue the clearance due to Mauricio’s “pending questionable” matter, and that it was within respondents’ province to deny regularization based on that circumstance. It rejected allegations of collusion as speculative and conjectural.

On the unpaid salary issue, the Labor Arbiter found respondents’ explanation satisfactory, stating that the withheld one-half month salary was applied to Mauricio’s tax deficiency. Because the dismissal was found lawful, it held that claims for moral and exemplary damages could not prosper.

NLRC’s First Reversal and Award of Reinstatement and Damages

Mauricio appealed. By Decision dated September 24, 2001, the NLRC reversed the Labor Arbiter “in toto and set aside” the dismissal. It awarded Mauricio reinstatement (or, if reinstatement was impossible, separation pay equivalent to one month’s salary or one-half month salary for every year of service, whichever was higher), granted backwages from December 15, 1999 to the date of actual reinstatement, awarded P50,000.00 moral and exemplary damages, and ordered attorney’s fees of 10% of the amounts awarded.

NLRC’s Reconsideration: Reinstatement of Labor Arbiter’s Ruling

Respondents moved for reconsideration. By Decision dated May 6, 2003, the NLRC vacated its September 24, 2001 decision and reinstated in toto the September 12, 2000 decision of the Labor Arbiter. Mauricio then challenged the NLRC decision through a Rule 65 certiorari petition before the Court of Appeals, raising five grounds. The primordial issue, as framed by the Court of Appeals, was whether the NLRC committed grave abuse of discretion when it reversed its original decision.

Court of Appeals: No Grave Abuse of Discretion in Reversal

The Court of Appeals held that respondents’ termination of Mauricio’s probationary employment due to failure to submit the clearance requirement was a proper exercise of management prerogative. It found no grave abuse of discretion in the NLRC’s reconsideration. Mauricio’s motion for reconsideration was denied in a Resolution dated July 14, 2004.

Petition Before the Supreme Court and the Central Arguments

Mauricio then filed a petition for review, praying for reinstatement of the NLRC’s original September 24, 2001 decision. She argued, among others, that the Court of Appeals erred in upholding the NLRC in reconsidering its earlier findings, and that there was no sufficient legal basis to terminate her employment. She also alleged that respondents acted in bad faith, discriminated against her, and that the NLRC’s reconsideration represented a conflicting, unjustified “180-degree turn.”

Mauricio specifically contended that factual findings of administrative agencies should not be treated as infallible and should be overturned when they are arbitrary or when they reflect grave abuse of discretion, fraud, or error of law. She asserted that the NLRC’s reversal on reconsideration was unsupported because the arguments had allegedly been previously raised and passed upon in the earlier NLRC decision.

Supreme Court’s Ruling: No Grave Abuse; NLRC May Reverse When Supported

The Court denied the petition. It rejected the claim that the NLRC’s reversal was “radical and highly questionable” if it was supported by substantial evidence. The Court cited Vitarich Corporation v. National Labor Relations Commission, explaining that where the records show the Labor Arbiter’s decision was suffused with established facts and proper understanding, it is proper for the NLRC to abandon its former stance and adopt, correctly, the Labor Arbiter’s findings.

The Court also addressed Mauricio’s attempt to characterize the NLRC’s reconsideration as a mere reiteration of earlier arguments. It emphasized that, while a motion for reconsideration generally seeks to point out findings and conclusions allegedly unsupported by law or evidence, it is not confined to a pro forma recitation of prior positions. The Court observed that Mauricio’s petition raised primarily questions of facts rather than questions of law, and it reiterated the limited scope of revie

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