Question & AnswerQ&A (DOLE POLICY INSTRUCTIONS NO. 56)
The main policy emphasizes the primacy of free collective bargaining and negotiations, including voluntary arbitration, mediation, and conciliation, as modes of settling labor or industrial disputes.
Termination cases arising from the interpretation and implementation of collective bargaining agreements and the interpretation and enforcement of company personnel policies that were initially processed through the plant-level grievance procedures under collective bargaining agreements fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of voluntary arbitrators.
The jurisdiction of voluntary arbitrators over certain termination cases is pursuant to Article 217(c) and Article 261 of the Labor Code of the Philippines.
The Labor Arbiter shall dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction and refer it to the concerned NCMB Regional Branch for the parties to select a voluntary arbitrator or a panel of arbitrators.
The NCMB Regional Branch facilitates the expeditious selection of voluntary arbitrators or panels of arbitrators based on procedures agreed upon in the collective bargaining agreement.
The plant-level grievance procedures under the parties' collective bargaining agreements serve as the initial processing steps for termination cases that fall under voluntary arbitration jurisdiction.
It took effect immediately upon adoption on April 6, 1993.
Voluntary arbitration refers to the agreed-upon process by both parties in a collective bargaining agreement to resolve labor disputes, including termination cases, outside of formal government adjudication channels, through the selection of an arbitrator or panel of arbitrators.
Because such cases fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of voluntary arbitrators due to their relation to collective bargaining agreements, rendering the Labor Arbiter without jurisdiction to hear them.