Agreement to Terminate Employee Without Due Process is Void
Grand Placement and General Services Corp. (GPGS) hired Mr. Rutcher Dagasdas (Dagasdas) as Network Technician to be deployed to Industrial & Management Technology Methods Co. Ltd. (ITM) in Saudi Arabia. He was under contract for one year.
Dagasdas’ Job Offer indicated that he was accepted by Aramco and ITM for the position of “Supt.” He contended that although his position under his contract was as a Network Technician, he actually applied for and was engaged as a Civil Engineer.
When Dagasdas arrived in Saudi Arabia, he was made to sign with ITM a new employment contract which stipulated that the latter contracted him as Superintendent or in any capacity within the scope of his abilities. Under this contract, Dagasdas shall be placed under a three-month probationary period; and, this new contract shall cancel all contracts prior to its date from any source.
Dagasdas reported at ITM’s worksite in Khurais, Saudi Arabia. There, he was allegedly given tasks suited for a Mechanical Engineer, which were foreign to the job he applied for and to his work experience. Seeing that he would not be able to perform well in his Dagasdas raised his concern to his Supervisor in the Mechanical Engineering Department. Consequently, he was transferred to the Civil Engineering Department, was temporarily given a position as Civil Construction Engineer.
Later, he was directed to exit the worksite but Rashid H. Siddiqui (Siddiqui), the Site Coordinator Manager, advised him to remain in the premises, and promised to secure him the position he applied for. However, before Dagasdas’ case was investigated, Siddiqui had severed his employment with ITM.
Dagasdas was given a termination notice indicating his last day of work. He was dismissed pursuant to a clause of his contract, which provided that ITM reserved the right to terminate any employee within the three-month probationary period without need of any notice to the employee. He filed an illegal dismissal case when he reached the Philippines.
Can the second contract providing that ITM can terminate without due process be a valid basis for Dagasdas’ dismissal?
The Supreme Court said no.
The Court held that while our Civil Code recognizes that parties may stipulate in their contracts such terms and conditions as they may deem convenient, these terms and conditions must not be contrary to law, morals, good customs, public order or policy.
The clause in the contract providing to terminate Dagasdas without due process is contrary to law because our Constitution guarantees that employees, local or overseas, are entitled to security of tenure. To allow employers to reserve a right to terminate employees without cause is violative of this guarantee of security of tenure.
No prior notice of purported infraction, and such opportunity to explain on any accusation against him was given to Dagasdas. He was simply given a notice of termination.
In fact, it appears that ITM intended not to comply with the notice requirement. Under the new contract, ITM reserved in its favor the right to terminate the contract without serving any notice to Dagasdas in specified cases, which included such situation where the employer decides to dismiss the employee within the probationary period.
Without doubt, ITM violated the due process requirement in dismissing an employee. (Dagasdas vs. Grand Placement and General Services Corporation, G.R. No. 205727, January 18, 2017)
Learn the Due Process for Dismissal in Atty. Elvin’s book Guide to Valid Dismissal of Employees
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