Resignation: The Legality of Shortening the 30-day Period
Resignation is the voluntary act of the employee. It cannot be the product of force, intimidation, threat, trickery or improper pressure.
As held by the Supreme Court, resignation is the voluntary act of an employee who is in a situation where one believes that personal reasons cannot be sacrificed in favor of the exigency of the service, and one has no other choice but to dissociate oneself from employment. It is a formal pronouncement or relinquish- ment of an office, with the intention of relinquishing the office accompanied by the act of relinquishment. As the intent to relinquish must concur with the overt act of relinquishment, the acts of the employee before and after the alleged resignation must be considered in determining whether he or she, in fact, intended to sever his or her employment. (See page 317, Guide to Valid Dismissal of Employees 2nd Edition by Atty. Villanueva, citing Gan vs. Galderma Philippines, Inc., G.R. No. 177167, January 17, 2013; Nationwide Security and Allied Services, Inc. vs. Valderama, G.R. No. 186614, February 23, 2011, 644 SCRA 299, 307- 308; See also BMG Records (Phils.), Inc. vs. Aparecio, G.R. No. 153290, September 5, 2007.)
Article 300 of the Labor Code states that an employee may terminate without just cause the employee-employer relationship by serving a written notice on the employer at least one (1) month in advance. The employer upon whom no such notice was served may hold the employee liable for damages.
The one month in advance or 30 days is a period governing the obligation. The question is, can this period be shortened? Can the employer say that the resignation should take effect after 15 days? If so, can the employee claim that this amounts to constructive dismissal because he is made to quit work earlier than he requested?
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In the case of Paredes vs. Feed the Children Philippines, Inc. (G.R. No. 184397, September 9, 2015), Paredes submitted a letter informing the organization that she could only serve until December 2005. In response, the Board accepted the resignation with the condition that its effectivity be moved to November 30, 2005. As a result thereof, among other reasons, Paredes filed an illegal dismissal case claiming constructive dismissal. According to her, the fact that the effectivity of the resignation was moved to November showed the eagerness of the organization to get rid of her.
The Supreme Court held that the act of moving the effectivity of the resignation is not an act of harassment. It is an exercise of management prerogative.
In the case of Intertrod, the Master had already ac- cepted the resignation and, although the employee was being required to serve the thirty (30) days notice provided in the contract, his resignation was already approved. The worker cannot claim that his resignation ceased to be effective because he was not immediately discharged, for he could no longer unilaterally withdraw such resignation. When he later signified his intention of continuing his work, it was already up to the employer to accept his withdrawal of his resignation. The mere fact that employer did not accept such withdrawal did not constitute illegal dismissal for acceptance of the withdrawal of the resignation was their employer’s sole prerogative. (Intertrod Maritime, Inc. vs. NLRC, G.R. No. 81087, June 19, 1991, page 319 Guide to Valid Dismissal of Employees, 2nd Edition)
The 30-day notice requirement for an employee’s resignation is actually for the benefit of the employer who has the discretion to waive such period. Its purpose is to afford the employer enough time to hire another employee if needed and to see to it that there is proper turn-over of the tasks which the resigning employee may be handling.
Under the Civil Code, obligations for whose fulfillment a day certain has been fixed, shall be demandable only when that day comes. (Art. 1193)
Now, this period can be waived by the employer considering that it was constituted for its benefit in the first place.
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