PANFILO MACASERO VS SOUTHERN INDUSTRIAL GASES PHILIPPINES and/or NEIL LINDSAY

PANFILO MACASERO

VS

SOUTHERN INDUSTRIAL GASES PHILIPPINES and/or NEIL LINDSAY
577 SCRA 500 (2009)

An illegally dismissed employee is entitled to two reliefs: backwages and reinstatement. In instances where reinstatement is no longer feasible, separation pay is granted. In effect, an illegally dismissed employee is entitled to either reinstatement, if viable, or if not, separation pay and backwages.

Panfilo Macasero works as Carbon Dioxide Bulk Tank Escort for Southern Industrial Gases, Philippines (SIGP). He was severed from his job for the reason that his services were no longer needed. Macasero filed a case of illegal dismissal against SIGP before the Labor Arbiter (LA) who ruled that he is considered a regular employee but was not illegally dismissed and that he is entitled to separation pay equivalent to 1 month for every year of service plus 13th month pay.

The National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) affirmed the decision of the LA but modified the computation for the separation pay. The Court of Appeals (CA) also affirmed the decision of the NLRC.

ISSUE:
Whether or not Macasero is illegally dismissed and is entitled to separation pay

HELD:
While both labor tribunals and the appellate court held that Macasero failed to prove the fact of his dismissal, they oddly ordered the award of separation pay in lieu of reinstatement in light of SIGP company’s “firm stance that Macasero was not its employee vis a vis the unflinching assertion of Macasero that he was which does not create a fertile ground for reinstatement.” It goes without saying that the award of separation pay is inconsistent with a finding that there was no illegal dismissal, for under Article 279 of the Labor Code and as held in a catena of cases, an employee who is dismissed without just cause and without due process is entitled to backwages and reinstatement or payment of separation pay in lieu thereof.

Thus, an illegally dismissed employee is entitled to two reliefs: backwages and reinstatement. The two reliefs provided are separate and distinct. In instances where reinstatement is no longer feasible because of strained relations between the employee and the employer, separation pay is granted. In effect, an illegally dismissed employee is entitled to either reinstatement, if viable, or separation pay if reinstatement is no longer viable, and backwages.

The accepted doctrine is that separation pay may avail in lieu of reinstatement if reinstatement is no longer practical or in the best interest of the parties. Separation pay in lieu of reinstatement may likewise be awarded if the employee decides not to be reinstated.