CA upholds NLRC ruling on employee benefits

THE PHILIPPINES’ Court of Appeals (CA) has dismissed a petition against the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) for the alleged grave abuse of its discretion when it ruled in favor of employees, directing their employer to reinstate previously discontinued benefits.

In a 21-page decision, the appellate court’s first division dismissed for lack of merit a petition filed by a construction material company against the NLRC’s ruling, which also ordered the company to reimburse transportation expenses when its shuttle service became unavailable and cover illegitimate children as beneficiaries under the company’s group life insurance. 

“NLRC did not commit grave abuse of discretion,” a part of Presiding Justice Fernanda Lampas-Peralta’s ruling stated in the Nov. 18 decision.

The petition specifically alleged that “the NLRC gravely abused its discretion when it ruled that the ‘transportation reimbursement’ had ripened into a demandable company benefit” and that the labor arbiter “acted without jurisdiction when it ordered the designation of a beneficiary in an insurance policy taken out by [the company].”

During the arbitration proceedings, the company admitted covering the transportation expenses for its employees, resulting in the appellate court finding that the NLRC did not abuse its authority by ordering reimbursement.

“The giving of the ‘transportation reimbursement’ was shown to have been done over a long period of time, and was consistent and deliberate, that is, whenever the shuttle service was not available,” a part of the decision stated.

“Hence, its unilateral withdrawal constituted a violation of the rule on non-dimunition of benefits.”

The CA also said the NLRC did not act out of its jurisdiction regarding the insurance policy issue as “labor arbiters have the authority to hear and decide cases” involving claims arising from an employee-employer relationships. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio