Legal Insights
Plain-language guides and case briefs on Philippine law — researched from the firm's law library of 184,000+ statutes, Supreme Court decisions, and agency issuances, and written so non-lawyers can understand and act on them.
Understanding Regular Employment: How the Nature of Work Determines Employee Status in the Philippines
The Supreme Court clarifies when construction workers become regular employees entitled to security of tenure, not merely project-based hires.
Reinstatement and Length of Service: Employee Rights in Illegal Dismissal Cases
When illegally dismissed employees return to work, does their service clock reset? The Supreme Court clarifies the reckoning point for length of service.
Understanding Redundancy In Employment Legal Grounds And Employer Obligations In The Philippines
Learn the legal grounds for redundancy in the Philippines, employer obligations, and how courts review these dismissals.
Understanding Constructive Dismissal: Protecting Your Rights as an Employee
Learn what constructive dismissal means in Philippine labor law, how "floating status" affects security guards, and your rights as an employee.
Reinstatement in Illegal Dismissal: The Strained Relations Doctrine Explained
Illegal dismissal entitles workers to reinstatement and backwages. The strained relations doctrine is a narrow exception—learn how courts apply it.
Understanding Illegal Dismissal When Production Quotas Cross the Line
Philippine Supreme Court rules on when imposing production quotas becomes illegal dismissal, citing bad faith and unattainable targets.
Business Closure and Employee Rights: The Supreme Court's Stance on Good Faith
Understand the Supreme Court's ruling on business closure, employee rights, and the critical role of good faith in labor disputes.
Voluntary Resignation vs. Constructive Dismissal: Insights from Philippine Labor Law
The Supreme Court clarifies the distinction between voluntary resignation and constructive dismissal in Pascual v. Sitel Philippines Corporation.
Due Process vs Economic Realities: Navigating Termination in Philippine Labor Law
The Supreme Court clarifies when a seafarer's cause of action accrues and what valid termination requires under POEA-SEC.
Understanding Employee Dismissal for Serious Misconduct: Insights From a Landmark Philippine Case
Learn when an employee's public statements can be valid grounds for dismissal for serious misconduct under Philippine labor law.
Understanding the Principle of Totality of Infractions in Philippine Labor Law
Learn how the totality of infractions principle works in Philippine labor law, explained through a Supreme Court ruling on employee dismissal.
Redundancy and Management Prerogative: Balancing Business Needs With Employee Rights
The Supreme Court explains when a redundancy dismissal is valid and how management prerogative is balanced with employee protection under Philippine law.
Regular vs Project Employee: When Rehiring Without a Fixed Term Creates Security of Tenure
Philippine Supreme Court clarifies when a project employee becomes regular, securing tenure and protection from illegal dismissal.
When a Transfer Is Not Constructive Dismissal: Management Prerogative in Labor Cases
The Supreme Court clarifies when an employee transfer is a valid exercise of management prerogative and not constructive dismissal.
Due Process in Termination: Ensuring Fair Dismissal Under Philippine Labor Law
Learn the rules for valid dismissal in the Philippines—substantive and procedural due process, and what happens when employers fail to comply.
Verbal Agreements vs Written Contracts: When a Lease or Workplace Transfer Can Be Modified
Philippine Supreme Court ruling on when verbal notices and transfer orders are invalid, protecting employee security of tenure.
Regular vs Project Employment: What the Supreme Court Requires of Employers
A 2019 Supreme Court ruling clarifies when construction workers are regular employees, not project employees, and what employers must prove.
Regular vs Project Employment: Employer Must Prove Employee Status at Hiring
Supreme Court clarifies that employers bear the burden of proving project employment status, requiring clear notice at the time of hiring.
Illegal Dismissal of OFWs: Full Contract Pay Upheld by Supreme Court
The Supreme Court reaffirms that illegally dismissed OFWs are entitled to their full salaries for the unexpired portion of their contracts, striking down the three-month cap.
Project vs Regular Employment: Security of Tenure and Employee Rights in the Philippines
Philippine Supreme Court clarifies the distinction between project and regular employment, and the security of tenure rights of employees.
Redefining Family Driver Civil Code Rules In The Absence Of Labor Code Coverage
Philippine Supreme Court clarifies that family drivers are governed by Civil Code rules, not Labor Code, after the Kasambahay Law's repeal.
Redundancy and Constructive Dismissal: Employee Rights in Corporate Restructuring
Understand redundancy pay, constructive dismissal, and employee rights when Philippine companies restructure or downsize.
Management Prerogative vs Diminution of Benefits: The Coca-Cola Saturday Work Dispute
When can a company stop Saturday work without violating the non-diminution rule? The Supreme Court clarifies in this Coca-Cola case.
Lingnam Restaurant Case: Labor-Only Contracting Makes Principal the Employer
Supreme Court clarifies when a manpower agency is a labor-only contractor, making the client the true employer liable for illegal dismissal.