UP Law WEP Conducts Training Series on Termination of Employment and Gender Orientation for Workers

UP Law WEP Conducts Third Training Series on Termination of Employment in the Private Sector and Gender Orientation for Workers, together with UP Law GLPP

The Workers and Employees Program (WEP) of the University of the Philippines College of Law/Law Center (UP Law) conducted its Training Series on Termination of Employment in the Private Sector in August and September 2023. This was the third WEP training series, after the first on Workers’ and Employees’ Rights and Benefits Under Labor Standards Laws from September to October 2022, and the second on Labor Relations from May to July 2023.

Officials from the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), UP Law WEP, UP Center for Women and Gender Studies, and UP Law Gender Law and Policy Program (GLPP) gave online lectures to a total of 96 participants who attended at least one session. Participants include workers and employees from labor organizations, associations and unions, unaffiliated workers and employees, human resource practitioners, paralegals, students, and others.

In her welcome remarks on 5 August 2023, then-WEP Program Director Patricia R.P. Salvador Daway explained that “(t)ermination of employment is resorted to when avenues for amicable settlement of disputes between the workers and employees, on the one hand, and the employer, on the other hand, fail. One of the seven cardinal rights of workers and employees is the right to security of tenure, which is guaranteed by no less [than] the Philippine Constitution. In simple terms, the right to security of tenure, or seguridad sa trabaho (katatagan sa trabaho according to the Filipino text by the Linangan ng mga Wika sa Pilipinas), means that the worker or employee may not be terminated from [their] employment, which is [their] source of livelihood, except for any of the just or authorized causes as provided in the law, the Labor Code, and after complying with the rudimentary requirements of due process.”

The WEP, through Prof. Daway, also took the opportunity last 12 August 2023 to introduce Atty. Arnold F. de Vera as the next WEP Program Director, effective 15 August 2023.

On 19 August 2023, in his first lecture as the new WEP Program Director, Atty. de Vera underscored the procedural due process requirements in employment termination by the employer, as well as reliefs available to an employee in case of violation of both procedural and substantive requirements.

In his first opening remarks last 26 August 2023, Atty. de Vera further emphasized, “Dama natin ang halaga ng mga paksang ito dahil na rin sa lagay ng ating ekonomiya pati na ang pag-usbong ng bagong teknolohiya gaya ng artificial intelligence (AI).”

The UP Law WEP concluded the training series by organizing a whole-day Gender Orientation for Workers (GOW) on 2 September 2023, in partnership with the UP Law GLPP. The GOW covered Examining Gender and Society, Anti-Sexual Harassment Laws, Complaints and Due Process, Gender Law and Gender-Based Collective Bargaining, and Using Gender-Fair Language for Inclusivity.

The following topics were discussed during the Training Series:

5 August 2023: Employment Status

Resource Person: Attorney Emir Mendoza, UP Law WEP

12 August 2023: Termination By Employer for Just Causes And Disease

Resource Person: Labor Arbiter Michael Anthony N. Clemente, NLRC DOLE

19 August 2023: Procedural Due Process in Employment Termination, Reliefs in Cases of Violation, and Resignation

Resource Person: Attorney Arnold F. de Vera, Program Director, UP Law WEP

26 August 2023: Termination by Employer for Authorized Causes

Resource Person: Labor Arbiter Jennifer R. Santos, NLRC DOLE

2 September 2023: Gender Orientation for Workers, with the UP Law Gender Law and Policy Program

Resource Persons: Professor Marby Villaceran, PhD, Director, Center for Women and Gender Studies, University of the Philippines Diliman

Attorney Hendrix C. Bongalon, GLPP Law and Policy Officer, UP Law GLPP;