CASE STUDIES

From these numbers, the cases received and handled by IDEALS have been or are being resolved initially through the SENA since it has been mandated by law as a preliminary procedure for settling certain labor disputes speedily and inexpensively. They make up most of the pending cases currently handled by IDEALS. It can be inferred that the SENA, as an initial approach for settling labor disputes, has been effective in its policy considering that 12 out of 23 cases filed before the SENA have been terminated on that phase.

On another note, this table does not reflect that most of the cases pending before the SENA have remained unacted upon since the date of filing either for lack of conference scheduling or follow up on the part of the SEADO. In addition, there are cases which have been brought before the Labor Arbiter due to absences of the employer in the mandatory conferences before the SEADOs. For cases that have been settled or have been terminated in the SENA phase, most of the cases had an average duration of two months prior to their termination -- the shortest time being three weeks. This may also show the efficiency and speed of the SENA process in resolving labor disputes.

For a client who filed his complaint for illegal dismissal and non-payment of statutory benefits at the DOLE Trece Martires, Cavite Field Office, he first filed his RFA on July 14, 2020. However, he did not receive any notice for the next steps within 30 days. Hence, he re-filed his RFA in the same office on September 14, 2020 with supporting documents. He did not receive any reference number and was only informed that he will be contacted once a schedule for the first conference is set. The first conference was scheduled on October 9, 2020; however, no settlement was reached because the employer did not attend. The second and third conferences were held on October 13 and 20, respectively, where no agreement was met.

The same client was an employee of a security agency in Cavite. He was not aware of the size of the enterprise of their agency, but he was certain that they did not have any organized labor group. He appreciated the SENA process and its intent to achieve a speedy settlement of the dispute and he thought that the desk officers were well-trained. Although there were different desk officers who handled the second and third conferences, they were both knowledgeable and effective in facilitating the conciliationmediation process.

Another client is situated in Zamboanga and, prior to seeking assistance with IDEALS, already had a lawyer. In her case, she was constructively dismissed afer four years of service with her employer. However, upon demand of their rightful money claims, the employer refused to settle the separation pay, which was equivalent to four years of service. Instead, the employer insisted on paying an equivalent of one year service only. This was the core issue of their dispute before the SENA.

For this client, the SENA process was not of much help because she felt that during the process the SEADO was being partial and biased in favor of the employer. To note, the company she was working with is a big company, although the client does not have a rough estimate of how many employees are currently employed. Moreover, considering that the employer is an influential person in the area, she believes this may have affected the treatment of the SEADO of her case during the SENA process. As for the effect of the enforcement of the quarantine measures, considering that she filed her case a few days before the community quarantine was imposed, she believes this made her situation worse. She filed her case on March 11, 2020 and up until now her case is still pending before the Labor Arbiter, waiting for its resolution.

On a different note, two other clients experienced drastically different responses from the SENA branch of the DOLE. For one client, who was a call center agent in one of the leading Business Process Outsourcing companies in the country, she was being forced to either resign or undergo swab tests as a condition for continued employment afer she showed symptoms of COVID-19. But because the client did not have sufficient resources to undergo the tests, she refused. Instead, she insisted that the Barangay Health Certificate previously presented to the employer is valid proof that she did not contract COVID-19 and that she be readmitted for work.

RIGHTS MO, ASK MO. A lawyer from IDEALS holds a legal rights discussion with clients