SC: Illegally dismissed probationary employees entitled to backwages up to reinstatement

The Supreme Court (SC) has ruled that illegally dismissed probationary employees, like regular employees, are entitled to backwages up to their actual reinstatement and not only until the end of their probationary period.

In an April 16 decision penned by Associate Justice Antonio Kho Jr., the High Court said in cases where reinstatement is not feasible, backwages must be computed from the time compensation was withheld up to the finality of the decision in the illegal dismissal case.

The SC said that the right to security of tenure under the Constitution and the Labor Code applies to both regular and probationary employees. It added the mere lapse of the probationary period without regularization does not by itself sever the employment relationship.

Without any valid grounds to dismiss a probationary employee, there is no basis to terminate the employment. Thus, the employee is entitled to work even beyond the probationary period, according to the High Tribunal.

The SC made the ruling as it dismissed the petition filed by C.P. Reyes Hospital, which challenged the decision and resolution issued by the Court of Appeals

Court records showed that Geraldine M. Barbosa signed a six-month probationary employment contract with C.P. Reyes Hospital, where she would train as a staff nurse, then as a ward head nurse, and finally as training supervisor.

In December 2013, C.P. Reyes Hospital terminated Barbosa’s probationary employment, citing negative performance feedback. Barbosa, in turn, filed a complaint for illegal dismissal against the hospital.

The Labor Arbiter ruled that Barbosa was illegally dismissed, finding that the numerical passing marks given by her evaluators showed she successfully met C.P. Reyes Hospital’s standards.

While the National Labor Relations Commission subsequently reversed the Labor Arbiter, the Court of Appeals (CA) reinstated the Labor Arbiter’s ruling in favor of Barbosa. But C.P. Reyes Hospital challenged the CA’s decision before the SC, which denied the hospital’s petition.

The High Court ruled that Barbosa was illegally dismissed, saying she is entitled to reinstatement, full backwages, and other benefits.

To determine the amount of backwages due Barbosa, the SC said it harmonized conflicting jurisprudence. It ruled in her case that backwages should be computed from Jan. 1, 2014, when compensation was withheld from Barbosa, until the finality of the SC decision.

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