Arlene started working as a Casual or Assistant Clinical Instructor for two semesters for the school year 1992-1993 in Holy Name University (HNU)’s College of Nursing while awaiting the results of her Nursing Board Examination.
In the second semester of school year 1994-1995, she worked at the Medical Ward as a full-time Clinical Instructor until the school year 1998-1999. During the second semester of that school year, she transferred to the Guidance Center where she worked as a Nursing Guidance Instructor. In the meantime, she was elected as Municipal Councilor of Carmen, Bohol. She took a leave of absence from HNU upon her reelection as Municipal Councilor for the period from 2001 up to 2004.
Sometime in the year 2004, Arlene rejoined HNU and was given a full-time load for the school year 2004-2005. For school years 2005-2006 and 2006-2007, Arlene signed contracts for term/semestral employment.
However, in a notice dated February 28, 2007, HNU informed Arlene that her contract of employment, which would have expired on March 31, 2007, will no longer be renewed.
Arlene filed a complaint for illegal dismissal against HNU. She argued that since she taught at HNU for more than six consecutive regular semesters, she already attained the status of a regular employee under the Manual of Regulations for Private School Teachers. She posited that she was not guilty of any infractions under the Labor Code of the Philippines or the Manual of Regulations for Private School Teachers. She concluded that she was illegally dismissed from employment as no valid or justifiable cause supported the same.
On the other hand, HNU stated that for the school years 1995-1996, 1996-1997 and 1997-1998, Arlene received letters of appointment for each semester, with definite dates of commencement and end of her employment. Thus, HNU asserted that when her probationary appointment for the period June 1, 1997 until March 31, 1998 expired, that it was not obliged to renew her contract. With regard to the school years 2004-2005, 2005-2006, and 2006-2007, HNU contended that Arlene remained as a probationary employee.
HNU stated that the completion of her probationary period did not automatically make her a permanent employee since she failed to satisfactorily comply with all the conditions of her probationary employment. HNU insisted that Arlene was not dismissed; rather, her contract of employment merely expired on March 31, 2007.
Did Arlene attain regular status?
The Supreme Court ruled in the negative.
The Court reiterated prevailing jurisprudence in that the Manual of Regulations for Private Schools, not the Labor Code of the Philippines, determines whether or not a faculty member in a private educational institution has attained a permanent or regular status. According to the Court, before a private school teacher acquires permanent status, he or she should satisfy the following requisites: 1) The teacher must have served full-time; 2) he/she must have rendered three consecutive years of service; and 3) such service must have been satisfactory.
In the present case, the Court found that Arlene failed to meet the required criteria to be considered as a permanent employee.
According to the Court, prevailing regulations require a minimum of one-year clinical practice experience to qualify as a faculty member in a college of nursing, and is therefore, required for one to be considered as a full-time faculty of such.
Although Arlene had rendered three consecutive years of satisfactory service, she never alleged to have performed clinical duties such as treating actual patients or assisting doctors in such treatment, nor did she present any substantial evidence to prove such. The Court stated that since Arlene failed to provide substantial evidence, much less clearly describe what kind of work she rendered as a clinical instructor, it could not consider Arlene’s work experience as “clinical practice.” For the Court, Arlene did not qualify as a full-time teacher at the College of Nursing of HNU.
Based on evidence, the Court declared Arlene to be a fixed-term employee of HNU.
The Court reiterated established jurisprudence that recognizes the validity of fixed-term employment contracts, as long as such contracts do not circumvent the employee’s right to security of tenure. According to the Court, the criteria under which fixed-term employment could not be said to be in circumvention of the law on security of tenure are the following:
- The fixed period of employment was knowingly and voluntarily agreed upon by the parties without any force, duress, or improper pressure being brought to bear upon the employee and absent any other circumstances vitiating his consent; or
- It satisfactorily appears that the employer and the employee dealt with each other on more or less equal terms with no moral dominance exercised by the former or the latter.
In the present case, the Court considered Arlene’s part-time status and ruled that even if no written fixed-term contract was presented, judicial notice can be made upon the fact that teachers’ employment contracts are for a specific semester or term.
The Court added that with respect to consent, the fixed-term contracts must be presumed to be knowingly and voluntarily entered into. It is a basic rule that “one who alleges defect or lack of valid consent to a contract by reason of fraud or undue influence must establish by full, clear and convincing evidence such specific acts that vitiated a party’s consent, otherwise, the latter’s presumed consent to the contract prevails.”
In the present case, Arlene merely alleged that she was a regular employee and that her being a contractual employee was just a lame reason given by HNU to terminate her without due process. The Court viewed such allegations as self-serving and unsubstantiated that failed to overturn the presumption mentioned earlier.
With regard to the second requisite, the Court found that Arlene was more or less on equal footing with HNU. According to the Court, Arlene was an honors graduate, an elected public official, and not a mere run-of-the-mill employee, who had the capability to be on equal footing in dealing with her employer when it came to her employment terms.
The Court concluded that Arlene was validly contracted for a fixed-term, the expiry of which occurred with her latest contract on March 31, 2007. Such effectively ended the employee-employer relationship she had with HNU. No dismissal, whether illegal or not, ever happened. The Court accordingly denied her claims.
Further reading:
- Palgan v. Holy Name University, G.R. No. 219916, February 10, 2021.
