This case has been cited 1 times or more.
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2001-08-31 |
BELLOSILLO, J. |
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| We also cannot deny back salaries and other economic benefits on the ground that respondent Clerk of Court did not work. For the principle of "no work, no pay" does not apply when the employee himself was forced out of job. As ruled sympathetically in University of Pangasinan Faculty Union v. University of Pangasinan,[11] the "no work, no pay" principle does not apply where the employee is "constrained to take mandatory leave from work," and for this, Clerk of Court Villanueva, Jr. cannot altogether be faulted or begrudged for asserting and claiming that which is due him under the law. Indeed, it is not always true that back salaries are paid only when work was done. Thus in Serrano vs. NLRC,[12] the employer is liable for back wages when he fails to give notice to the employee before the latter is dismissed from work, regardless of fault. Back wages too are paid to an employee who is merely reinstated in the payroll under Art. 223 of the Labor Code which provides that "[i]n any event, the decision of the Labor Arbiter reinstating a dismissed or separated employee, insofar as the reinstated aspect is concerned, shall be immediately executory, even pending appeal. The employee shall either be admitted back to work under the same terms and conditions prevailing prior to his dismissal or separation or, at the option of the employer, merely reinstated in the payroll x x x x" For another, the poor employee could offer no work since he was forced out of work. Thus, to always require complete exoneration or performance of work would ultimately leave the dismissal uncompensated no matter how grossly disproportionate the penalty was. Clearly, it does not serve justice to simply restore the dismissed employee to his position and deny him his claim for back salaries and other economic benefits on these grounds. We would otherwise be serving justice in halves. | |||||