Labor Law Definition of Terms

RULE I

SECTION 1. Definition of terms. —

(a) "Commission" means the National Labor Relations Commission.

(b) "Bureau" means the Bureau of Labor Relations and/or the Industrial
Relations Division in the Regional Offices of the Department of Labor and
Employment.

(c) "Board" means the National Conciliation and Mediation Board.

(d) "Code" means the Labor Code of the Philippines, as amended.

(e) "Employer" includes any person acting in the interest of an employer,

directly or indirectly. The term shall not include any labor organization or any
of its officers or agents except when acting as employer.

(f) "Employee" includes any person in the employ of a particular employer. The
term shall not be limited to the employees of a particular employer, unless the
Code so explicitly states. It shall include any individual whose work has ceased
as a result of or in connection with any current labor dispute or because of any
unfair labor practice if he has not obtained any other substantially equivalent
and regular employment.

(g) "Labor Organization" means any union or association of employees which

exists in whole or in part for the purpose of collective bargaining or of dealing
with employers concerning terms and conditions of employment.

(h) "Local Union" means any labor organization operating at the enterprise
level.

(i) "National Union/Federation" means any labor organization with at least ten
(10) locals or chapters each of which must be a duly recognized collective
bargaining agent.

(j) "Legitimate Labor Organization" means any labor organization duly

registered with the Department of Labor and Employment and includes any
branch, local or affiliate thereof.
(k) "Company Union" means any labor organization whose formation, function
or administration has been assisted by any act defined as unfair labor practice
by the Code.

(l) "Bargaining Representative" means a legitimate labor organization or any

duly authorized officer or agent of such organization whether or not employed
by the employer.

(m) "Unfair Labor Practice" means any unfair labor practice as expressly
defined in the Code.

(n) "Labor or Industrial Dispute" includes any controversy or matter

concerning terms or conditions of employment or the association or
representation of persons in negotiating the fixing, maintaining, changing or
arranging of terms and conditions of employment regardless of whether or not
the disputants stand in the proximate relationship of employers and employees.

(o) "Managerial Employee" is one who is vested with powers or prerogatives to

lay down and execute management policies and/or to hire, transfer, suspend,
layoff, recall, discharge, assign or discipline employees. Supervisory employees
are those who, in the interest of the employer, effectively recommend such
managerial actions if the exercise of such authority is not merely routinary or
clerical in nature but require the use of independent judgment. All employees
not falling within any of the above definitions are considered rank-and-file
employees for purposes of this Book.

(p) "Voluntary Arbitrator" means any person accredited by the Board as such,
or any person named or designated in the collective bargaining agreement, by
the parties to act as their voluntary arbitrator, or one chosen, with or without
the assistance of the National Conciliation and Mediation Board, pursuant to a
selection procedure agreed upon in the collective bargaining agreement, or any
official that may be authorized by the Secretary of Labor and Employment to
act as voluntary arbitrator upon the written request and agreement of the
parties to a labor dispute.

(q) "Strike" means any temporary stoppage of work by the concerted action of
employees as a result of a labor or industrial dispute.

(r) "Strike-Breaker" means any person who obstructs, impedes, or interferes

with by force, violence, coercion, threats or intimidation any peaceful picketing
by employees during any labor controversy affecting wages, hours or conditions
of work or in the exercise of the right of self-organization or collective
bargaining.

(s) "Strike Area" means the establishment, warehouse, depots, plants or offices,
including the sites or premises used as run-away shops, of the employer struck
against, as well as the immediate vicinity actually used by picketing strikers in
moving to and fro before all points of entrance to and exits from said
establishment.

(t) "Lockout" means the temporary refusal of an employer to furnish work as a

result of a labor or industry dispute.

(u) "Internal Union Dispute" includes all disputes or grievances arising from
any violation of or disagreement over any provision of the constitution and by-
laws of a union, including any violation of the rights and conditions of union
membership provided for in this Code.

(v) "Appeal" means the elevation by an aggrieved party of any decision, order
or award of a lower body to a higher body, by means of a pleading which
includes the assignment of errors, memorandum of arguments in support
thereof, and the reliefs prayed for. A mere notice of appeal, therefore, does not
constitute the appeal as herein defined and understood, and shall not stop the
running of the period for perfecting an appeal.

(w) "Perfection of an Appeal" includes the filing within the prescribed period,
of the memorandum of appeal containing, among others, the assignment of
error/s, the argument in support thereof, the reliefs sought and posting of the
appeal bond.

(x) "Certification Election" means the process of determining, through secret

ballot, the sole and exclusive bargaining agent of the employees in an
appropriate bargaining unit, for purposes of collective bargaining.

(y) "Consent Election" means the election voluntarily agreed upon by the parties
to determine the issue of majority representation of all the workers in the
appropriate collective bargaining unit.

(z) "Run-Off" refers to an election between the labor unions receiving the two
(2) higher number of voters when a certification election which provides for
three (3) or more choices results in no choice receiving a majority of the valid
votes cast, where the total number of votes for all contending unions is at least
fifty percent (50%) of the number of votes cast.
(aa) "Registration of Agreement" refers to the filing of the collective bargaining
agreement with the Regional Office or the Bureau accompanied by verified
proof of posting and ratification and payment of fee.

(bb) "Organized Establishment" refers to a firm or company where there is a

recognized or certified exclusive bargaining agent.

(cc) "Registration Proceedings" refer to proceedings involving the application

for registration of labor organizations.

(dd) "Cancellation Proceeding" is the process leading to the revocation of the

registration certificate of a labor organization after due process.

(ee) "Hearing Officers" are officers appointed/designated in the Regional Office

and authorized to hear and decide cases under Section 2 of Republic Act No.
6715 and whose decision is appealable to the Commission.

(ff) "Union Accounts Examiners" are officials in the Bureau or the Industrial
Relations Division in the Regional Office empowered to audit books of accounts
of the union.

(gg) "Representation Officer" refer to a person duly authorized to conduct and

supervise certification elections in accordance with Rule VI of this Book.

(hh) "Term of Office" means the tenure of office of elected officials of a labor
organization which is for a fixed period of five (5) years.

(ii) "Cabo" refers to a person or group or persons or to a labor group which, in

the guise of a labor organization, supplies workers to an employer, with or
without any monetary or other consideration whether in the capacity of an
agent of the employer or as an ostensible independent contractor.

(jj) "Collective Bargaining Agreement" refers to the negotiated contract between

a legitimate labor organization and the employer concerning wages, hours of
work and all other terms and conditions of employment in a bargaining unit,
including mandatory provisions for grievances and arbitration machineries.

(kk) "Med-Arbiter" is an official in the Regional Office authorized to hear,

conciliate, mediate and decide representation cases, internal union and inter-
union disputes.
(ll) "Administrator" refers to the Administrator of the Philippine Overseas
Employment Administration or the National Conciliation and Mediation Board
as the context so indicates.

SECTION 1. Who may join unions. — All persons employed in commercial,

industrial and agricultural enterprises, including employees of government
corporations established under the Corporation Code as well as employees of
religious, medical or educational institutions whether operating for profit or
not, except managerial employees, shall have the right to self-organization and
to form, join or assist labor organizations for purposes of collective bargaining.
Ambulant, intermittent and itinerant workers, self-employed people, rural
workers and those without any definite employers may form labor
organizations for their mutual aid and protection.

Supervisory employees and security guards shall not be eligible for membership
in a labor organization of the rank-and-file employees but may join, assist or
form separate labor organizations of their own; Provided, that those
supervisory employees who are included in an existing rank-and-file bargaining
unit, upon the effectivity of Republic Act No. 6715, shall remain in that unit;
Provided, further, that alien employees with valid working permits issued by
the Department of Labor and Employment may exercise the right to self-
organization and join or assist labor organizations for purposes of collective
bargaining if they are nationals of a country which grants the same or similar
rights to Filipino workers, as certified by the Department of Foreign Affairs.

For the purpose of this Section, any employee, whether employed for a definite
period or not, shall, beginning on the first day of his service, be eligible for
membership in the union.

SECTION 2. Where to file application; procedure. — Any national labor

organization or labor federation or local union may file an application for
registration with the Bureau or the Regional Office where the applicant's
principal office is located. The Bureau or the Regional Office shall immediately
process and approve or deny the application. In case of approval, the Bureau or
the Regional Office shall issue the registration certificate within thirty (30)
calendar days from receipt of the application, together with all the requirements
for registration as hereinafter provided.

SECTION 3. Union affiliation; direct membership with national union. — An

affiliate of a labor federation or national union may be a local or chapter thereof
or an independently registered union.
(a) The labor federation or national union concerned shall issue a charter
certificate indicating the creation or establishment of a local or chapter, copy of
which shall be submitted to the Bureau of Labor Relations within thirty (30)
days from issuance of such charter certificate.

(b) An independently registered union shall be considered an affiliate of a labor

federation or national union after submission to the Bureau of the contract or
agreement of affiliation within thirty (30) days after its execution.

(c) All existing labor federations or national unions are required to submit a list
of all their affiliates, their addresses and including the names and addresses of
their respective officials, to the Bureau within thirty (30) days from effectivity
of these Rules.

(d) All existing labor federations or national unions with direct members are
required to organize said members into locals or chapters in their respective
companies or establishments within sixty (60) days from effectivity of these
Rules.

(e) The local or chapter of a labor federation or national union shall have and
maintain constitution and by-laws, set of officers and books of accounts. For
reporting purposes, the procedure governing the reporting of independently
registered unions, federations or national unions shall be observed.

(f) No person who is not an employee or worker of the company or

establishment where an independently registered union, affiliate, local or
chapter of a labor federation or national union operates shall henceforth be
elected or appointed as an officer of such union, affiliate, local or chapter.

SECTION 4. Requirements for registration of local unions; applications. — The

application for registration of a local union shall be signed by at least twenty
percent (20%) of the employees in the appropriate bargaining unit which the
applicant union seeks to represent, and shall be accompanied by the following:

(a) Fifty-peso registration fee;

(b) The names of its officers, their addresses, the principal address of the labor
organization, the minutes of the organizational meetings and the list of the
workers who participated in such meetings;

(c) The names of all its members and the number of employees in the bargaining
unit;
(d) If the applicant union has been in existence for one or more years, copies of
its annual financial reports;

(e) Four copies of its constitution and by-laws, minutes of its adoption or
ratification, and the list of the members who participated in it;

(f) A sworn statement by the applicant union that there is no certified

bargaining agent in the bargaining unit concerned. In case where there is an
existing collective bargaining agreement duly submitted to the Department of
Labor and Employment, a sworn statement that the application for registration
is filed during the last sixty (60) days of the agreement; and

(g) The application for registration and all the accompanying documents shall
be verified under oath by the secretary or the treasurer, as the case may be, and
attested to by the president.

SECTION 5. Denial of registration of local unions. — The Regional Office of the

Bureau may deny the application for registration on grounds of non-compliance
with the requirements enumerated in Section 4 hereof.

The decision of the Regional Office or the Bureau denying the application for
registration shall be in writing, stating in clear terms the reasons therefor. A
copy thereof shall be furnished the applicant union.

SECTION 6. Appeal. — Any applicant union may appeal to the Bureau the
denial of registration by the Regional Office, or to the Secretary if the denial is
by the Bureau, within ten (10) calendar days from receipt of such decision on
grounds of:

(a) Grave abuse of discretion; and

(b) Gross incompetence.

The appeal shall be filed in the Regional Office/Bureau which shall cause the
transmittal of the records to the Bureau/Secretary within five (5) calendar days
from receipt of the appeal.

The Bureau/Secretary shall decide the appeal within twenty (20) calendar days
from receipt of the records of the case.

SECTION 7. Cancellation of registration certificate. — The certificate of

registration of any legitimate labor organization including labor federations or
national unions may be cancelled by the Bureau or the Regional Office on any
of the following grounds:

(a) Violation of Articles 234, 237 and 239 of the Code;

(b) Failure to comply with Article 238 of the Code; and

(c) Violation of any of the provisions of Article 241 of the Code.

SECTION 8. Notice of Cancellation. — The Bureau or the Regional Office shall

serve a notice of the cancellation proceedings on the labor organization
concerned stating the grounds therefor, at least fifteen (15) calendar days before
the scheduled date of hearing. In such hearing, the representative of the labor
organization shall have the right to present its side.

SECTION 9. Appeal. — The labor organization may, unless the law provides
otherwise, within fifteen (15) calendar days from receipt of the decision
cancelling or revoking its certificate of registration, file an appeal to the Bureau,
or in case of cancellation by the Bureau, to the Secretary, on any of the following
grounds:

(a) Grave abuse of discretion; and

(b) Gross incompetence.

The Bureau/Secretary shall have fifteen (15) calendar days from receipt of the
records of the case within which to decide the appeal. The decision shall be final
and unappealable.

SECTION 10. Rights of labor organizations. — A legitimate labor organization

shall have the rights enumerated in Article 242 of the Code.

SECTION 11. Automatic cancellation of union registration. — (a) The Bureau or

the Regional Office shall, after due process, cancel the certificate of registration
of any labor organization which fails to submit the financial reports required by
the Code and its Implementing Rules six (6) months after the effectivity of
Republic Act No. 6715.

(b) The reports required under this section shall be submitted to the Bureau or
the Regional Office.