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AT A GLANCE:
Acts of disdain and hostile behavior such as demotion, uttering insulting words, asking for resignation, and apathetic conduct towards an employee constitute constructive illegal dismissal. (Bayview Management Consultants, Inc. v. Pedrita Heloisa Pre, G.R. No. 220170, August 19, 2020)
In labor law, constructive dismissal, also known as a dismissal in disguise, exists “where there is cessation of work, because continued employment is rendered impossible, unreasonable or unlikely, as an offer involving a demotion in rank or a diminution in pay” and other benefits. There must be an act amounting to dismissal but made to appear as if it were not. It may likewise, exist if an act of clear discrimination, insensibility, or disdain by an employer becomes so unbearable on the part of the employee that it could foreclose any choice by him except to forego his continued employment.” (Reyman Minsola v. New City Builders, Inc., G.R. No. 207613, January 31, 2018)
It is said that constructive dismissal is an affront to the working class. The law recognizes and resolves this situation in favor of employees in order to protect their rights and interest from the coercive acts of the employer. (Peter Angelo Lagamayo v. Cullinan Group, Inc. G.R. No. 227718, November 11, 2021)
As constructive dismissal is a question of whether an employee acted fairly, it is inexorable that any allegation of constructive dismissal be contrasted with the validity of exercising management prerogative. (Peter Angelo Lagamayo v. Cullinan Group, Inc., Id.)
In constructive dismissal cases, the employer is, concededly, charged with the burden of proving that its conduct and action were for valid and legitimate grounds. (Cornworld Breeding Systems Corp. v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 204075, August 17, 2022)
In view of the foregoing, what acts can be considered as amounting to constructive dismissal?
In the case of Italkarat 18, Inc. v. Juraldine Gerasmio (G.R. No. 221411, September 28, 2020), the Supreme Court ruled that an act, to be considered as amounting to constructive dismissal, must be a display of utter discrimination or insensibility on the part of the employer so intense that it becomes unbearable for the employee to continue with his employment.
Further, jurisprudence says:
Acts of disdain and hostile behavior such as demotion, uttering insulting words, asking for resignation, and apathetic conduct towards an employee constitute constructive illegal dismissal. (Bayview Management Consultants, Inc. v. Pedrita Heloisa Pre, G.R. No. 220170, August 19, 2020)
What is the test of constructive dismissal?
The test for constructive dismissal is whether a reasonable person in the employee’s position would have felt compelled to give up his position under the circumstances. (Cornworld Breeding Systems Corp. v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 204075, August 17, 2022)
Related Article/s:
What is the test of constructive dismissal?
Involuntary Resignation – A Form of Constructive Dismissal
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