Dear Atty. Kathy,
I started working for Company X in January 2022. We did not have a signed employment contract when I started working, but I would get payslips every payday on the 15th and 30th of the month.
Then, in June 2022, Company X issued a probationary employment contract to me starting on the same date it was given to me, which contained the same salary I have been receiving since January 2022, and nothing else.
In August 2022, since company policy provides that I am entitled to certain leave benefits after my regularization, I applied for a leave, but was denied approval. The HR Officer said I was not qualified for the leave benefit since I was not yet a regular employee and was only on my 2nd month of probationary employment. Is the HR Officer correct?
Maeve
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Dear Maeve,
Based solely on your narration, I gathered that on your 5th month of employment, Company X issued the probationary employment contract to you, which only indicated your probationary employment status and the same salary you have been receiving since you started working for Company X in January 2022.
This development in your employment presupposes that you were already working for Company X and that you were not just a newly hired employee when you were issued a probationary employment contract.
I also note that you have payslips from the time you started working for Company X in January 2022, which preceded the issuance of your June 2022 probationary employment contract.
The payslips and the content of your probationary employment contract support your position that you were employed earlier than June 2022 when the probationary employment contract was issued to you, and by August 2022 have become a regular employee of Company X.
Assuming that you were employed as a probationary employee only in June 2022, there is no evidence that Company X set forth reasonable standards for your regularization at the time of your engagement. I note again that your probationary employment contract only indicated your employment status and salary and did not mention any terms and conditions as qualification for your regularization.
In probationary employment, it is indispensable that the employer informs the employee at the time of engagement of the reasonable standards by which he or she will be evaluated for regularization.
In case the employer fails to comply with this requirement, the employee shall be deemed a regular employee.
The absence of any clear standards set forth and communicated by Company X to you at the inception of your supposed probationary employment proves that you are a regular employee of Company X.
Therefore, subject to the provisions of the policy on the leave benefit, since you are already deemed a regular employee in August 2022, you should be qualified for said leave benefit.
(Adstratworld Holdings Inc., et al. vs Chona A. Magallones, et al., G.R. 233679, 6 July 2022)
Atty. Kathy Larios