SEPARATION FROM SERVICE

 

Depending on the grounds and terms of separation from service, employees will be admitted to the following procedure before their official exit from the institution.  

 

·         Completion of Clearance

·         Completion of Exit Interview Form

 

Retirement

 

Retirement age for all ESS employees is 60 years old. Upon retirement of an employee, his services maybe continued or extended on a case-to-case basis upon the agreement of the employee and the ESS management.

 

Forced retirement shall be imposed on the 65th birthday of the employee as per government directive.

 

An employee who has served the school for more than five (5) years upon retirement is entitled to receive retirement pay (for computation, please see Chapter VI).

 

 

Resignation

 

Faculty

 

Resignation from service maybe filed through the Letter of Intent at the end of the school year together with a corresponding resignation letter. In case a teacher or non-teaching faculty terminates or abandons his responsibilities during the effectivity of the contract, he shall be liable for liquidated damages. However, if such termination is caused by disability due to serious illness and similar causes, the employee maybe allowed resigning from his job without penalty.  

 

Staff and Assistant

 

Staff employees may file for their resignation within any desired period. Resignation on the other hand must be filed at least 30 days before effectivity for replacement and turn-over considerations.

 

The inability of the staff employee to complete the prescribed period of notice may cause withholding of assets and last pay until a completed clearance is issued by the same.

 

 

Non-Renewal of Contract

 

Probationary employees generally enjoy security of tenure in the sense that during their probationary employment they cannot be dismissed except for just and authorized causes and after due process.  However, upon the expiration of the contract of employment, probationary employees cannot claim security of tenure and compel the school to renew their employment contracts.  (MRPS, p. 465)

 

Probationary employees with poor performance evaluation results or any pending case maybe subject to a non-renewal of contract.

 

 

Termination

 

Elizabeth Seton School reserves the right to dismiss its erring employees if only as a measure of self-protection against acts inimical to its interest.

 

Concededly, as the Labor Code suggests, the employer’s right to freely select or discharge his employees is subject to regulation by the state basically in the exercise of its paramount police power. But the employer cannot be legally compelled to continue with the employment of a person who admittedly is guilty of misfeasance (Improper and unlawful execution of an act that in itself is lawful and proper) towards his employer and whose continuance in the service of the latter is patently unfavorable to his interest.  

 

Elizabeth Seton School may terminate an employee for any of the following just causes after due process and deliberation based on accounts of Atty. Caesar Asuzena:   

 

1.     Serious misconduct or willful disobedience by the employee of the lawful orders of his employer or representative in connection with this work;

 

“Misconduct is the display of improper or wrong conduct. It is the transgression of some established and definite rule of action, a forbidden act, a dereliction of duty, willful in character, and implies wrongful intent and not mere error in judgment. The misconduct to be serious within the meaning of the Act must be of such grave and aggravated character and not merely trivial or unimportant. Such misconduct, however serious, must, nevertheless, be in connection with the employee’s work to constitute just cause for his separation.”

 

2.     Gross and habitual neglect by the employee of his duties;

 

“Gross neglect means an absence of that diligence that an ordinary sensible man would use in his own affairs. In order to constitute just cause for the employee’s dismissal, the neglect of duties must not only be gross but also habitual.”

 

“To justify the dismissal of an employee for neglect of duties, however, it does not seem necessary that the employer show that he has incurred actual loss, damage, or prejudice by reason of the employees conduct. It is sufficient that the gross and habitual neglect by the employee of his duties tend to prejudice the employer’s interest since it would be unreasonable to require the employer to wait until he is materially injured before removing the cause of the impending evil.”

 

Abandonment, a form of neglect of duty, is constituted by a clear and deliberate intent to discontinue one’s employment without any intention of returning back. An employee maybe dismissed on the ground of abandonment or negligence of duty where said employee had been absent for a period of one year and the prolonged absence from work was not without any valid notice or leave from the company, and said absence is not by reason of any illness or disease.

 

“Generally tardiness and absenteeism, like abandonment is a form of neglect of duty according to the Labor Code.”

 

 

3.     Fraud or willful breach by the employee of the trust reposed in him by his employer or his duly authorized representative;

 

“Fraud is defined as any act, omission, or concealment which involves a breach of legal duty, trust, or confidence justly reposed and is injurious to another. To constitute a just cause for termination, the fraud must be committed against the employer or representative and in connection with the employee’s work. Furthermore, fraud implies willfulness or wrongful intent, the innocent non-disclosure of facts by the employee to the employer will not constitute a just cause for the dismissal of the employee unless the non-disclosure of information may lead to the loss or impairment of the employer.” 

 

 

4.     Commission of a crime or offense by the employee against the person of his employer or any immediate member of his family or his duly authorized representative;

 

“The immediate members of the family referred to are limited to spouse, ascendants, descendants, or legitimate, natural or adopted brothers and sisters of the employer or his relative by affinity in the same degrees and those by consanguinity with the fourth civil degree.”

 

5.     Other causes analogous to the foregoing.

 

“The determination of whether the cause for terminating employment is analogous to any of those enumerated in Art. 282 of the Labor Code will depend on the circumstances of each case.

 

To be considered analogous to the just causes enumerated, however, a cause must be due to the voluntary and/or willful act or omission of the employee.”


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