Photo from Unsplash | Mert Çetin
The following post does not create a lawyer-client relationship between Alburo Alburo and Associates Law Offices (or any of its lawyers) and the reader. It is still best for you to engage the services of a lawyer or you may directly contact and consult Alburo Alburo and Associates Law Offices to address your specific legal concerns, if there is any.
Also, the matters contained in the following were written in accordance with the law, rules, and jurisprudence prevailing at the time of writing and posting, and do not include any future developments on the subject matter under discussion.
AT A GLANCE:
An employer safeguards itself from further harm or losses that may be further caused by the erring employee by placing said employee on preventive suspension.
The pertinent provision regarding preventive suspension is Sections 8 and 9 of Rule XXIII, Book V of the Omnibus Rules Implementing the Labor Code (Omnibus Rules), as amended by Department Order No. 9, Series of 1997, viz.:
Section 8. Preventive suspension.— The employer may place the worker concerned under preventive suspension if his continued employment poses a serious and imminent threat to the life or property of the employer or of his co-workers.
Section 9. Period of suspension. — No preventive suspension shall last longer that thirty (30) days. The employer shall thereafter reinstate the workers in his former or in a substantially equivalent position or the employer may extend the period of suspension provided that during the period of extension, he pays the wages and other benefits due to the worker. In such case, the worker shall not be bound to reimburse the amount paid to him during the extension if the employer decides, after completion of the hearing, to dismiss the worker.
Through preventive suspension, an employer safeguards itself from further harm or losses that may be further caused by the erring employee.
Preventive suspension is a disciplinary measure for the protection of the company’s property pending investigation of any alleged malfeasance or misfeasance committed by the employee. The employer may place the worker concerned under preventive suspension if his continued employment poses a serious and imminent threat to the life or property of the employer or of his co-workers. (G.R. No. 146779, January 23, 2006)
In Lagamayo v. Cullinan Group, Inc. (G.R. No. 227718, November 11, 2021) the Supreme Court held that the right of employers to place their employees under preventive suspension emanates from their power to discipline them in the exercise of their management prerogative. Nonetheless, the law imposes the following conditions to safeguard the employees’ welfare: first, the employer must prove that the employee’s continued employment poses a serious and imminent threat to the employer’s or co-workers’ life or property; and second, the employee’s period of preventive suspension should not exceed 30 days, otherwise, it is incumbent upon the employer to reinstate the employee, whether in the same position or in the payroll. When justified, the preventively suspended employee is not entitled to the payment of his [or her] salaries and benefits for the period of suspension.
Click here to subscribe to our newsletter
Alburo Alburo and Associates Law Offices specializes in business law and labor law consulting. For inquiries regarding legal services, you may reach us at info@alburolaw.com, or dial us at (02)7745-4391/ 09175772207/ 09778050020.
All rights reserved.