G.R. No. 199683 February 10, 2016
Arlene T. Samonte, Vladimir P. Samonte, Ma. Aurea S. Elepano, Petitioners, vs. La Salle Greenhills, Inc., Bro. Bernard S. Oca, Respondents.

FACTS

Petitioners, medical professionals, were engaged by respondent La Salle Greenhills, Inc. (LSGI) for fifteen consecutive school years, from 1989 to 2004, to comprise its Health Service Team. Each year, they signed uniform “Contracts of Retainer” explicitly covering a fixed academic period, from June 1 to March 31 of the following year. The contracts stated they were “temporary in character” and would automatically cease on the specified expiration date. On March 31, 2004, LSGI informed petitioners their contracts would not be renewed for the next school year, as the school decided to hire full-time doctors and dentists instead. Their requests for separation pay were denied, prompting them to file a complaint for illegal dismissal.
Petitioners argued they were regular employees, citing their continuous service for fifteen years, receipt of fixed monthly salaries, 13th-month pay, discretionary annual salary increases, and performance bonuses. They performed duties beyond their scheduled hours, were on call, attended staff meetings, participated in school activities, and helped formulate health service policies. LSGI maintained petitioners were fixed-term employees whose engagements ended by the contract’s natural expiration, not by dismissal.

ISSUE

Whether petitioners were regular employees entitled to security of tenure, or merely fixed-term employees whose engagements legally terminated upon contract expiration.

RULING

The Supreme Court ruled petitioners were regular employees illegally dismissed. The legal logic hinges on the nature of their duties and the length of their engagement. While the contracts were labeled as fixed-term, the determinative factor for regular employment is whether the employee has been engaged to perform activities usually necessary or desirable in the employer’s usual business or trade. The provision of health services is integral to the operation of an educational institution like LSGI, making such duties necessary and desirable in its business.
The repeated renewal of their contracts for fifteen consecutive years demonstrates that their services were indispensable and continuous, not merely for a specific undertaking with a predetermined end. This longevity belied the “temporary” character stated in the contracts and indicated that their employment had attained a permanent status. Security of tenure cannot be circumvented by the simple expedient of drafting fixed-term contracts for work that is, in reality, regular and permanent. Consequently, their termination, based solely on the non-renewal of their contracts without just or authorized cause and without due process, constituted illegal dismissal. The Court ordered the remand of the case to the NLRC for the computation of their separation pay and full back wages.