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SECOND DIVISION
[G.R. No. 126230. September 18, 1997]
CARMEN ARRIETA, Petitioner, v. NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS COMMISSION, CENTRAL NEGROS ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE, INC. (CENECO) and CHRISTOPHER RIOS, Respondents.
D E C I S I O N
REGALADO, J.:
Petitioner Carmen Arrieta started in the employ of private
respondent Central Negros Cooperative, Inc. (CENECO) on January 16, 1988 as
Executive Secretary to the President and the Board of Directors, under the
cooperatives 1987 plantilla with a grade of 7-B and a basic monthly
salary of P2,360.00. 1 On
April 16, 1988, petitioner was appointed for an indefinite period to the Office
of the Board of Directors as its Executive Secretary under Grade 9 and Rank 9-B
of the same plantilla, with a basic rate of P3,325.00. 2chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary
While still enjoying the perquisites and status of an Executive
Secretary, petitioner was detailed to the Engineering Department as its
Secretary on August 28, 1989. 3 On
April 19, 1991, petitioner was upgraded to Rank 9-1 and she started receiving a
monthly salary of P4,947.00 (Basic - P3,685.00; CBA - P900.00;
Longevity - P250.00; Longevity Pay - P112.00). 4chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary
On December 18, 1991, the Board of Directors of CENECO passed
Resolution No. 5446 abolishing all positions in the 1987 plantilla and
adopting a new plantilla submitted and proposed by CENECOs Steering
Committee for Reorganization.5 The
reorganization was undertaken to streamline the cooperatives operation and to
place the employees in proper positions or groupings. The committee studied the possible reorganization of the
cooperatives staffing pattern and assignment of employees in accordance with
their educational attainment, qualifications, aptitude and competence. 6chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary
Under the new plantilla, the Office of the Board of
Directors no longer had an Executive Secretary. What was provided for the said office was a
Secretary/Stenographer with the grade of 7-9 and an Assistant Secretary with
the grade of 5-5.
Only Senior Linemen
of CENECO were eligible to petitioners former rank of 9-1 under the new
personnel setup of the cooperative. 7chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary
Pursuant to the resolution of the Board, petitioner was
permanently appointed as Secretary in the Engineering Department effective
December 1, 1991, with a new grade of 6-5 but with the same monthly rate of P4,947.00
(Basic - P3,243.80; CBA - P900.00; Longevity Pay - P250.00;
Holiday Pay - P112.00; Salary differential - P441.20). 8
The grade of 6-5 was assigned to all department secretaries of the cooperative
and had a salary scale of P4,505.80 (Basic - P3,243.80; CBA - P900.00;
Longevity Pay - P250.00; Holiday Pay - P112.00). 9chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary
Petitioner refused to accept her new grade assignment and signed
her appointment under protest. 10chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary
On January 24, 1992, she sent a letter to the General Manager of
CENECO, private respondent Christopher Rios, demanding that she be restored to
her previous position of Executive Secretary with a rank of 9-1 and a salary
rate of P3,325.00. 11chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary
As the cooperative refused to accede to her demands, petitioner filed a complaint to compel private respondents to restore her to her former position without loss of rank, grade or seniority rights.
The Labor Arbiter found for petitioner and declared private
respondents guilty of constructive dismissal.
It then directed private respondents to reinstate petitioner to her former
position or a substantially equivalent position with a salary grade of 9 and a
rank of 9-B, and further ordered them to pay petitioner salary differentials,
moral damages, exemplary damages and attorneys fees. 12chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary
When private respondents brought the case before respondent
Commission on appeal, the labor tribunal reversed the decision of the Labor
Arbiter and dismissed the complaint against private respondents upon a finding
that there was no constructive discharge. 13chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary
In the instant special civil action, petitioner reiterates her
claim before the Labor Arbiter that private respondents are guilty of
constructive dismissal because there was a reduction in her basic monthly
salary and a demotion in her rank and grade. 14chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary
She claims that while she received a monthly salary of P3,325.00
as Executive Secretary, she now receives a basic rate of only P3,243.00
under the new appointment, hence her new salary is lower by P81.20.
She contends that there is a demotion because from her previous grade of 9 and rank of 9-B as Executive Secretary, she only enjoys the pay class/step of 6-5 as Secretary of the Engineering Department. Coupled with this, petitioner avers that she was demoted from a position of dignity (Executive Secretary) to a mere servile or menial position (Department Secretary) which is unreasonable, humiliating or demeaning to say the least.
She insists that her appointment as Secretary of the Engineering
Department was carried out by private respondents as a ploy to remove her as
Executive Secretary.
She supported this
claim by pointing to Resolution No. 5619, Series of 1993, of the Board of
Directors wherein the grade of Secretary in the Office of the Board of
Directors was upgraded to 9-B from 7-9 and the grades of Secretary in the
Office of the General Manager and Assistant Secretary in the Office of the
Board of Directors to 6-5 from 5-5 effective March 10, 1993. 15chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary
Being a regular employee, petitioner is of the view that she had already acquired a vested right to the position of Executive Secretary, together with its corresponding grade, rank and salary, which cannot be impaired by the 1991 reorganization of CENECO.
Unfortunately for her, petitioners claims fall in light of the validity and legitimacy of the management prerogatives exercised by private respondents.
Much has been said about petitioners transfer in position but the fact that petitioners former position had been abolished has not been stressed or amply discussed by the parties. Our considered view is that what actually transpired in petitioners case is a new appointment in her employment brought about by the reorganization of the cooperative, and not a mere transfer of work assignment.
In Aurelio vs. National Labor Relations Commission, et al., 16 we upheld the power of the board of directors of a corporation to implement a reorganization, including the abolition of various positions, as implied or incidental to its power to conduct the regular business affairs of the corporation. In recognition of the right of management to conduct its own business affairs in achieving its purposes, we declared that management is at liberty, absent any malice on its part, to abolish positions which it deems no longer necessary.
This Court, absent any finding of bad faith on the part of
management, will not deny it the right to such initiative simply to protect the
person holding that office.
In other
words, where there is nothing that would indicate that an employees position
was abolished to ease him out of employment, the deletion of that position should
be accepted as a valid exercise of management prerogative. 17chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary
In the instant case, there is nothing in the record to indicate that the abolition of the position of Executive Secretary and petitioners subsequent appointment to the Engineering Department was adopted by private respondents to force her out of employment. We cannot find any arbitrary act on the part of private respondents that is so unbearable or oppressive as to leave petitioner with no alternative but to give up her employment.
No ill will can be ascribed to private respondents as all the positions specified in the old plantilla were abolished and all other employees were given new appointments. 18 In short, petitioner was not singled out. She was not the only employee affected by the reorganization. The reorganization was fair to petitioner, if not to all of the employees of CENECO.
It should be remembered that petitioners new appointment was made as a result of valid organizational changes. A thorough review of both the indispensable and the unessential positions was undertaken by a committee, specifically formed for this purpose, before the Board of Directors abolished all the positions. Based on the qualifications and aptitude of petitioner, the committee and, subsequently, private respondents, deemed it best to appoint petitioner as Secretary of the Engineering Department. We cannot meddle in such a decision lest we interfere with the private respondents right to independently control and manage their operations absent any unfair or inequitable acts.
If the purpose of a reorganization is to be achieved, changes in the positions and rankings of the employees should be expected. To insist on ones old position and ranking after a reorganization would render such endeavor ineffectual. Here, to compel private respondents to give petitioner her old ranking would deprive them of their right to adopt changes in the cooperatives personnel structure as proposed by the Steering Committee.
Nor can we subscribe to petitioners position that the reorganization of the entire personnel force of CENECO, consisting of 426 employees, was aimed at her removal. It is hard to accept the claim that private respondents would go through all the expenditure and effort incidental and necessary to a reorganization just to dismiss a single employee whom they no longer deem desirable.
The subsequent upgrading of the pay class of the Board of Directors Secretary and Assistant Secretary and of the General Managers Secretary may not even be invoked by petitioner in her favor. She cannot be said to have been discriminated against vis-a-vis the three employees because the upgrading of their positions was made two years after the 1991 reorganization.
Petitioners appointment to the position of Executive Secretary
does not give her such a right to her old position as would deprive CENECO of
its prerogative to carry out a reorganization and abolish positions considered
unnecessary. As we have held, security of tenure, while constitutionally
guaranteed, cannot be used to deprive an employer of its prerogatives under the
law. 19Even
if the law is solicitous of the welfare of the employees, it must also protect
the right of an employer to exercise what are clearly management prerogatives. 20chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary
Petitioner failed to show that she was disgraced by her appointment to her new position. No evidence was presented to indicate how the appointment to the Engineering Department caused humiliation to petitioner. Her new position involves duties and functions similar to those of her old position. As Engineering Department Secretary, she is still required to apply the capabilities and skills she possessed when she was employed as Executive Secretary.
The fact that other department secretaries did not complain about the nature of their job negates the empty claim of petitioner that the Engineering Department Secretarys task is servile or menial. For asseverations like these, we are inclined to say that there are no menial jobs, only menial attitudes.
Although a company reorganization may be utilized to drive an employee out of his work, 21 we cannot declare in the case at bar that private respondents were guilty of constructive dismissal. As laid down in the authoritative case of Philippine Japan Active Carbon Corporation vs. National Labor Relations Commission, et al., 22 a constructive discharge is defined as: A quitting because continued employment is rendered impossible, unreasonable or unlikely; as, an offer involving a demotion in rank and a diminution in pay.
Whether we take the term pay to be inclusive of fringe benefits regularly and continuously received by an employee or as exclusive of such monetary benefits, we would arrive at the same conclusion that there was no decrease in petitioners salary.
With respect to the first concept of pay, it is clear that
petitioners last basic salary rate of P4,947.00 prior to the
reorganization was maintained in her new monthly salary.
She still receives the same regular salary
even after the adoption of the new plantilla as indicated in her new
appointment.
To maintain her previous
salary, the cooperative gave her salary differentials unlike the other
department secretaries.
As regards the second concept, any difference in petitioners new
basic pay was adequately compensated for by the differential pay provided in
her new appointment in the amount of P441.20. This grant of monthly differential by the cooperative is more
than the additional P81.20 petitioner is asking for.
But this is not the actual situation.
Petitioner seems to be suppressing the
salary adjustment made on April 19, 1991 before CENECOs reorganization whereby
she received a basic salary of P3,685.00. Hence, with a regular base pay of P3,243.80 under the new plantilla
of CENECO, petitioner continued to receive the same and exact basic rate of P3,685.00
(P3,243.80 + P441.80), no more, no less.
Petitioners assertion that she was demoted in rank is unmeritorious. Her alleged demotion from the rank of 9-B (actually 9-1) to rank 6-5 is only a demotion in numbers or nomenclature. Petitioner may not compare the two different ranks with each other as they belong to two different plantillas which have different sets of salary allocations for each itemized positions. Hence, a lower grade or rank in the 1991 plantilla, as compared to the 1987 plantilla, may not necessarily mean a demotion, in the same manner that a designation of a higher number, say 11, will not operate as a promotion with respect to an employee assigned to such grade or rank.
Finally, we find it hard to grant petitioners claims on the
basis of her indefinite, if not absurd, demands. She asks for the impossible in insisting that she be appointed as
Executive Secretary with a grade of 9, rank of 9-B and a salary of P3,325.00.
The fact that the title of Executive Secretary to the Board of
Directors no longer exists as an itemized position in the new plantilla
is not disputed.
And while the grade of
9-B was carried over into the new plantilla, such grade does not anymore
have the corresponding salary rate of P3,325.00.
To order private respondents to appoint
petitioner to a position with a grade of 9-B, as prayed for, would not only
cause conflicts and confusion in the implementation of the new plantilla
but also enable petitioner to get more than the P3,325.00 she is asking
for.
We decline to consider the decisions cited by petitioner because they involve the application of civil service laws and rules to government employees, which petitioner is not.
WHEREFORE, the instant petition is hereby DISMISSED and the assailed judgment of respondent National Labor Relations Commission is AFFIRMED.
SO ORDERED.
Puno, Mendoza and Torres, Jr., JJ., concur.
Endnotes:
1 Rollo, 117.
2 Ibid., 26.
3 Ibid., 5.
4 Ibid., 117.
5 Ibid., 42.
6 Ibid., 118.
7 Ibid., 121.
8 Ibid., 154, back page.
9 Ibid., 122.
10 Ibid., 35.
11 Ibid., 30.
12 Ibid., 49-50.
13 Ibid., 78-88.
14 Ibid., 12.
15 Ibid., 155.
16 G.R. No. 99034, April 12, 1993, 221 SCRA 432.
17 Great Pacific Life Assurance Corporation v. NLRC, et al., G.R. No. 88011, July 30, 1990, 188 SCRA 139.
18 Rollo, 130.
19 See Pea, et al. v. NLRC, et al., G.R. No. 100629, July 5, 1996, 258 SCRA 65.
20 See Yap v. Inciong, etc., et al., G.R.No. 51314, June 21, 1990, 186 SCRA 664.
21 See Philippine Advertising Counselors, Inc. v. NLRC, et. al., G.R. No. 20008, October 18, 1996.
22 G.R. No. 83239, March 8, 1989, 171 SCRA 164.