G.R. No. 267379 - ANDREI SAGARINO, NICHOLETTE SAGARINO, VS. TOPLIS SOLUTIONS, INC.. - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, premises considered, the appeal is hereby DISMISSED. Accordingly, the Decision[,] dated [December 9, 2019,] is hereby MODIFIED as follows: 1. Complainant was constructively dismissed on [February 10, 2020] and not actually illegally dismissed from employment upon her pull out from respondent Azalea Hotels and Residences on [August 10, 2019]; 2. The provisional computation of complainant's backwages shall commence only on [February 10, 2020]; 3. The awards of backwages and separation pay shall be computed up to the finality of this Decision; 4. The computation of attorney's fees is hereby adjusted considering that complainant's constructive dismissal from employment took effect only on [February 10, 2020]; and 5. Our provisional computation up to [June 30, 2020] entitles the complainant not to the awards granted by the Office of the Labor Arbiter, but to the following: Awards Amounts 1. Full backwages 1.1. Monthly Basic Wage 1.2. Proportionate 13 th Month Pay [PHP] 76 , 375.00 [PHP] 70,500.00 [PHP] 5 , 875 . 00 2. Separation Pay [PHPl 15 , 000.00 SUB- TOTAL [PHP] 167,750.00 3. Attorney's Fees PHP116 , 775.00 Equivalent to [10%] of the total award. GRAND TOTAL [PHP] 184,525.00 6. Respondent Toplis Solutions, Inc. is solely liable to pay complainant the foregoing awards. SO ORDERED . [61] (Emphasis in the original) TSI filed a Motion for Reconsideration, [62] which the NLRC denied in its Resolution, [63] dated December 29, 2020. [64] On September 24, 2021, the NLRC issued an Entry of Judgment, [65] providing that the Decision of the Commission had become final and executory on March 2, 2021. [66] Undeterred, TSI elevated the case, by way of a Petition for Certiorari [67] via Rule 65 of the Rules of Court, to the CA, arguing that the NLRC committed a capricious and whimsical exercise of judgment: (1) in declaring that Andrei was constructively dismissed on February 10, 2020 and not actually illegally dismissed from employment upon her pull out from Azalea on August 10, 2019; (2) in awarding full backwages and separation pay to Andrei; and (3) in ordering TSI to pay attorney's fees. [68] The Ruling of the CA The CA, in its Decision, [69] dated July 29, 2022, agreed that Andrei was hired as a regular employee of TSI. [70] While the employment agreement indicated that Andrei was on "probationary employment," there was nothing in the records that proved that she was apprised of the reasonable standards by which her probationary employment was to be assessed. [71] Neither was there any showing that TSI exerted efforts to inform Andrei of such standards that would qualify her for regularization. [72] The CA, however, disagreed with the NLRC's conclusion that Andrei was constructively dismissed. [73] The CA found that the evidence showed that Andrei was not dismissed but was instead placed on floating status, as clearly stated in the "Notice of Pull Out" issued by TSI. [74] The CA emphasized that the law allows employers to place its employees on