G.R. No. 154448 - DR. PEDRITO F. REYES, VS. COURT OF APPEALS, PHIL. MALAY POULTRY BREEDERS, INC. AND LEONG HUP POULTRY FARM SDN, BHD., MR. FRANCIS T.N. LAU, PRESIDENT AND CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD AND MR. CHOR TEE LIM, DIRECTOR.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

Accordingly, the awards of 15-day sick leave and 15-day vacation leave for every year of service must be computed using 8 years as its basis. Finally, the award of attorney's fees must also be modified. In Traders Royal Bank Employees Union-Independent v. National Labor Relations Commission , [32] it was held that there are two commonly accepted concepts of attorney's fees, the so-called ordinary and extraordinary. In its ordinary concept, an attorney's fee is the reasonable compensation paid to a lawyer by his client for the legal services he has rendered to the latter. The basis of this compensation is the fact of his employment by and his agreement with the client. In its extraordinary concept, attorney's fees are deemed indemnity for damages ordered by the court to be paid by the losing party in a litigation. The instances where these may be awarded are those enumerated in Article 2208 of the Civil Code, specifically par. 7 thereof which pertains to actions for recovery of wages, and is payable not to the lawyer but to the client, unless they have agreed that the award shall pertain to the lawyer as additional compensation or as part thereof. The extraordinary concept of attorney's fees is the one contemplated in Article 111 of the Labor Code, which provides: Art. 111. Attorney's fees . - (a) In cases of unlawful withholding of wages, the culpable party may be assessed attorney's fees equivalent to ten percent of the amount of wages recovered... The afore-quoted Article 111 is an exception to the declared policy of strict construction in the awarding of attorney's fees. Although an express finding of facts and law is still necessary to prove the merit of the award, there need not be any showing that the employer acted maliciously or in bad faith when it withheld the wages. There need only be a showing that the lawful wages were not paid accordingly, as in this case. [33] In carrying out and interpreting the Labor Code's provisions and its implementing regulations, the employee's welfare should be the primordial and paramount consideration. This kind of interpretation gives meaning and substance to the liberal and compassionate spirit of the law as provided in Article 4 of the Labor Code which states that "[a]ll doubts in the implementation and interpretation of the provisions of [the Labor] Code including its implementing rules and regulations, shall be resolved in favor of labor", and Article 1702 of the Civil Code which provides that "[i]n case of doubt, all labor legislation and all labor contracts shall be construed in favor of the safety and decent living for the laborer." [34] In the case at bar, what was withheld from petitioner was not only his salary, vacation and sick leave pay, and 13 th month pay differential, but also his separation pay. Hence, pursuant to current jurisprudence, separation pay must be included in the basis for the computation of attorney's fees. Petitioner is entitled to attorney's fees equivalent to 10% of his t