This case has been cited 2 times or more.
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2006-09-19 |
CHICO-NAZARIO, J. |
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| The respondents, as checkers, were employed to check and inspect these cargoes,[28] a task which is clearly necessary for the petitioner's business of forwarding and distributing of cargoes. The petitioner did not dispute the fact that the respondents were hired as checkers as early as 1992. The fact that they were employed before the Written Contract of Services took effect on 24 February 1994, and continued with their jobs until 1996, after the said contract had already expired on 24 February 1995,[29] indicates that the respondents' work was indeed necessary for the petitioner's business. In a similar case, Guarin v. National Labor Relations Commission,[30] the workers' contracts were repeatedly renewed to perform services necessary for the employer's business. Thus, the Court described the arrangement as "labor-only" contracting:The jobs assigned to the petitioners as mechanics, janitors, gardeners, firemen and grasscutters were directly related to the business of Novelty as a garment manufacturer. In the case of Philippine Bank of Communications vs. NLRC, 146 SCRA 347, we ruled that the work of a messenger is directly related to a bank's operations. In its Comment, Novelty contends that the services which are directly related to manufacturing garments are sewing, textile cutting, designs, dying, quality control, personnel, administration, accounting, finance, customs, delivery and similar other activities; and that allegedly, "it is only by stretching the imagination that one may conclude that the services of janitors, janitresses, firemen, grasscutters, mechanics and helpers are directly related to the business of manufacturing garments" (p. 78, Rollo). Not so, for the work of gardeners in maintaining clean and well-kept grounds around the factory, mechanics to keep the machines functioning properly, and firemen to look out for fires, are directly related to the daily operations of a garment factory. That fact is confirmed by Novelty's rehiring the workers or renewing the contract with Lipercon every year from 1983 to 1986, a period of three (3) years. | |||||
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2001-12-20 |
BELLOSILLO, J. |
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| Applying the foregoing provisions, the Court finds Top-Flite to be a "labor-only" contractor, a mere supplier of labor to CAMARA STEEL, the real employer. Other than its open declaration that it is an independent contractor, no substantial evidence was adduced by Top-Flite to back up its claim. Its revelation that it provided a sweeper to petitioner would not suffice to convince this Court that it possesses adequate capitalization to undertake an independent business.[12] Neither will the submission prosper that De los Santos did not perform a task directly related to the principal business of respondent CAMARA STELL. As early as in Guarin v. NLRC[13] we ruled that "the jobs assigned to the petitioners as mechanics, janitors, gardeners, firemen and grasscutters were directly related to the business of Novelty as a garment manufacturer," reasoning that "for the work of gardeners in maintaining clean and well-kept grounds around the factory, mechanics to keep the machines functioning properly, and firemen to look out for fires, are directly related to the daily operations of a garment factory." | |||||