Why do many employers often lose their labor cases?

FIPE, PIERCE, WASHINGTON – I am attending a conference of lawyers handling labor cases in countries in the Pacific Basin. After I am asked to read a paper on the labor relations situation in our country I tell them out of every 100 labor cases in the Philippines, employers lose more than 80 of them. Why?

In the last twelve months, I have been asked to file appeals. Most of these cases were handled by other lawyers before the regional offices and the NLRC regional branches. Because of our strict adherence to legal ethics, I would refuse to accept such cases unless and until the original lawyers withdraw from handling it. I am often asked by the clients why they lost in the first place. Many employers, businessmen, management teams, and HR managers don’t really know why.

I frankly tell them of the many factors and I am qualified to give as former Labor arbiter and DOLE undersecretary. I wrote thousands of decisions where management lost cases. First, there are companies that really deserve to lose. They violated laws on labor standards and relations, committed illegal dismissal, unfair labor practices, and didn’t pay wages and benefits. When there are clear violations, I advise clients to be open to compromise and voluntary settlements. I don’t mind losing attorney’s fees rather than giving them false hope just to prolong the case.

Another cause is some employers and their managers don’t keep records and handle documents correctly. They don’t even know how to prepare an employment contract, incident report, or a written order to explain. They don’t keep a simple logbook where are three P’s: Petsa, Pirma, and Pahina. Their incident reports don’t have seven W’s: What Happened, Who is involved, Where did it happened, When did it happened, HoW did it happen, HoW much is the loss or damage suffered by the company, and Witnesses. Most managers don’t know how to apply all the steps in due process.

Another reason for losing a case is because management failed to file position papers, or lost their documentary evidence and thus were unable to produce proof. We know very well that in labor cases, the burden of proof is on the employers, the respondent. The most unfortunate factor in losing cases is the wrong choice of lawyers. If you have a labor case, you cannot rely on your civil or tax lawyer. It is like having a cardio medical problem and you engage an OB-Gyne to handle it. Law is highly specialized, you cannot and should not rely on general practitioners. You should insist on a specialist with at least ten years of solid experience, and with decent but close connections to DOLE and NLRC.

Other causes for losing range from lack of merit, lack of evidence, default, and the wrong lawyer for the right case. Management should know how to avoid losing labor cases. They have to consult experts. They cannot rely on the inexperienced novatus and, above all, they cannot leave their cases to the uncertain twists of destiny. Handling a labor case is both a science and an art. It cannot depend on tarot cards or feng shui. Let the experts do it. I am trying to compare our situation with those in other Pacific Basin economies.