Separation fee entitlement

Separation fee entitlement "My services as a sales agent were terminated in July 2009 because I used the amount I collected from a client to pay the tuition fee of my son. However, I was able to pay back my employer. I worked for the company for 12 years. I did not actually sign the termination papers. Do I have the right to demand separation pay from my employer? KristineDear Kristine, Separation pay is the amount that an employee receives at the time of his severance from the service and is designed to provide the employee with the wherewithal during the period that he is looking for another employment. It is also settled that separation pay may be awarded as a measure of social justice in those instances where the employee is validly dismissed but for causes other than serious misconduct or those involving moral turpitude.An employee is entitled to separation pay only, although he was lawfully dismissed, in case the employee is dismissed from the service on the basis of any of the authorized causes enumerated in Articles 283 and 284 of the Labor Code. Article 283 (authorized causes of employment termination):1. Installation of labor-saving devices 2. Redundancy3. Retrenchment to prevent losses4. Closure or cessation of operation of the establishment or undertakingArticle 284 provides another authorized cause to terminate an employment and that is: when the employee has been found to be suffering from any disease and whose continued employment is prohibited by law or is prejudicial to his health as well as the health of his co-employees. If the termination of the employment is based on a valid ground as those enumerated in Article 282 of the Labor Code, the employee is not entitled to separation pay.“Art. 282. Termination by employer. - An employer may terminate an employment for any of the following just causes:(a) Serious misconduct or willful disobedience by the employee of the lawful orders of his employer or representative in connection with his work(b) Gross and habitual neglect by the employee of his duties(c) Fraud or willful breach by the employee of the trust reposed in him by his employer or duly authorized representative(d) Commission of a crime or offense by the employee against the person of his employer or any immediate member of his family or his duly authorized representative and(e) Other causes analogous to the foregoing.”Your employment was terminated on account of your failure to remit the amount you collected from your client in due time. This constitutes a willful breach of the trust reposed upon you by your employer. And this may have resulted in the employer’s loss of confidence in you. Thus, your dismissal from work may be considered as valid termination and this will not entitle you to receive separation pay from your employer.Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney’s Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to dearpao@manilatimes.net or via text message (key in: Times dearpao and send to 2299)." - https://www.affordablecebu.com/