Insurance firm ordered to reinstate former executive

CEBU, Philippines - A Manila-based insurance company was ordered by the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) in Cebu City to reinstate a financial executive that they illegally terminated last year.

Labor arbiter Emiliano Tiongco, Jr. also ordered Phil Axa Life Insurance Corporation to pay Rafael Enriquez of his unpaid salary amounting to P18,825 and his 13th month pay.

The insurance company dismissed Enriquez on May 21, 2010 without any legal basis prompting the labor court to order his reinstatement. The reinstatement order from NLRC was issued on January 5 but the company allegedly failed to comply with the order until yesterday afternoon.

Benedict Cortez, one of the managers of the insurance firm, refused to talk about the case when The FREEMAN reached him for comment.

The insurance firm however still has the right to file a motion for reconsideration on the arbiter’s ruling.

Enriquez told The FREEMAN that his former employer offered him an additional one month salary on top of the amount ordered by the NLRC as amicable settlement on condition that he will no longer work with them.

Enriquez was terminated from his employment last year after the management discovered discrepancies in his daily time record compared to the logbook of the company’s security guard at the entrance.

Enriquez explained that the company’s previous policy was that, financial executives who are assigned in banks are not required to have daily time records due to the nature of their jobs, but it was changed when a new manager assumed.

He was investigated and later ordered terminated for allegedly “falsifying company records.”

“While the arbitration branch agrees that complainant deserves to be penalized, respondents should not turn a blind eye on his commendable performance as a financial executive whose main function is to generate sales,” the NLRC ruling reads.

The labor arbiter said “the employer’s prerogative to discipline its employee must be exercised without abuse or discretion. Its implementation should be tempered with compassion and understanding,” Tiongco said.

Enriquez used to be an outstanding financial executive of the firm and was even a recipient of commendations in the past. (FREEMAN)