THE EMPLOYMENT status of the people behind the cameras that enable TV stations to air news reports and other stories was resolved recently by the Supreme Court.
In 1996, Nelson Begino and Gener Del Valle were employed by ABS-CBN Corp., through its Regional Network Group in Naga City, as cameramen/editors for TV broadcasting.
Within the same year and in 2002, ABS-CBN also engaged the services of Ma. Cristina Sumayao and Monina Avila-Lorin as reporters.
Their engagements were covered by Talent Contracts that stipulated employment periods from three months to one year and were regularly renewed over the years.
They were given Project Assignment Forms that described the duration of a particular project, its budget and technical requirements.
Although their contracts stated that “nothing therein shall be deemed or construed to establish an employer-employee relationship between the parties,” they had to perform their work in accordance with ABS-CBN’s professional standards, and were barred from engaging in similar work for a person or entity directly in competition with or adverse to the interests of ABS-CBN or promoting any product or service without its prior written consent.
Their remuneration was described as talent fees and deducted a contractor’s tax.
Complaint
Claiming regular employee status, they filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) against the company for regularization, underpayment of overtime pay, holiday pay, 13th month pay, service incentive leave pay and damages.
They said they worked under the direct control and supervision of ABS-CBN’s manager in Naga City who, at the end of each day, informed them “about the news to be covered the following day, the routes they were to take and, whenever the subject of their news coverage is quite distant, even the start of their workday.”
The company countered that the complainants were independent contractors, or talents, who informed ABS-CBN of their availability and were required to accomplish Talent Information Forms to facilitate their engagement on designated project days.
The company also stated that, since they were engaged on the basis of their skills or expertise, the degree of control it exercised on them was “limited to the imposition of general guidelines on conduct and performance, simply for the purpose of upholding the standards of the company and the strictures of the industry.
While the complaint was pending, ABS-CBN terminated their employment.
Reinstatement
The labor arbiter ruled in favor of the complainants and ordered ABS-CBN to recognize them as regular employees, reinstate them to their former positions and pay them some P2.4 million in unpaid wages and other money claims.
The company appealed the award to the NLRC en banc. The latter dismissed the appeal.
Unfazed, ABS-CBN sought relief from the Court of Appeals.
This time, the appellate court ruled in its favor. The court said the complainants were engaged as talents for periods, work and programs specified in the Talent Contracts and Project Assignment Forms, and were paid talent fees, instead of fixed salaries, depending on the budget allocated to the project assigned to them.
Besides, “the existence of an employer-employee relationship is not necessarily established by the exclusivity clause and prohibitions which are but terms and conditions on which the parties are allowed to freely stipulate.”
Dissatisfied with this ruling, the complainants elevated the case to the Supreme Court.
The case was docketed as “Nelson V. Begino, Gener Del Valle, Monina Avila-Llorin and Ma. Cristina Sumayao vs ABS-CBN Corporation (formerly ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation) and Amalia Villafuerte,” G.R. No. 199166, dated April 20, 2015.
Connection
At the outset, the tribunal laid down the test to be used in determining whether an employment is regular or not: Is there a reasonable connection between the activity performed by the employee in relation to the business or trade of the employer?
Based on the evidence presented, the justices ruled that the complainants performed functions that were necessary and essential to ABS-CBN’s business of broadcasting television and radio content.
It was immaterial their services were engaged for specific periods to sustain the company’s TV Patrol Bicol newscast and that they were paid according to the budget allocated for the program.
The fact remains that, from their initial engagement as cameramen, editors and reporters, they were continuously re-hired by the company over the years.
The tribunal said “if the employee has been performing the job for at least one year, even if the performance is not continuous or merely intermittent, the law deems the repeated or continuing performance as sufficient evidence of the necessity, if not indispensability of that activity in the business.”
On the issue of control and supervision over the employee’s work, which is critical in determining the existence of employer-employee relationship, the justices said the company’s own rules validated the employees’ claim.
They were required to attend and participate in all promotional campaigns of their assigned programs, and to perform their functions at the locations and in accordance with the schedules set by the company.
In the tribunal’s estimation, these rules and other requirements show the company exercised control not only over the results of the complainants’ work but also the means employed to achieve them.
For these reasons, the tribunal upheld the ruling of the NLRC that the complainants are regular employees of ABS-CBN, not independent contractors or talents, and therefore entitled to all the rights and benefits that accrue to that status.
One final note. Although the decision is directed to ABS-CBN, its effects apply squarely to similarly situated “talents” in other radio and TV stations. For comments, please send your e-mail to “rpalabrica@inquirer.com.ph.”