Case: JOSERIZAL COLLEGE v. NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS G.R. No.

L-65482
COMMISSION AND NATIONAL ALLIANCE OF
TEACHERS/OFFICE WORKERS

Date: 01 Dec 1987 Ponente: J. Paras

TOPIC IN SYLLABUS: HOLIDAYS AND SERVICE INCENTIVE LEAVE (SIL)

SUMMARY: JRCs faculty members, per their teaching contracts, are paid by the hour on a class schedule. They
claimed unpaid holiday pay. JRC denied liability, arguing that regular holidays are NOT included in the class
schedule. Since no work is expected and rendered on such days, the faculty members are not entitled to holiday
pay. HELD: Faculty members are not entitled to regular holiday pay BUT are entitled to SPECIAL holiday pay.
REGULAR HOLIDAYS foreseen and are not included in the class schedule; when the faculty members sign their
teaching contracts, they know that they will NOT render work on such regular holidays. SPECIAL HOLIDAYS not
foreseen; faculty members expect to work on such days but due to declaration of special holiday, they are forced to
take a rest and does not earn their expected income on such days.

FACTS:
Jose Rizal College (JRC) is a non-stock, non-profit educational institution.
It has three (3) groups of employees:
o School personnel paid on a monthly basis, receiving uniform salary throughout the year,
irrespective of the actual number of working days in a month WITHOUT deduction for holidays;
o School personnel paid on a daily basis, based on actual days worked receiving unworked holiday
pay; and
o Collegiate faculty paid on the basis of student contract PER HOUR; At the start of the sem, these
faculty personnel sign contracts with JRC with the undertaking to meet their classes as scheduled.
Through the National Alliance of Teachers and Office Workers (NATOW), ALL of JRCs employees claimed
unpaid holiday pay from 1975 to 1977
o Dispute was submitted for conciliation but no settlement was reached
o Dispute was then submitted to the Labor Arbiter (LA) for compulsory arbitration
LA:
o Personnel paid on a monthly basis are not entitled to holiday pay as their salaries are given to them
on a uniform monthly basis without deductions for holidays; presumably, they were paid the 10
regular holidays already
o Personnel paid on a daily basis are entitled to 10 unworked holiday pay (however, they have
already been paid holiday pay per certification by JRCs treasurer)
o Faculty personnel are NOT entitled to unworked regular holiday pay considering that these regular
holidays are excluded in the programming of student contract hours
NLRC: Modified the LA ruling; Faculty members are entitled to holiday pay

ISSUE:
1. WON the school faculty who are paid per lecture hour are entitled to unworked REGULAR holiday pay
2. WON the school faculty who are paid per lecture hour are entitled to unworked SPECIAL holiday pay

PETITIONERS (JRCs) ARGUMENT/S:

1. School faculty need not be paid REGULAR holiday pay as these are NOT included in the class schedule
where they are required to teach;
2. Nor should they be paid SPECIAL holiday pay because in such cases, classes are held on a different date; on
such re-scheduled class date, the faculty members are paid anyway

RESPONDENTS ARGUMENT:
1. The only exception to the payment of holiday pay under Art. 94 of the Labor Code pertains to those
employees in retail and service establishments regularly employing less than 10 workers. Since the faculty
members are not employed in retail/service establishments employing less than 10 workers, they are
entitled to holiday pay
DIGEST MAKERS NAME: Pretz V. CASE #16
 2. Faculty may claim holiday pay pursuant to the IRR of the Labor Code, Rule IV, Book III, Sec. 8. Private school
teachers, including faculty members of colleges and universities, may not be paid for the regular holidays
during semestral vacations. They shall, however, be paid for the regular holidays during Christmas vacations

HELD:
1. WON the school faculty who are paid per lecture hour are entitled to unworked REGULAR holiday pay NO
The cited IRR is NOT APPLICABLE to the case at bar. Indeed, the IRR is not justified by the provision of law
which is silent with regard to faculty members paid by the hour who because of their teaching contracts are
obliged to work and consent to be paid only for work actually done, i.e. during class days, except when an
emergency or a fortuitous event or a national need calls for declaration of special holidays.
Regular holidays specified as such by law are known to both school and faculty members as no class days;
certainly the faculty members do not expect payment for said unworked days, and this was clearly in their
minds when they entered into the teaching contracts.

2. WON the school faculty who are paid per lecture hour are entitled to unworked SPECIAL holiday pay YES
The purpose of holiday pay is to prevent the diminution of the monthly income of the employees on
account of work interruptions, as during such interruptions, the worker is forced to take a rest and does
not earn what he shouldve earned on that day.
Notably, when a special public holiday is declared, the faculty member paid by the hour is deprived on
expected income for that day. It is therefore immaterial that the school calendar is extended in view of such
days lost.
Similarly, when classes are called off or shortened on account of typhoons, floods, rallies, and the like, these
faculty members must likewise be paid, whether or not extensions are ordered.

DIGEST MAKERS NAME: Pretz V. CASE #16