- Statute
- Labor Code
- Article
- Art. 294
- Topic
- Security of tenure; reinstatement and backwages
- Status
- In force
- Formerly
- Art. 279
- Year
- 1974
- Cited by
- Multiple Supreme Court decisions
The provision
ARTICLE 279. Security of tenure. In cases of regular employment, the employer shall not terminate the services of an employee except for a just cause or when authorized by this Title. An employee who is unjustly dismissed from work shall be entitled to reinstatement without loss of seniority rights and other privileges and to his full backwages, inclusive of allowances, and to his other benefits or their monetary equivalent computed from the time his compensation was withheld from him up to the time of his actual reinstatement. (As amended by Section 34, Republic Act No. 6715, March 21, 1989)
Intellegal Wiki · In plain terms
A regular employee may be dismissed only for a just cause or an authorized cause allowed by law. An employee who is unjustly dismissed is entitled to reinstatement without loss of seniority and to full backwages. This is the core of security of tenure in Philippine labor law.
An editorially maintained plain-language explanation of this provision — not legal advice.
Intellegal Wiki · How the courts apply it
In Dario Nacar v. Gallery Frames, the Supreme Court held: Monetary awards for illegal dismissal are recomputed from the dismissal date to finality without violating the immutability of judgments; legal interest is 6% per annum from July 1, 2013 (12% before) under BSP-MB Circular No. 799.
One leading Supreme Court case applying this provision.
Key points
Article 279 (renumbered Article 294 in the 2015 codal renumbering) states the rule of security of tenure. In regular employment, the employer may not terminate an employee except for a just cause or an authorized cause under the Title on termination.
An employee who is unjustly dismissed is entitled to reinstatement without loss of seniority rights, and to full backwages and other benefits computed from the time compensation was withheld up to actual reinstatement. The provision is the basis of illegal-dismissal relief and is read with Articles 282–284 on just and authorized causes.
Cases applying this article
- Dario Nacar v. Gallery Frames G.R. No. 189871
- Session Delights Ice Cream and Fast Foods v. Court of Appeals G.R. No. 172149