AMENDING AND CONSOLIDATING THE GUIDELINES ON THE FEES AND IN THE PROCESSING AND PAYMENT OF SUBSIDY ENTITLEMENT FOR VOLUNTARY ARBITRATION CASES
WHEREAS, Resolutions no. 1, 2 and 3, series of 1997, all of which were
passed by the Tripartite Voluntary Arbitration Advisory Council and approved by the Secretary of Labor and
Employment on January 6, 1997, established the Guidelines on Expedited
Voluntary Arbitration Procedure, revised the Guidelines on the Processing and
Payment of Subsidy Entitlement and the
Guidelines for Subsidy Under the Free Legal Aid and Voluntary Arbitration
Services (FLAVAS) program, respectively;
WHEREAS, these guidelines need to be
reviewed periodically particularly in view of the changing times and increasing
costs of professional service and other expenses incidental to arbitration
of labor disputes;
WHEREAS, to promote acceptance of voluntary
arbitration, there is a need to remove
the burden of cost from the parties;
WHEREAS, the Council, during its 39th Special Meeting
held on 23 April 1999, resolved to
revise the Guidelines On Expedited Voluntary Arbitration Procedure and
consolidate under one general guidelines, subject to appropriate distinctions
as herein provided, all guidelines on subsidies for cases falling under regular
and expedited voluntary arbitration
procedures as well as cases falling
under the FLAVAS program;
WHEREAS, the Council likewise resolved
that the subsidy should be provided only to parties who have no capacity to pay
the arbitrator’s fees;
WHEREFORE, pursuant to the provisions
of Republic Act. No. 6715 authorizing the Council to recommend appropriate guidelines
on the use of the Special Voluntary Arbitration Fund particularly on subsidy,
Resolution No. 3, Series of 1997 is hereby incorporated and Resolution No. 2, Series of 1997 is hereby amended to read as follows:
I.
COVERAGE
The subsidy
shall cover all arbitration cases whether involving unionized or non-unionized
establishments, upon proof by either or
both parties of lack of capacity to pay the cost of arbitration in accordance
with no. II herein and subject to the following conditions:
A.
UNDER
REGULAR AND EXPEDITED VOLUNTARY ARBITRATION CASES
The subsidy
shall be provided to all arbitration cases involving unionized establishments.
B.
UNDER THE
FREE LEGAL AID AND VOLUNTARY ARBITRATION SERVICES (FLAVAS) PROGRAM, the subsidy shall be available to the following:
1.
Individual
workers in establishments with no unions or with no collective bargaining
agreements (CBAs);
2.
Unions
which are still in the organizational stage; and
3.
Management
of distressed companies and small and medium enterprises (SMEs)
II.
PROCEDURES
AND REQUIREMENTS
The
subsidy is payable to the voluntary arbitrator or to the Chairman and its
members in case of panel of voluntary arbitrators except in cases of
reimbursement for amounts paid to the
arbitrator or panel of arbitrators by either party, in which case it shall be
paid to the union or the company, as the case may be.
The
request for subsidy shall be supported by the following:
A.
Duly-accomplished
request for Subsidy Entitlement Form;
B.
Copy of
Decision or Award;
C.
For establishments
with CBAs, copy of CBA or Certificate of
CBA REGISTRATION;
D.
Copy of
Submission Agreement;
E.
In cases of
reimbursement, proof of partial/full payment to the voluntary arbitrator;
F.
Waiver from
the other party not availing of the subsidy, where appropriate.
All
requests, accompanied by the aforementioned documents shall be filed with the
appropriate Regional Branch.
III.
AMOUNT OF SUBSIDY
A.
As a rule, the amount of subsidy shall be Ten Thousand Pesos (P10,000.00) for all
types of voluntary arbitration cases, except as specified hereunder:
1)
Fifteen thousand pesos (P15,000.00) shall be
provided if:
a)
The case is
submitted under the Expedited Voluntary Arbitration Procedure as laid down in
TVAAC Resolution No. 2, series of 1999.
b)
The case is
a rights dispute involving two or more issues.
c)
The case
involves bargaining deadlock regardless of the number of issues.
2)
Five thousand pesos (P5,000.00) shall be
provided if the case is submitted under the FLAVAS program.
The amount
shall be disposed of as follows:
a)
P1,000 shall be
paid to the office of the legal aid;
b)
P500 shall be remitted to the pava regional chapter;
c)
P3,500 shall be paid to the voluntary arbitrator
B.
In instances where the case is settled through a
compromise agreement entered into by the parties with the assistance of the
Voluntary Arbitrator, full regular subsidy may be given to the parties should
it appear to the satisfaction of the
Board that the compromise agreement is not contrary to law, morals, good order
and public policy and entered into in good faith and not solely for the purpose
of claiming the subsidy. The subsidy
under this provision can be availed of by the same parties only once. Any agreement which tantamounts to a mere
withdrawal of the case is excluded from coverage of this provision.
C.
If both parties avail of the subsidy, the applicable
amount shall be applied in accordance with the sharing scheme of the parties
per CBA provision. Should the sharing scheme
provide for 60-40 or 70-30 or any sharing other than 50-50, for purposes of subsidy, the amount to be
provided shall be reversed, the bigger amount will be applied to labor. In the absence of any
scheme, the subsidy shall be applied equally.
However, in no case shall the subsidy be
more than the share of either party in the agreed fees of the
arbitrator.
IV.
SUPERSESSION
CLAUSE
Resolution
No. 2, Series of 1997 Providing
Guidelines on the Fees and in the Processing of Payment of Subsidy Entitlement
for Regular Voluntary Arbitration Cases is hereby amended. Resolution No. 3,
series of 1997 providing Guidelines for Subsidy Under the Free Legal Aid and
Voluntary Arbitration Services Program is hereby incorporated by reference.
All other
resolutions inconsistent with this are hereby superseded.
These
guidelines shall be subject to the approval of the Secretary of Labor and
Employment.
NOW, THEREFORE, the Tripartite Voluntary
Arbitration Advisory Council has RESOLVED, as it is hereby RESOLVED, that the National Conciliation and Mediation Board shall
observe and comply with the guidelines set forth herein as approved by the
Secretary of Labor and Employment, in the administration of the Special
Voluntary Arbitration fund and in the use of the voluntary arbitration subsidy.
APPROVED.
Manila, Philippines, November 15, 1999.
(SGD.)
BUENAVENTURA C. MAGSALIN
Chairman
(SGD.)
BENEDICTO ERNESTO R. BITONIO, JR.
Member-Government Sector
(SGD.) ROBERTO
A. PADILLA
Member-Labor Sector
(SGD.) EDGAR
C. RECIÑA
Member-Labor Sector
(SGD.) RANULFO
P. PAYOS
Member-Employer Sector
(SGD.) ANIANO
G. BAGABALDO
Member-Employer Sector
APPROVED:
(SGD.)
BIENVENIDO E. LAGUESMA
Secretary
Reso1 s. 1999/tess6-99