Teachers’ acquisition of regular or permanent employment status is determined by the Manual of Regulations for Private Schools [MRPS] and the Manual of Policies and Guidelines on the Establishment and Operation of Public and Private Technical-Vocational Education and Training Institutions [TVET-MANUAL].
The MRPS and the TVET MANUAL were promulgated by the Department of Education [DepEd] and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority [TESDA] pursuant to the rule making powers given by Act No. 2706 as Amended by Act No. 3075, Commonwealth Act No. 180, Batas Pambansa Bilang 232, Republic Act No. 7796, Republic Act No. 7722, and other applicable legislation. As such, these manuals have the force and effect of law.
Section 32 of Batas Pambansa Bilang 232, otherwise known as the Education Act of 1982 as Amended, provides that in private schools, disputes arising from employer-employee relations [involving academic personnel] shall be settled by the Department of Labor and Employment on the basis of standards set or promulgated by the DepEd, CHED, and TESDA in view of the special employment status of academic personnel and their special roles in the advancement of knowledge.
According to Policy Instruction No. 11 issued by the Department of Labor and Employment the “probationary employment of professors, instructors, and teachers shall be subject to standards established by the Department of Education and Culture.” Said standards are now embodied in the MRPS and the TVET MANUAL.
DOLE Policy Instruction No. 11 recognizes that there are categories of employees exempt from the coverage of the Labor Code or from the operation of particular provisions thereof. Matters relating to the employment of government employees, for instance, are primarily governed by Civil Service laws and rules. In the same vein, matters relating to the employment of academic personnel are governed by the provisions of the MRPS and the TVET MANUAL. Batas Pambansa Bilang 232 grants regulatory powers to administrative agencies focused on education. Such power includes authority to issue rules and regulations that have the force and effect of law. Administrative issuances, such as the MRPS and the TVET MANUAL, are promulgated on the authority of law and are valid and binding as long as they are not contrary to law and the Constitution.
Both Section 89 of Article XVII of the MRPS and Section 73 of the TVET MANUAL mandate that “[i]n recognition of their special employment status and their special role in the advancement of knowledge, the employment of teaching and non-teaching academic personnel shall be governed by such rules as may from time to time be promulgated by [TESDA / DepEd] and the Department of Labor and Employment. Conditions of employment of non-academic non-teaching school personnel, including compensations, hours of work, security of tenure and labor relations, shall be governed by appropriate labor laws and regulations.”
In the landmark case University of Santo Tomas, et al. v. National Labor Relations Commission and Basilio E. Borja, the Supreme Court declared that, “it is the Manual of Regulations for Private Schools, not the Labor Code, that determines the acquisition of regular or permanent status of faculty members in an educational institution.”
It is essential to understand that an educational institution has three [3] fundamental types of personnel—
1. Teaching Academic Personnel—those engaged in actual teaching service or in research assignments, either on full-time or part-time basis;
2. Non-Teaching Academic Personnel—those who perform academic functions in support of teaching such as registrars, librarians, guidance counselors, researchers and all school officials responsible for academic matters;
3. Non-Academic Non Teaching Personnel—those who are engaged in administrative functions who are not covered under the definition of academic personnel.
The employment conditions of Teaching and Non-Teaching Academic Personnel are covered by the MRPS and TVET MANUAL promulgated by DepEd and TESDA. The employment conditions of Non-Academic Non-Teaching Personnel are covered by the Labor Code and its implementing rules.
Section 93 of the MRPS and Section 77 of the TVET MANUAL prescribe three [3] requisites for a teacher’s acquisition of permanent or regular employment status. The three [3] requisites are—
1. The teacher must be a full time teacher;
2. The teacher must have completed the probationary period of three years; and,
3. Such service must have been satisfactory.
These three [3] requisites prescribed by the MRPS and TVET MANUAL have been duly recognized and upheld by the Supreme Court in a long line of cases including: Saint Mary’s University v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 157788, March 8, 2005; Lolita R. Lacuesta v. Ateneo De Manila University, et al., G.R. No. 152777, December 9, 2005; St. Theresa’s School of Novaliches Foundation and Adoracion Roxas v. National Labor Relations Commission and Esther Reyes, G.R. No. 122955, April 15, 1998; and, La Salette of Santiago, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Commission and Clarita Javier, G.R. No. 82918, March 11, 1991.
Philippine Copyright © 2010 by Oscar A. Corpuz, Jr.
All Rights Reserved.
The MRPS and the TVET MANUAL were promulgated by the Department of Education [DepEd] and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority [TESDA] pursuant to the rule making powers given by Act No. 2706 as Amended by Act No. 3075, Commonwealth Act No. 180, Batas Pambansa Bilang 232, Republic Act No. 7796, Republic Act No. 7722, and other applicable legislation. As such, these manuals have the force and effect of law.
Section 32 of Batas Pambansa Bilang 232, otherwise known as the Education Act of 1982 as Amended, provides that in private schools, disputes arising from employer-employee relations [involving academic personnel] shall be settled by the Department of Labor and Employment on the basis of standards set or promulgated by the DepEd, CHED, and TESDA in view of the special employment status of academic personnel and their special roles in the advancement of knowledge.
According to Policy Instruction No. 11 issued by the Department of Labor and Employment the “probationary employment of professors, instructors, and teachers shall be subject to standards established by the Department of Education and Culture.” Said standards are now embodied in the MRPS and the TVET MANUAL.
DOLE Policy Instruction No. 11 recognizes that there are categories of employees exempt from the coverage of the Labor Code or from the operation of particular provisions thereof. Matters relating to the employment of government employees, for instance, are primarily governed by Civil Service laws and rules. In the same vein, matters relating to the employment of academic personnel are governed by the provisions of the MRPS and the TVET MANUAL. Batas Pambansa Bilang 232 grants regulatory powers to administrative agencies focused on education. Such power includes authority to issue rules and regulations that have the force and effect of law. Administrative issuances, such as the MRPS and the TVET MANUAL, are promulgated on the authority of law and are valid and binding as long as they are not contrary to law and the Constitution.
Both Section 89 of Article XVII of the MRPS and Section 73 of the TVET MANUAL mandate that “[i]n recognition of their special employment status and their special role in the advancement of knowledge, the employment of teaching and non-teaching academic personnel shall be governed by such rules as may from time to time be promulgated by [TESDA / DepEd] and the Department of Labor and Employment. Conditions of employment of non-academic non-teaching school personnel, including compensations, hours of work, security of tenure and labor relations, shall be governed by appropriate labor laws and regulations.”
In the landmark case University of Santo Tomas, et al. v. National Labor Relations Commission and Basilio E. Borja, the Supreme Court declared that, “it is the Manual of Regulations for Private Schools, not the Labor Code, that determines the acquisition of regular or permanent status of faculty members in an educational institution.”
It is essential to understand that an educational institution has three [3] fundamental types of personnel—
1. Teaching Academic Personnel—those engaged in actual teaching service or in research assignments, either on full-time or part-time basis;
2. Non-Teaching Academic Personnel—those who perform academic functions in support of teaching such as registrars, librarians, guidance counselors, researchers and all school officials responsible for academic matters;
3. Non-Academic Non Teaching Personnel—those who are engaged in administrative functions who are not covered under the definition of academic personnel.
The employment conditions of Teaching and Non-Teaching Academic Personnel are covered by the MRPS and TVET MANUAL promulgated by DepEd and TESDA. The employment conditions of Non-Academic Non-Teaching Personnel are covered by the Labor Code and its implementing rules.
Section 93 of the MRPS and Section 77 of the TVET MANUAL prescribe three [3] requisites for a teacher’s acquisition of permanent or regular employment status. The three [3] requisites are—
1. The teacher must be a full time teacher;
2. The teacher must have completed the probationary period of three years; and,
3. Such service must have been satisfactory.
These three [3] requisites prescribed by the MRPS and TVET MANUAL have been duly recognized and upheld by the Supreme Court in a long line of cases including: Saint Mary’s University v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 157788, March 8, 2005; Lolita R. Lacuesta v. Ateneo De Manila University, et al., G.R. No. 152777, December 9, 2005; St. Theresa’s School of Novaliches Foundation and Adoracion Roxas v. National Labor Relations Commission and Esther Reyes, G.R. No. 122955, April 15, 1998; and, La Salette of Santiago, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Commission and Clarita Javier, G.R. No. 82918, March 11, 1991.
Philippine Copyright © 2010 by Oscar A. Corpuz, Jr.
All Rights Reserved.
DepEd issued the MRPS 2010 effective SY 2010-2011. From my understanding, it classified the school personnel into only two: teaching and non-teaching. Given this, only teaching personnel are covered by the MRPS while all non-teaching personnel (including registrars, guidance counselors, librarians) are covered by the Labor Code. One implication of this is that academic non-teaching personnel now have shorter probationary period (not more than 6 months) compared to before, which was not more than 3 years. Is this interpretation correct?
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