JOSE MEL BERNARTE, Petitioner, vs. PHILIPPINE BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION (PBA), JOSE EMMANUEL M. EALA, and PERRY MARTINEZ, Respondents.
G.R. No. 192084 September 14, 2011
Facts:
Complainants, Jose Mel Bernarte and Renato Guevarra, aver that they were invited to join the PBA as referees. During the leadership of Commissioner Emilio Bernardino, they were made to sign contracts on a year-to-year basis. During the term of Commissioner Eala, however, changes were made on the terms of their employment.
Complainants, Jose Mel Bernarte and Renato Guevarra, aver that they were invited to join the PBA as referees. During the leadership of Commissioner Emilio Bernardino, they were made to sign contracts on a year-to-year basis. During the term of Commissioner Eala, however, changes were made on the terms of their employment.
Bernarte, was not made to sign a contract during the first conference of the All-Filipino Cup which was from February 23, 2003 to June 2003. It was only during the second conference when he was made to sign a one and a half month contract for the period July 1 to August 5, 2003.
January 15, 2004, Bernarte received a letter from the Office of the Commissioner advising him that his contract would not be renewed citing his unsatisfactory performance on and off the court. It was a total shock for Bernarte who was awarded Referee of the year in 2003. He felt that the dismissal was caused by his refusal to fix a game upon order of Ernie De Leon.
Guevarra alleges that he was invited to join the PBA pool of referees in February 2001. On March 1, 2001, he signed a contract as trainee. Beginning 2002, he signed a yearly contract as Regular Class C referee. On May 6, 2003, respondent Martinez issued a memorandum to Guevarra expressing dissatisfaction over his questioning on the assignment of referees officiating out-of-town games. Beginning February 2004, he was no longer made to sign a contract.
Labor Arbiter’s decision, on 31 March 2005, declared petitioner an employee whose dismissal by respondents was illegal. Accordingly, the Labor Arbiter ordered the reinstatement of petitioner and the payment of back wages, moral and exemplary damages and attorney’s fees.
In its 28 January 2008 Decision, the NLRC affirmed the Labor Arbiter’s judgment. The NLRC agreed that the PBA has no control over the referees’ acts of blowing the whistle and making calls during basketball games, it, nevertheless, theorized that the said acts refer to the means and methods employed by the referees in officiating basketball games for the illogical reason that said acts refer only to the referees’ skills. How could a skilled referee perform his job without blowing a whistle and making calls? Worse, how can the PBA control the performance of work of a referee without controlling his acts of blowing the whistle and making calls?
The Court of Appeals found petitioner an independent contractor since respondents did not exercise any form of control over the means and methods by which petitioner performed his work as a basketball referee.
The Court of Appeals denied the motion for reconsideration.
Issue:
Whether petitioner is an employee of respondents, which in turn determines whether petitioner was illegally dismissed.
Whether petitioner is an employee of respondents, which in turn determines whether petitioner was illegally dismissed.
Ruling:
At any rate, the NLRC declared the issue on the finality of the Labor Arbiter’s decision moot as respondents’ appeal was considered in the interest of substantial justice. We agree with the NLRC. The ends of justice will be better served if we resolve the instant case on the merits rather than allowing the substantial issue of whether petitioner is an independent contractor or an employee linger and remain unsettled due to procedural technicalities.
At any rate, the NLRC declared the issue on the finality of the Labor Arbiter’s decision moot as respondents’ appeal was considered in the interest of substantial justice. We agree with the NLRC. The ends of justice will be better served if we resolve the instant case on the merits rather than allowing the substantial issue of whether petitioner is an independent contractor or an employee linger and remain unsettled due to procedural technicalities.
The existence of an employer-employee relationship is ultimately a question of fact. As a general rule, factual issues are beyond the province of this Court. However, this rule admits of exceptions, one of which is where there are conflicting findings of fact between the Court of Appeals, on one hand, and the NLRC and Labor Arbiter, on the other, such as in the present case.
To determine the existence of an employer-employee relationship, case law has consistently applied the four-fold test, to wit: (a) the selection and engagement of the employee; (b) the payment of wages; (c) the power of dismissal; and (d) the employer’s power to control the employee on the means and methods by which the work is accomplished. The so-called “control test” is the most important indicator of the presence or absence of an employer-employee relationship.
We agree with respondents that once in the playing court, the referees exercise their own independent judgment, based on the rules of the game, as to when and how a call or decision is to be made. The referees decide whether an infraction was committed, and the PBA cannot overrule them once the decision is made on the playing court. The referees are the only, absolute, and final authority on the playing court. Respondents or any of the PBA officers cannot and do not determine which calls to make or not to make and cannot control the referee when he blows the whistle because such authority exclusively belongs to the referees. The very nature of petitioner’s job of officiating a professional basketball game undoubtedly calls for freedom of control by respondents.
Moreover, the following circumstances indicate that petitioner is an independent contractor: (1) the referees are required to report for work only when PBA games are scheduled, which is three times a week spread over an average of only 105 playing days a year, and they officiate games at an average of two hours per game; and (2) the only deductions from the fees received by the referees are withholding taxes.
In other words, unlike regular employees who ordinarily report for work eight hours per day for five days a week, petitioner is required to report for work only when PBA games are scheduled or three times a week at two hours per game. In addition, there are no deductions for contributions to the Social Security System, Philhealth or Pag-Ibig, which are the usual deductions from employees’ salaries. These undisputed circumstances buttress the fact that petitioner is an independent contractor, and not an employee of respondents.