Laws & Jurisprudence
GRANT OF BONUS AND OTHER BENEFITS
6:07 AM
To be considered as
a regular company practice, the employee must prove by substantial evidence
that the giving of the benefit is done over a long period of time, and that it
has been made consistently and deliberately. Jurisprudence has not laid down
any hard-and-fast rule as to the length of time that company practice should
have been exercised in order to constitute voluntary employer practice. The
common denominator in previously decided cases appears to be the regularity and
deliberateness of the grant of benefits over a significant period of time. The principle against diminution of
benefits is applicable only if the grant or benefit is founded on an express
policy or has ripened into a practice over a long period of time which is
consistent and deliberate; it presupposes that a company practice, policy and
tradition favorable to the employees has been clearly established; and that the
payments made by the company pursuant to it have ripened into benefits enjoyed
by them. (RICARDO E. VERGARA, JR. v.
COCA-COLA BOTTLERS PHILIPPINES, INC., G.R. No. 176985, 1 April 2013)
By definition, a
"bonus" is a gratuity or act of liberality of the giver. It is
something given in addition to what is ordinarily received by or strictly due
the recipient. Generally, a bonus is not a demandable and enforceable
obligation. For a bonus to be enforceable, it must have been promised by the
employer and expressly agreed upon by the parties. Given that the bonus in
this case is integrated in the CBA, the same partakes the nature of a
demandable obligation. (LEPANTO CERAMICS, INC., v. LEPANTO CERAMICS
EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION, G.R. No. 180866, 2 March 2010)
A
bonus, however, becomes a demandable or enforceable obligation when it is made
part of the wage or salary or compensation of the employee. (EASTERN TELECOMMUNICATIONS PHILIPPINES, INC.,
v. EASTERN TELECOMS EMPLOYEES UNION, G.R.
No. 185665, February 8, 2012)
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