Sameer Overseas Placement Agency, Inc. vs. Bajarro

An OFW illegally dismissed is entitled to the salaries corresponding to the unexpired portion of their employment contract, applying the ruling in the Serrano case retroactively.

The respondents were overseas Filipino workers deployed to Taiwan under two-year employment contracts dated September 4, 1999. They were repatriated to the Philippines in August 2000 after working for only 11 months. The dispute involves their monetary claims for the unexpired portion of their contracts.

The respondents were deployed to Taiwan under two-year employment contracts dated September 4, 1999. After working for only 11 months, they were repatriated to the Philippines in August 2000. The unexpired portion of their contracts amounted to 13 months. The dispute reached the Labor Arbiter, who ruled in their favor on July 12, 2002. The National Labor Relations Commission issued a decision on March 31, 2004, which was subsequently nullified by the Court of Appeals on August 22, 2005, thereby reinstating the Labor Arbiter's ruling. The petitioners elevated the case to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court applied the ruling in the Serrano case, which was promulgated in March 2009 and declared a provision unconstitutional, retroactively to the respondents' case.

• Unpaid Salaries: Whether the respondents are entitled to the salaries for the unexpired portion of their employment contracts based on the retroactive application of the Serrano ruling.

• Unpaid Salaries: Yes. The respondents are entitled to NT$205,920.00 each for the 13 unexpired months of their contracts, applying the Serrano ruling retroactively.

• Unpaid Salaries: The declaration of unconstitutionality found in the Serrano case, promulgated in March 2009, applies retroactively. Since the respondents worked in Taiwan for only 11 months out of their two-year contracts, the unexpired portion is 13 months. Therefore, each respondent is entitled to NT$15,840.00 monthly salary multiplied by 13 months, totaling NT$205,920.00 or its current equivalent in Philippine Peso, by way of unpaid salaries, in addition to the other monetary awards granted by the Labor Arbiter.

• Retroactive Application of Unconstitutionality Ruling — The declaration of unconstitutionality of a provision in the Serrano case applies retroactively to cases involving OFWs whose contracts were prematurely terminated, entitling them to the salaries for the unexpired portion of their contracts.

• "the declaration of unconstitutionality found in the Serrano case promulgated in March 2009 shall retroactively apply." — This establishes the retroactive application of the Serrano ruling to the respondents' case, entitling them to unpaid salaries for the unexpired portion of their contracts.

• Serrano case — Cited as the controlling precedent where a provision was declared unconstitutional, the ruling of which applies retroactively to entitle illegally dismissed OFWs to salaries for the unexpired portion of their contracts.

Antonio T. Carpio (Chairperson), Arturo D. Brion, Mariano C. del Castillo, Jose Portugal Perez.