Aragones filed an appeal to the Court of Appeals, but it only upheld the NLRC’s decision.
“Since the position of STMP was abolished due to redundancy before Aragones’ intended start date of July 1, 2016, no employer-employee relationship was established,” the Court of Appeals ruled, as heard by the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court’s reversal
But the SC reversed these decisions in a ruling last month: “Aragones’ acceptance of the job offer established an employment relationship between the parties.”
According to the Supreme Court, the July commencement date was a “suspensive period that deferred the demandability of their respective obligations as employer and employee.”
“It did not affect the existence or birth of those obligations. In other words, while the employer-employee relationship was already established when the contract was entered into on April 18, 2016, the demandability of their respective obligations as employer and employee was deferred until July 1, 2016.”
