Producers Bank vs NLRC () 335 SCRA 506

Facts:

Petitioner was placed by Central Bank of the Philippines (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) under a conservator for the purpose of protecting its assets. When the respondents ought to implement the CBA (Sec. 1, Art. 11) regarding the retirement plan and pertaining to uniform allowance, the acting conservator of the petition expressed objection resulting an impasse between the petitioner bank and respondent union. The deadlock continued for at least six months. The private respondent, to resolve the issue filed a case against petitioner for unfair labor practice and flagrant violation of the CBA.

The Labor Arbiter dismissed the petition. NLRC reversed the findings and ordered the implementation of the CBA.

Issue: WON the employees who have retired have no personality to file an action since there is no longer an employer-employee relationship.Held: Employees who have retired still have the personality to file a complaint.

Retirement results from a voluntary agreement between the employer and the employee whereby the latter after reaching a certain age agrees to sever his employment with the former. The very essence of retirement is the termination of employer-employee relationship.

Retirement of the employee does not in itself affect his employment status especially when it involves all rights and benefits due to him, since these must be protected as though there had been no interruption of service. It must be borne in mind that the retirement scheme was part of the employment package and the benefits to be derived therefrom constituted as it were a continuing consideration of services rendered as well as an effective inducement foe remaining with the corporation. It is intended to help the employee enjoy the remaining years of his life.

When the retired employees were requesting that their retirement benefits be granted, they were not pleading for generosity but merely demanding that their rights, embodied in the CBA, be recognized. When an employee has retired but his benefits under the law or CBA have not yet been given, he still retains, for the purpose of prosecuting his claims, the status of an employee entitled to the protection of the Labor Code, one of which is the protection of the labor union.