IS THE DETERMINATION OF EMPLOYER-EMPLOYEE RELATIONSHIP EXCLUSIVE UPON THE NLRC?
In the case of REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, represented by the SOCIAL SECURITY COMMISSION and SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM VS. ASIAPRO COOPERATIVE, G.R. No. 172101, 2007 Nov 23, the Supreme Court ruled that the question on the existence of an employer-employee relationship is not within the exclusive jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC).
Article 217 of the Labor Code enumerating the jurisdiction of the Labor Arbiters and the NLRC provides that:
ART. 217. JURISDICTION OF LABOR ARBITERS AND THE COMMISSION. – (a) x x x.
x x x x
6. Except claims for Employees Compensation, Social Security, Medicare and maternity benefits, all other claims, arising from employer-employee relations, including those of persons in domestic or household service, involving an amount exceeding five thousand pesos (P5,000.00) regardless of whether accompanied with a claim for reinstatement.
Although the aforesaid provision speaks merely of claims for Social Security, it would necessarily include issues on the coverage thereof, because claims are undeniably rooted in the coverage by the system. Hence, the question on the existence of an employer-employee relationship for the purpose of determining the coverage of the Social Security System is explicitly excluded from the jurisdiction of the NLRC and falls within the jurisdiction of the SSC which is primarily charged with the duty of settling disputes arising under the Social Security Law of 1997.
On the basis thereof, considering that the petition-complaint of the petitioner SSS involved the issue of compulsory coverage of the owners-members of the respondent cooperative, this Court agrees with the petitioner SSC when it declared in its Order dated 17 February 2004 that as an incident to the issue of compulsory coverage, it may inquire into the presence or absence of an employer-employee relationship without need of waiting for a prior pronouncement or submitting the issue to the NLRC for prior determination. Since both the petitioner SSC and the NLRC are independent bodies and their jurisdiction are well-defined by the separate statutes creating them, petitioner SSC has the authority to inquire into the relationship existing between the worker and the person or entity to whom he renders service to determine if the employment, indeed, is one that is excepted by the Social Security Law of 1997 from compulsory coverage.