Dear PAO,

I am a security guard on floating status. The agency I work for has been keeping me on this status for exactly six months.

Yesterday, my agency sent me a return-to-work order, but it was a general one. It did not state any actual job assignment, client, time, or place. All it said was for me to report back to the office. Today, I am already one day beyond my six months of floating status. May I file a labor complaint for constructive dismissal already?

Ximon-Xerxes

Dear Ximon-Xerxes,

Yes, you may file a labor complaint for constructive dismissal. You were clearly not given a new job assignment within six months as required by law.

Indeed, the Supreme Court, speaking through Associate Justice Samuel Gaerlan, in the case of Samsudin T. Hamid v. Gervasio Security and Investigation Agency, et al. (GR 230968, July 27, 2022), stated that the security agency may not issue a general return-to-work order, viz.:

“In a plethora of cases, we have emphasized that a security guard’s employer must give a new assignment to the employee within six months. This assignment must be to a specific or particular client. ‘A general return-to-work order does not suffice.’ Otherwise stated, jurisprudence requires not only that the employee be recalled to the agency’s office, but that the employee be deployed to a specific client before the lapse of six months. In the case of Ibon v. Genghis Khan Security Services, (Ibon Case), it has been clarified that xxx

“Clearly, the notices merely require petitioner to report to the security agency. The notices were, at best, nothing more than general return-to-work orders, which did not state a specific client to which petitioner would be assigned. Applying the Ibon Case, the service of these notices, assuming they were indeed received by petitioner, did not toll the running of petitioner’s floating status.”

In your case, while your previous security agency did indeed send you a return-to-work order, it was a general one, which did not specify a client or any details of a proper job assignment. As such, there was no valid job assignment given within six months from the time you were placed on floating status. Consequently, you were constructively dismissed. Kindly file your labor complaint as soon as possible.

We hope that we were able to answer your queries. This advice was solely based on the facts you have narrated and our appreciation of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated.

Thank you for your continued trust and support.