Philippines - National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) Temporarily Suspends Work

The NLRC issued NLRC COVID-19 Advisory No. 5 dated March 17, 2020 [1]which provides that during the effectivity of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) over Luzon from (March 17, 2020 to 12 midnight of April 13, 2020) --
 
1. Work at the Commission proper and at all units and Offices of the Labor Arbiters is suspended. Work from home arrangements shall be implemented for the Commissioners, Labor Arbiters, and their assisting lawyers. 

2. The filing of Motions for Reconsideration, Petitions for Extraordinary Remedies, and appeals is suspended starting March 16, 2020 until the NLRC resumes regular operations. 

3. For walk-in settlements, parties are advised to submit their notarized Compromise Agreement and/or Quitclaim, Release and Waiver when the Offices of the Labor Arbiters resume regular operations. 

4. With respect to conferences/hearings scheduled during the ECQ, the Advisory states that: 

a. All Single Entry Approach (SEnA) conferences conciliation and mediation conferences shall be terminated. The referral for compulsory arbitration or to other offices that have jurisdiction over the issues raised in the Request for Assistance will be issued by the SEnA Conciliator-Mediator when the NLRC resumes office.

b. All mandatory conciliation and mediation conferences are terminated. The parties are mandated to file their respective position papers within 15 calendar days from the resumption of regular operations. As an alternative, both parties may file a joint motion for the Labor Arbiter to conduct mandatory conciliation and mediation conference. 

c. All other hearings are reset one month from the date of the scheduled conference.  

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