Power to construeTHE CHARTERED BANK EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION

vs.
HON. BLAS F. OPLE, in his capacity as the Incumbent Secretaryof Labor, and THE CHARTERED
BANK
.
G.R. No. L-44717 August 28, 1985Facts:
On May 20, 1975, the Chartered Bank Employees Association, inrepresentation of its
monthly paid employees/members, instituted acomplaint with the Regional Office
No. IV, Department of Labor, nowMinistry of Labor and Employment (MOLE) against
Chartered Bank, fort h e p a y m e n t o f t e n ( 1 0 ) u n w o r k e d l e g a l h o l i d a y s , a s
w e l l a s f o r p r e m i u m a n d o v e r t i m e d i f f e r e n t i a l s f o r w o r k e d l e g a l h o l i d a ys
f r o m November 1, 1974. The Minister of Labor dismissed the Chartered Bank
EmployeesAssociations claim for lack of merit basing its decision on Section
2,Rule IV, Book Ill of the Integrated Rules and Policy Instruction No. 9, which
respectively provide:Sec. 2. Status of employees paid by the month. Employeeswho are
uniformly paid by the month, irrespective of thenumber of working days therein, with a salary of
not lessthan the statutory or established minimum wage shall bepresumed to be paid for all days
in the month whetherworked or not.POLICY INSTRUCTION NO. 9 TO: All Regional
DirectorsSUBJECT: PAID LEGAL HOLIDAYS The rules implementing PD 850 have clarified
the policy inthe implementation of the ten (10) paid legal holidays.Before PD 850, the number of
working days a year in a firmwas considered important in determining entitlement tothe benefit.
Thus, where an employee was working for atleast 313 days, he was considered definitely already
paid.If he was working for less than 313, there was no certaintywhether the ten (10) paid legal
holidays were already paidto him or not. The ten (10) paid legal holidays law, to start with,
isintended to benefit principally daily employees. In the caseof monthly, only those whose
monthly salary did not yetinclude payment for the ten (10) paid legal holidays areentitled to the
benefit.Under the rules implementing PD 850, this policy has beenfully clarified to eliminate
controversies on the entitlementof monthly paid employees. The new determining rule isthis: 'If
the monthly paid employee is receiving not lessthan P240, the maximum monthly minimum
wage, and hismonthly pay is uniform from January to December, he ispresumed to be already
paid the ten (10) paid legalholidays. However, if deductions are made from his
monthly salary on account of holidays in months wherethey occur, then he is still entitled to the
ten (10) paid legalholidays. These new interpretations must be uniformly andconsistently upheld.
Issue:
Whether or not the Secretary of Labor erred and acted contraryto law in promulgating Sec. 2,
Rule IV, Book III of the IntegratedRules and Policy Instruction No. 9.
Held:
Yes. The Secretar y (Minister) of Labor had exceeded
h i s statutory authority granted by Article 5 of the Labor Code authorizing him to
promulgate the necessary implementing rules and regulations.While it is true that the Minister
has the authority in theperformance of his duty to promulgate rules and regulations toimplement,
construe and clarify the Labor Code, such power is limitedby provisions of the statute sought to
be implemented, construed orclarified.