The Philippine Supreme Court has ruled that an employee’s prolonged, unauthorized absences are not by themselves enough to justify dismissal for abandonment of work, reversing earlier findings by labor authorities and the Court of Appeals in a case involving agricultural firm Green Era Biotech and its manpower service provider, Great Value. In an 18-page decision dated Nov. 19 and issued by the tribunal’s Third Division, the high court found the two companies liable for the illegal dismissal of a production utility worker who had been absent from work for at least 18 days in 2018.

The worker, initially hired by Green Era Biotech in 2015 and later transferred to Great Value, was first absent for eight consecutive days due to illness. Great Value required him to explain his unauthorized absences, citing a company policy that allowed dismissal for at least five days of unexplained absence. He later incurred another nine straight days of absence, prompting the issuance of an absence without leave (AWOL) notice that characterized his conduct as serious misconduct and abandonment of work. After taking another leave with his supervisor’s permission, he was barred from entering the workplace and informed by his foreman that he had been declared AWOL, leading him to file a complaint for illegal dismissal.

In overturning the earlier rulings of the Labor Arbiter, the National Labor Relations Commission and the Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court stressed that abandonment as a just cause for dismissal has two elements: absence without a valid reason and a clear intention on the part of the employee to sever the employment relationship. The Court underscored that the second element is the more critical requirement and that the burden of proving both elements rests with the employer. “Mere absence from work, without more, will ordinarily fail to support a finding of abandonment of work, absent any overt act from the employee clearly showing that he or she intends to sever his or her employment,” the decision said.

While the justices acknowledged that the worker’s absences were “clearly unauthorized,” they found no evidence that he intended to abandon his job, noting instead that he had attempted to return to work and promptly challenged his dismissal before the labor tribunal. The Court ruled that his conduct did not amount to a “deliberate and unjustified refusal” to resume employment and that his absences did not merit the “severe penalty of dismissal.” It ordered his reinstatement to his former position without loss of seniority and privileges, though without back wages, and held Green Era Biotech and Great Value jointly liable to pay separation pay if reinstatement is no longer feasible, along with nominal damages of 30,000 pesos.

Pemerintah Kabupaten Klaten tengah menghadapi tekanan dari ribuan nasabah Perusahaan Daerah Badan Kredit Kecamatan (PD BKK) Klaten yang dananya tersangkut menyusul kolapsnya lembaga keuangan milik daerah tersebut. Bupati Klaten Hamenang Wajar Ismoyo secara terbuka memaparkan bahwa persoalan di PD BKK Klaten bukan muncul mendadak, melainkan berakar sejak badan itu dibentuk pada 2009 melalui penggabungan 24 PD BKK kecamatan yang sebelumnya beroperasi di tingkat lokal.

Hamenang mengungkapkan, kondisi PD BKK Klaten sebenarnya sudah tidak sehat sejak awal. Sebagian besar nasabah berasal dari kalangan pedagang pasar dan pelaku usaha kecil, segmen yang menjadi target utama penyaluran kredit. Namun, di tengah portofolio kredit yang rentan, ia menyebut terjadi praktik kecurangan (fraud) di internal, bukan sekadar persoalan kredit macet. Oknum-oknum di dalam lembaga diduga ikut "bermain" sehingga memperbesar kerugian dan memperburuk kesehatan keuangan PD BKK Klaten.

Masalah lama itu kemudian berujung pada posisi terisolasi ketika pada 2 Juli 2019 seluruh PD BKK di Jawa Tengah dikonsolidasikan menjadi PT BPR BKK Jateng melalui Rapat Umum Pemegang Saham (RUPS) Luar Biasa. Klaten, bersama Pringsurat, tidak ikut bergabung karena sudah menanggung persoalan dan kerugian. Sejak saat itu, PD BKK Klaten hanya memegang izin operasional terbatas: bank masih boleh menerima tabungan dan deposito, tetapi tidak dapat lagi menyalurkan kredit baru. Keterbatasan ruang gerak ini kian menekan kemampuan lembaga memenuhi kewajiban kepada nasabah hingga akhirnya tidak mampu mengembalikan dana.

Setelah PD BKK Klaten resmi berhenti beroperasi, pemerintah daerah membuka posko aduan di bagian perekonomian untuk mendata secara nyata jumlah dan profil nasabah yang terdampak. Menurut Hamenang, hingga kini sudah ada ribuan nasabah yang melaporkan diri ke posko tersebut. Di luar kanal resmi pemerintah, organisasi alumni kemahasiswaan IKA PMII juga menghimpun data nasabah dan terlibat dalam audiensi bersama direksi PD BKK dan perwakilan nasabah yang difasilitasi Pemkab Klaten. Meski jalur komunikasi telah dibuka, Bupati mengakui penyelesaian belum tercapai karena dana yang menjadi hak nasabah secara faktual sudah tidak tersedia.

Di sisi penegakan hukum, Kejaksaan Negeri Klaten mulai memanggil belasan debitur yang memiliki kredit macet untuk mengoptimalkan pengembalian aset PD BKK. Langkah ini dipandang sebagai salah satu upaya penting untuk menutup sebagian kerugian dan membuka peluang pengembalian dana nasabah, meski belum ada kepastian skema dan waktu penyelesaiannya. Sejalan dengan itu, Hamenang menyatakan mendukung nasabah yang menempuh jalur hukum dan menggugat PD BKK Klaten ke pengadilan, menyebut langkah tersebut sebagai saluran yang sah untuk memperjuangkan hak di tengah situasi keuangan lembaga yang telah kolaps.