"SC affirms illegal dismissal ruling Qatar electrical engineer case,"

The Supreme Court (SC) has upheld a Court of Appeals (CA) ruling that found I-People Manpower Resources, Inc. and Elec Qatar liable for illegally dismissing one of its electrical engineers...

I-People Manpower and Mr. Monton’s Qatar employer Elec Qatar were ordered to pay Mr. Monton’s unpaid salary of 72,000 Qatari riyals (about P1.1 million), placement fees charged 12% interest, and legal fees charged 10% interest.

The recruitment firm argued that the engineer’s dismissal was due to retrenchment because of lack of activity in Elec Qatar. It described the dismissal as “management prerogative.”...

In 2013, Mr. Monton was hired by Elec Qatar, which performs electro-mechanical services, through the manpower firm for two years. He was given a monthly basic salary of 6,000 riyals or about P90,000.

The employment contract gave Elec Qatar the option to terminate given one month’s notice.

A year later, Mr. Monton received a termination letter from Elec Qatar, which cited low activity levels, prompting the company to reduce staffing levels...