Employer Rights on Employee Indefinite Leave Requests

(Philippine Legal Context)

1. Setting the Stage

Philippine labor statutes do not use the term “indefinite leave.” What actually happens in practice is that an employee asks to be away for an open-ended or very lengthy period—often because of prolonged illness, family caregiving, studies abroad, migration processing, or personal reasons.

The situation sits at the crossroads of (a) the employee’s constitutional right to security of tenure and (b) the employer’s management prerogative to keep the business running. Philippine jurisprudence therefore balances both, recognizing management prerogative but policing it through good-faith exercise and procedural due process.

2. Primary Legal Sources

Provision / Case	Key Take-away for Employers
Labor Code, Art. 297–299 (just & authorized causes)	Absenteeism / abandonment can be just cause for dismissal when the employee’s absence is without valid reason or prolonged without notice.
Labor Code, Art. 95 (5-day Service Incentive Leave)	SIL is with pay but is limited and may even be commuted to cash; beyond this, leave is purely at the employer’s discretion unless a special law applies.
Book III, Rule X, Secs. 6-10 (Omnibus Rules Implementing the Labor Code)	Grants employers latitude to promulgate leave policies.
Special Leave Laws (maternity – RA 11210, paternity – RA 8187, solo parent – RA 8972, Magna Carta for Women, VAWC, PWD sick leave, etc.)	Each statute fixes maximum days and benefit structures; once exhausted, further leave becomes contractual, not statutory.
SC Jurisprudence • Abbott Laboratories v. Alcaraz (G.R. 177367, 23 Jan 2013) • St. Luke’s Medical Ctr. v. Notario (G.R. 195909, 23 Feb 2015) • Interphil Laboratories v. NLRC (G.R. 101988, 9 Oct 1997) • Perpetual Help Credit Coop. v. Faburada (G.R. 121948, 28 June 1999)	The Court consistently sustains dismissal for unauthorized prolonged absence if (1) the employee was duly notified, (2) the absence was prolonged or indefinite, and (3) the employer observed the two-notice rule.
Civil Code, Art. 1700 (contracts must not circumvent labor laws)	Any company policy must still respect minimum statutory standards and good faith.

3. What Counts as “Indefinite” in Practice?

No fixed statutory threshold exists. The Supreme Court has, case-to-case, treated absences of 30 days or more without definite return date—and with inadequate documentation—as tantamount to “indefinite leave.”

Rule of thumb for HR: once an employee cannot specify a clear date of return or repeatedly seeks extensions beyond allowable statutory or earned leave credits, you are already in “indefinite leave” territory.

4. Employer Rights in Detail

Right to promulgate leave policies Art. 294 (now 297) jurisprudence recognizes management prerogative to set attendance standards. Policies may:
- Cap the maximum length of unpaid leave.
- Require formal written requests and supporting documents (e.g., medical certificate).
- State that failure to return after the approved period constitutes AWOL.
Right to require proof and periodic updates Employers may lawfully ask for medical certificates, progress reports, or travel documentation. Non-compliance can be a valid ground to deny or revoke leave.
Right to approve, defer, shorten, or deny the request DOLE’s long-standing advisory opinions confirm that leave beyond statutory entitlements is contractual; thus, approval is discretionary, subject only to the test of good faith and non-discrimination (e.g., you cannot deny leave because the employee is a woman or a union officer).
**Right to place the employee on Leave Without Pay (LWOP) If the employee has exhausted paid leaves and insists on continuing absence, the employer may immediately convert the period to LWOP—even if it ultimately decides to keep the employee on the rolls.
**Right to treat prolonged absence as AWOL or abandonment
- AWOL is normally imposed after unexcused absence of at least 3–5 consecutive days under many company codes, but the penalty may range from suspension to dismissal.
- Abandonment (just cause) requires (a) failure to report without valid reason and (b) a clear intent to sever the employer-employee relationship. Indefinite leave without follow-up has satisfied this test in several cases.
Right to dismiss after due process The two-notice rule still applies:
- 1st notice: Charge the employee with abandonment/AWOL, give 5 calendar days to explain.
- Hearing/clarificatory meeting: Optional but prudent.
- 2nd notice: Decision. In dismissal, state the facts, statutes, company policies, and reason the absence is prejudicial to operations.
Right to hire a permanent replacement Case law (e.g., Alcaraz) upholds the employer’s option to hire a replacement once the vacancy becomes permanent so long as due process is observed.
Right to protect business continuity Employers may redistribute duties, outsource, or reorganize to mitigate disruption. Courts rarely interfere with these operational choices unless motivated by anti-union or discriminatory animus.

5. Employer Obligations & Limitations

Obligation	Legal Basis & Practical Notes
Good-faith, non-discriminatory application of leave rules	Art. 3 Labor Code; RA 6725 (Anti-Discrimination). Denying a female employee indefinite leave but granting it to male peers may be struck down.
Reasonable accommodation for disability-related leave	RA 7277 (Magna Carta for PWDs) and DOLE Department Order 198-18. Where the employee proves a permanent or long-term impairment, the company must show that further accommodation would be an undue hardship before it can refuse.
Special protected leaves trump company policy	Expanded Maternity Leave (105 days + 30 extension without pay); Solo Parent leave (7 days/yr); SSS Sickness Benefit (up to 120 days/yr, 240 days for continuous illness) must be fully granted first.
Occupational Safety & Health (OSH) Act	Employers have a duty to facilitate return-to-work programs for injured/ill workers and to provide SSS-EC benefits processing.
Separation vs ILWs	If the employee is under temporary total disability not exceeding 120 days (extendible to 240 days if justified), dismissal is premature (Crystal Shipping v. Natividad).

6. Practical Workflow for HR / Management

Receive the request in writing → log the date.
Check available statutory & earned leave credits.
Require documentation (medical abstract, itinerary, study permit, etc.).
Evaluate operational impact → Can workload be absorbed? Hire temp?
Issue a formal reply: approve (with clear expiry date) or deny (state objective grounds).
Monitor: if employee fails to report back by expiry + grace period (commonly 3 days), issue Show-Cause / Notice to Explain.
Proceed with due process (two-notice rule).
Document everything for potential NLRC case.

7. Jurisprudential Nuggets Employers Should Cite

“Leave beyond the legal minimum is a mere privilege.” — Interphil Laboratories
“Prolonged absence without notice is abandonment when coupled with intent to sever.” — St. Luke’s Medical Center
“Operational difficulty caused by open-ended absence is a legitimate business concern.” — Abbott v. Alcaraz
“Dismissal while employee is still under the 120-day TTD window is illegal.” — Nagaña v. NLRC (shipyard case)

8. Best-Practice Tips

Embed leave rules in your Employee Handbook or CBA — spell out maximum unpaid leave (e.g., 30 calendar days) and procedural requirements.
Provide a clear “extension request” mechanism — require filing at least 5 days before original expiry unless impossible (hospital confinement).
Use checkpoint letters — remind the employee of the expected return date one week before it lapses.
Offer alternatives — flexible work, part-time, or adjusted duties where feasible; courts view genuine accommodation favorably.
Keep contemporaneous records — email threads, HRIS logs, medical submissions; these become your Exhibit “A” in any NLRC complaint.

9. Conclusion

While Philippine labor law is employee-protective, it does not compel employers to grant open-ended leave once statutory entitlements are spent. The employer’s core rights are to maintain operations, to set reasonable attendance rules, and—after observing due process—to discipline or dismiss an employee whose “indefinite leave” becomes abandonment or renders the employment relationship impossible to carry on. Exercising those rights with consistency, documentation, and humane consideration is the surest defense against illegal dismissal and discrimination suits.

Key References (for further reading): Labor Code of the Philippines (as renumbered), Omnibus Rules Implementing the Labor Code, Supreme Court decisions cited above, DOLE Labor Advisory on Absenteeism, RA 11210, RA 7277, RA 8972, RA 8187, OSH Act (RA 11058), SSS Law (RA 11199).