The Supreme Court ruled that the overseas Filipino worker illegally dismissed due to HIV by his employer is still entitled to full compensation.
In its decision promulgated on February 14, 2024 but was recently published, the SC stressed that Republic Act No. 11166 or the Philippine HIV and AIDS Policy Act prohibits termination of workers solely based on their HIV status.
The SC added that if a foreign law stated in the employment contract contradicts Philippine law, morals, good customs, public order, or public policy, then the Philippine law shall apply.
A former OFW in Saudi Arabia worked in Saudi Arabia in 2017 as a cleaning laborer with a two-year contract.
The OFW complained in 2019 that he was terminated after testing positive for HIV.
“While it is true that disease may be a ground for termination under Article 299 of the Labor Code, as amended and renumbered, Bison has conceded that HIV positive is not yet an illness or disease,” the court said in the decision penned by Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa.
“Let this case be an affirmation of the State’s promise to protect Filipino workers, here and abroad,” the court added.
