Republic of the PhilippinesDepartment of Labor and Employment

NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS COMMISSIONQuezon City

ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER No. _0_'7_-_17(Series of 2012)

FOR: All Officials and Employees ConcernedNLRC Central Office, yth and 8th Divisions, Regional Arbitration Branches

RE: INTERNA~ GUIDELINES FOR THE RELEASE OF TRUST FUNDS

In view of various complaints received and the inconsistent procedure in therelease of trust funds, the following internal guidelines are hereby issued to ensureuniformity of procedure in the release of trust/fiduciary funds:

1. OBJECTIVES

a. To prescribe a uniform procedure in the processing and requirementsfor the release of trust funds.

b. To set a clear delineation of responsibilities of each office over therelease of trust funds.

c. To simplify the procedure and eliminate "red tape" in the processing ofthe release of trust funds.

2. GENERAL GUIDELINES

a. All releases from trust funds shall be covered by an approveddisbursement voucher in the name of the payee who should be a partyin the labor case as per Order of Release issued by the Labor Arbiter orthe Commissioner.

b. All checks shall be crossed or marked "for payee's account only" exceptwhen the amount to be released in favor of the complainant oraggrieved employee is less than P10,000 as it is impractical on his part

. to open an account for the said payment. Uncrossing of check is to bedone upon the request of the claimant only. .

PPSTA Building No.5, Banawe Avenue corner P. Florentino Street, 1114 Quezon Citywebsite: www.nlrc.dole.gov.ph e-mail address:info@nlrc.dole.gov.ph

c. No amount shall be paid to persons or entities, including familymembers, relatives, lawyers, attorney-in-fact, unions and employeesassociations, if they are not parties to the case, except when it is in thedispositive portion of the final and executory judgment or when there issubstitution made in case of the death of any party.

d. Attorney's fees shall be paid to the judgment creditor, not to his counsel,since the same are awards in the concept of damages. If the lawyerfiles an attorney's lien, the amount covered by the said lien shall bewithheld unless the judgment creditor gives his consent in writing or anOrder is issued by the appropriate authority directing the release of thesaid amount to the lawyer.

e. When a TRO or injunction is issued, the party concerned must directlyfurnish the office of Labor Arbiter or Commissioner and the Financialand Management Division with the copy of the same. Otherwise, theNLRC and its officials cannot be held responsible for releasing theamount to the payee.

3. SPECIFIC GUIDELINES, PROCEDURES AND RESPONSIBILITY

A. Filing of Motion for the Issuance of Order to Release Trust Funds

1.a The release of trust funds must originate upon motion for the issuanceof an Order of Release filed by the winning party with the Office of theLabor Arbiter/Commissioner handling the execution.

B. Issuance of the Order to Release Trust Funds

1.b Upon receipt of the motion for the issuance of Order of Release, theconcerned Office of Labor Arbiter/Commissioner shall verify from therecords of the case the following:

• Receipt by the NLRC Cashier of monetary deposit orproceeds from garnishments or executions.

• Finality of the Decision/Resolution/Order.• Computation and distribution of the monetary awards in the

case of multi-party labor case.• No previous Order of Release has been issued• No payment for monetary claims has been made.

2.b After the complete verification of the above requirements, the Office ofLabor Arbiter/Commissioner shall issue an Order of Release whichmust expressly contain the following information:

• Official Receipt (OR) number, date and amount• The specific amount to be released

• The complete name/s of the party(ies) to which the monetaryjudgment awards shall be released

• The computation or distribution of the amount if the recipientinvolves more than one (1) person.

3.b The original copy of the Order of Release monetary judgment awardsshall be forwarded to the Accounting Unit, Financial and ManagementDivision of the Commission and must be supported with the following:

• Certification that the Decision/Resolution/Order has becomefinal and executory and there being no injunction ortemporary restraining order (TRO) was issued.

4.b The Office of Labor Arbiter at the arbitration level and the Office ofCommissioner at the appellate level must maintain a separate RecordBook to register/log all Orders of Release issued, the date oftransmittal, and acknowledgment of the receipt of the Order of Releaseby the Accounting Unit.

C. Processing of Disbursements Voucher and Certification ofAvailability of Funds

1.c The Accounting Unit shall acknowledge the receipt of the Order ofRelease with the attached Certification of Finality of the Decision,Resolution or Order by stamping on the face of the documents"Received," indicating therein the date, time, printed name andsignature of the person who actually received the documents and in theRecord Book maintained by the Office of Labor Arbiter orCommissioner.

The Accounting Unit must maintain its separate Record Bookand shall record or register the receipt of the Order of Release and theCertification of Finality of the Decision, Resolution or Order indicatingtherein the date, time of the receipt of the document, the name andsignature of person who actually received the document and shallassign queue number.

2.c Upon receipt of said Order of Release and the Certificate of Finality ofthe Decision, Resolution or Order, availability of funds shall be verifiedfrom the subsidiary record of trust fund deposit for a specific particularcase.

3.c If the trust fund deposit has a sufficient amount to cover the Order ofRelease, the Disbursement Voucher shall simultaneously be processedto be signed by the Accountant to certify that the fund is available andsupporting documents are complete.

In case of non- availability of funds or discrepancies, theAccounting Unit shall advise and return the Order of Release

immediately to the Office of the concerned Labor Arbiter orCommissioner which issued the same.

4.c The routing of the Disbursement Voucher (DV) to the approving officersha:" be registered in the Record Book maintained for the receipt andprocessing of the Order of Release.

D. Issuance and Releasing of Checks

1.d Upon receipt of the approved DV, the Cashier, after validating theamount appearing in the said DV with the attached Order of Release,shall issue a check and prepare a corresponding advice to the bank forthe payment/release of trust funds.

2.d The Cashier shall sign the check and the corresponding advice to thebank, record the issuance of the check in the Check Register, and shallimmediately forward the same to the approving officer who willcountersign the check.

3.d Releasing of the Check

The Cashier shall release the check only to the payee namedtherein upon presentation of two (2) valid government issuedidentification cards for proper identification.

In the event of inability of the payee to personally claim the checkdue to justifiable circumstance(s), an authorized representative, byvirtue of a Special Power of Attorney approved by the LaborArbiter/Commissioner handling the case, may claim the check in behalfof the payee after presentation of the following documents:

• Three (3) copies of Special Power of Attorney• Three (3) copies of two (2) valid government issued

identification cards of the payee• Three (3) copies of two (2) valid government issued

identification cards of representative

In case the payee is a corporation, the check can only be releasedafter presentation of the following documents:

• Three (3) copies of Secretary's Certificate authorizing toclaim the check

• Three (3) copies of the two (2) valid government issuedidentification cards of the party signing Secretary's Certificate

• Three (3) copies of the two (2) valid government issuedidentification cards of authorized representative claiming thecheck.

E. Reporting

1.e Th1e Cashier shall submit Report of Checks Issued and report ofunolaimed checks on daily basis to the Accounting Unit;

2.e The Cashier shall inform the Office of the Labor Arbiter orCommissioner concerned of the release of check to the payee incompliance with the Order of Release by furnishing him/her with thephotocopy of the approved disbursement voucher and the checkiss~ed for the payment. Upon receipt of the said documents, the LaborArbiter or Commissioner concerned shall cause the stamping oranrlotation on the face of the case folder, the check number, amount

I

and the date of release of the check.

3.e The report of checks issued shall within ten (10) days be verified,recorded through Journal Entry Voucher (JEV), Checks DisbursementJournal for Trust Funds, Subsidiary Ledgers validation and to beforwarded to the Commission On Audit for post audit purposes.

F. ADMINISTRATIVE SANCTION FOR NON-COMPLIANCE

Any employee or official who will deliberately violate or fails to comply withthese guidelines in the releasing of trust funds will be dealt administratively.

G. EFFECTIVITY

These guidelines shall take effect immediately.

05 July 2012.

. NOGRALESmanr

PROCESS FLOW IN THE RELEASE OF FIDUCIARY FUNDS(RELEASE OF MONETARY JUDGMENT AWARDS OR CASH BONDS)

STEP PROCEDURE

1 Filing of Motion for Issuance of Order of Release

2

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5

6

7

8

9

Issuance of the Order of Release

Transmittal of the Order of Release to the Accounting Unit

Verification of availability of trust funds deposit

Preparation of Disbursement Voucher (DV) based on theOrder of Release and trust funds deposits

Routing of DV for approval to the authorized signatories

Transmittal of the approved DV to the Cashier.

In case of Non-availability of funds, Order of Release willbe returned to the issuing Labor Arbiter/Commissioner

Preparation of Check and Advice to the Bank

Releasing of Check

NOTE: When TRO or Injunction is issued within theperiod of processing, the partyjies concerned mustdirectly furnish the Office of Labor Arbiter orCommissioner who issued the Order of Release, theFMD-Accounting Unit and the Cash Unit with thecopy of the same. Otherwise, the NLRC cannot beheld responsible for releasing the trust funds to thepayee stated in the Order of Release.

REQUIREMENTS IN CLAIMING THE CHECKS

A. For Judgment Monetary Awards

a. If the claimant is the payee, he must present two(2) valid government issued identification cards

b. If the claimant is an authorized representative, he

OFFICE/PERSONRESPON-

SIBLECornplainant/sor Respondent

Labor Arbiter/Commissioner

MFD/Accounting

Unit

Cash Unit:LBP - CentralOfficeUCPB - NCRCash Unit:LBP - CentralOfficeUCPB - NCR

TIMEFRAME

One (1) Dayexcept for2006 casesand belowwhich theAccountingUnit allotsample timeforverification ofavailability offunds fromthe records

Within theday fromreceipt ofapproved DVUpon claimandpresentationof therequirements

PROCEDURE OFFICE!PERSONRESPON-

SIBLE

TIMEFRAME

must present/submit the following documents:

1. three (3) copies of Special Power of Attorneyii. three (3) copies of two (2) valid governmentissued identification cards of payeeiii. three (3) copies of two (2) valid governmentissued identification cards of representative

B. For Release of Cash Bond

a. If the payee is the Company and/or privaterespondent

i. Special Power of Attorney (SPA) executed by theprivate respondent

ii. Three (3) copies of two (2) valid governmentissued identification card of executing party

iii. three (3) copies of two (2) valid governmentissued identification card of attorney-in-fact

b. If the payee is a corporation

i. three (3) copies of Secretary's Certificateii. three (3) copies of two (2) valid government

issued identification cards of signing partyiii. three (3) copies of two (2) valid government

issued identification cards of authorizedrepresentative

NOTE: The Cashier shall check if the authority to sign thevoucher and to receive the check from the NLRC should bespecified in the SPA/Secretary's Certificate.

If the SPA is executed abroad, the said SPA togetherwith the photocopy of 2 valid ID cards should beauthenticated by the Philippine Embassy based thereat.

In case of doubt as to the identity of the claimantbased on the credentials or documents presented, he shallaccomplish a Clearance for Release of Check to beapproved by the handling Labor Arbiter.

2

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STEP PROCEDURE

must present/submit the following documents:

i. three (3) copies of Special Power of Attorneyii. three (3) copies of two (2) valid governmentissued identification cards of payeeiii. three (3) copies of two (2) valid governmentissued identification cards of representative

B. For Release of Cash Bond

a. If the payee is the Company and/or privaterespondent

i. Special Power of Attorney (SPA) executed by theprivate respondent

ii. Three (3) copies of two (2) valid governmentissued identification card of executing party

iii. three (3) copies of two (2) valid governmentissued identification card of attorney-in-fact

b. If the payee is a corporation

i. three (3) copies of Secretary's Certificateii. three (3) copies of two (2) valid government

issued identification cards of signing partyiii. three (3) copies of two (2) valid government

issued identification cards of authorizedrepresentative

NOTE: The Cashier shall check if the authority to sign thevoucher and to receive the check from the NLRC should bespecified in the SPA/Secretary's Certificate.

If the SPA is executed abroad, the said SPA togetherwith the photocopy of 2 valid ID cards should beauthenticated by the Philippine Embassy based thereat.

In case of doubt as to the identity of the claimantbased on the credentials or documents presented, he shallaccomplish a Clearance for Release of Check to beapproved by the handling Labor Arbiter.

2

OFFICE!PERSONRESPON-

SIBLE

TIMEFRAME