The second requisite that must be complied with by an employer for a valid
dismissal is to afford the erring employee due process. The due process
requirement is not a mere formality that may be dispensed with at will. Its
disregard is a matter of serious concern since it constitutes a safeguard of the
highest order in response to man’s innate sense of justice.[39] The Labor Code does
not, of course, require a formal or trial type proceeding before an erring employee
may be dismissed. This is especially true in the case of a vessel on the ocean or in
a foreign port. The minimum requirement of due process in termination
proceedings, which must be complied with even with respect to seamen on board a
vessel, consists of notice to the employees intended to be dismissed and the grant
to them of an opportunity to present their own side of the alleged offense or
misconduct, which led to the management’s decision to terminate.[40] To meet the
requirements of due process, the employer must furnish the worker sought to be
dismissed with two written notices before termination of employment can be
legally effected, i.e., (1) a notice which apprises the employee of the particular acts
or omissions for which his dismissal is sought; and (2) the subsequent notice after
due hearing which informs the employee of the employers decision to dismiss him.
[41]
Now, in the case at bar, this Court is convinced that the petitioners also
failed to comply with the second requisite in effecting a valid dismissal, which is to
afford the respondents due process. As previously discussed herein, to meet the
requirements of due process, it is indispensable upon the employer to furnish the
employee sought to be dismissed with two written notices. The warning
notices[42] given by the petitioners to the respondents cannot be deemed as
substantial compliance with the two-notice requirement as mandated by the Labor
Code in effecting a valid dismissal. Those warning notices did not specify in detail
the particular acts or omissions committed by the respondents which showed their
incompetence. Worse still it did not apprise them that their dismissal was
sought. Such notices were stated in a general manner. It was never mentioned
therein that the petitioners would dismiss the respondents. Although the
petitioners claimed that those notices were given to the respondents days before
they were repatriated, the same leaves much to be desired.