5/28/2020 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly Petitioner’s allegation that respondent was inefficient in her work and negligent in her duties[69] may, therefore, constitute a just cause for termination under Article 282(b), but only if petitioner was able to prove it. The burden of proving that there is just cause for termination is on the employer. “The employer must affirmatively show rationally adequate evidence that the dismissal was for a justifiable cause.”[70] Failure to show that there was valid or just cause for termination would necessarily mean that the dismissal was illegal.[71] To show that dismissal resulting from inefficiency in work is valid, it must be shown that: 1) the employer has set standards of conduct and workmanship against which the employee will be judged; 2) the standards of conduct and workmanship must have been communicated to the employee; and 3) the communication was made at a reasonable time prior to the employee’s performance assessment. This is similar to the law and jurisprudence on probationary employees, which allow termination of the employee only when there is “just cause or when [the probationary employee] fails to qualify as a regular employee in accordance with reasonable standards made known by the employer to the employee at the time of his [or her] engagement.”[72] However, we do not see why the application of that ruling should be limited to probationary employment. That rule is basic to the idea of security of tenure and due process, which are guaranteed to all employees, whether their employment is probationary or regular. The pre-determined standards that the employer sets are the bases for determining the probationary employee’s fitness, propriety, efficiency, and qualifications as a regular employee. Due process requires that the probationary employee be informed of such standards at the time of his or her engagement so he or she can adjust his or her character or workmanship accordingly. Proper adjustment to fit the standards upon which the employee’s qualifications will be evaluated will increase one’s chances of being positively assessed for regularization by his or her employer. Assessing an employee’s work performance does not stop after regularization. The employer, on a regular basis, determines if an employee is still qualified and efficient, based on work standards. Based on that determination, and after complying with the due process requirements of notice and hearing, the employer may exercise its management prerogative of terminating the employee found unqualified. The regular employee must constantly attempt to prove to his or her employer that he or she meets all the standards for employment. This time, however, the standards to be met are set for the purpose of retaining employment or promotion. The employee cannot be expected to meet any standard of character or workmanship if such standards were not communicated to him or her. Courts should remain vigilant on allegations of the employer’s failure to communicate work standards that would govern one’s employment “if [these are] to discharge in good faith [their] duty to elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/57319 7/39