SC employee suspended for six months over absenteeism

An employee of the Supreme Court was suspended for six months and one day for unauthorized absences.

In a seven-page en banc resolution, Justice Romeo Callejo Sr. also admonished Karen Cuenca, Clerk II of the property division of the Office of Administrative Services (OAS), for loafing during office hours.

Callejo also warned Cuenca that she would be punished more severely if she repeated the offense.

Records from the SC showed Cuenca was absent from work 82 times and late 66 times last year. She also incurred 9.8 days of undertime.

Ordered to justify her absences, Cuenca wrote a letter to the OAS that detailed her dental and medical problems. She presented medical certificates to support the claim.

But OAS chief and deputy Clerk of Court Eden Candelaria said the certificates only excused Cuenca on the days she consulted with her doctors.

While Cuenca was advised to get some bed rest, her certificates did not specify the period for her bed rest, Candelaria also noted.

Callejo cited Civil Service rules that require the approval of all sick leaves.

He said proof of sickness or disability must be attached to applications for leaves of more than five consecutive days.

In another decision, written by Justice Artemio Panganiban, the SC third division upheld a decision by the Court of Appeals to award separation pay to Anastacio Abad. The court ordered his employer, Philippine Commercial International Bank, to pay him the equivalent of half a month’s salary for every year of service.