Does an employee have to seek prior consent from SSS before he may file a suit in court against his employer for failure to remit the SSS loan contributions?
One of the issues that an employer may raise against the employee is that the employee failed to secure the consent of the SSS before he filed the suit for failure to remit the SSS loan amortizations. Is the consent of the SSS necessary before a suit may be filed against the employer?
This was one of the issues raised by the employer in the case of Victor de Jesus vs. CA (GR No. 101630). In this case, the petitioner and his stepmother who are both directors of the Southern Island Colleges were charged with violation of Section 28 (h) of the Social Security Law for their failure to remit the SSS loan amortizations of the respondent employee.
In its motion to quash, the petitioner argued that the City Prosecutor was not authorized to file the Information in the absence of prior authority from the SSS.
The Supreme Court ruled against the petitioner. It found that prior authorization from the SSS is not necessary before a suit may be filed in court against an employer. In fact, an employee may institute criminal suits independently of the SSS. Section 28 (i) of RA 1161 states that “(i) Criminal action arising from a violation of the provisions of this Act may be commenced by the SSS or the employee concerned either under this Act or in appropriate cases under the Revised Penal Code: Provided, That such criminal action may be filed by the SSS in the city or municipality where the SSS provincial or regional office is located if the violation was committed within its territorial jurisdiction or in Metro Manila, at the option of the SSS.”
Based on this provision, prior consent of the SSS is not necessary before an employee may file a criminal action arising from the violation of the provisions of RA 1161.
