Practice question
An employee who is not a lawyer personally appears in her own illegal dismissal case before a Labor Arbiter. The employer objects solely because she has not hired counsel. How should that objection be resolved?
- Sustain it because only lawyers may appear in all labor proceedings
- Sustain it unless the employer later consents
- Sustain it because personal appearance is confined to money claims
- Sustain it because the employee must first join a union
- Reject it; self-representation is a recognized nonlawyer appearance
Legal references
- https://lawphil.net/statutes/presdecs/pd1974/pd_442_1974.html — Labor Code, Article 228 [formerly 222], Appearances and Fees.
- https://nlrc.dole.gov.ph/uploads/content/The%202025%20NLRC%20Rules%20of%20Procedure.pdf — 2025 NLRC Rules, Rule III, Sections 6–7, pages 5–6.
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