Visitorial and Enforcement Power of DOLE

This notwithstanding, the power of the Regional Director to hear and decide the monetary claims of employees is not absolute. The last sentence of Article 128 (b) of the Labor Code, otherwise known as the “exception clause,” provides an instance when the Regional Director or his representatives may be divested of jurisdiction over a labor standards case.

Under prevailing jurisprudence, the so-called “exception clause” has the following elements, all of which must concur:

1. that the employer contests the findings of the labor regulations officer and raises issues thereon;
2. that in order to resolve such issues, there is a need to examine evidentiary matters; and
3. that such matters are not verifiable in the normal course of inspection. (Meteoro v. Creative Creatures, G.R. No. 171275, July 13, 2009)