HELP, about work and overtime!

[cyberredz]

question lang po.

my friend has been looking for a job for three months now.and yesterday she got the job of a receptionist/asst. secretary to a small firm in ortigas.

The company is engaged in a multi-level marketing, and as to what she said, bago pa lang yung company. their boss is a korean, 2 or 3 speakers and 2 secretaries including her.

i asked her magkano sweldo, she said "minimum" daw. pero ira-raise daw yun depende sa tagal nya sa company. ang office hours nya ay from 9-6pm.

1. i'd like to ask magkano na ba ang minimum salary ngayon? from where i left, i think its 250 per day. ganun pa rin ba ngayon yun?

2. she also tells libre **** daw ang lunch, pero silang 2 secretary ang magluluto, ang masama pa nito alas 2pm na hindi pa sila kumakain. she just phone me about 10 minutes ago.
i believe wala silang break during 12-1pm. is this right?

3.also, since kakaunti lang sila sa kumpanya, there are other tasks na minsan outside na sa job description nya, ipapagawa pa. like mag-uurong/magluluto/maglilinis ng room. although sabi **** nya tulong-tulong daw sila. i doubt this kse, matatanda na yung iba nyang kasama (aged 30above)

4.since her work is from 9-6pm, there are instances daw na bka mag-stay pa sya dun hanggang 7pm or so, for other trivial work like mag-aayos room for a recent meeting. can this be charged as overtime?

i'm a little worried kse ako ang nakakita ng job ads na yun sa internet and i recommend it to her.


pls help.

[green grin]

cyberredz -

1) on the minimum wage, maybe someone else can answer that.

2) from the labor code - "ART. 85. Meal periods. - Subject to such regulations as the Secretary of Labor may prescribe, it shall be the duty of every employer to give his employees not less than sixty (60) minutes time-off for their regular meals."

it seems that as long as they are given 60 minutes (2-3pm, for instance) it is perfectly legal. there might be a later regulation regarding this that the other legal beagles might know about.

also, a free lunch doesn't entail cooking it! tell her to talk to her boss about this - is cooking time part of her work time or lunch time?

3) 30 and above IS NOT OLD!!!! how dare you...?!?

kidding lang, cyberredz. :)

in small offices, everyone pitches in to do the little things. (i'm still uneasy about this "luto" thing.)

4) here's the labor code provision on overtime - "ART. 87. Overtime work. - Work may be performed beyond eight (8) hours a day provided that the employee is paid for the overtime work, an additional compensation equivalent to his regular wage plus at least twenty-five percent (25%) thereof. Work performed beyond eight hours on a holiday or rest day shall be paid an additional compensation equivalent to the rate of the first eight hours on a holiday or rest day plus at least thirty percent (30%) thereof."

ask your friend to talk to her boss about the terms and conditions of her work in regards to job description (that cooking thing has to be clarified), overtime, etc., so that things are clear.

god bless you for your concern over your friend.

[saywhat]

siguro consulting the labor code would help her. pls visit this site: chanrobles law library (http://www.chanrobles.com/legal4labor.html)

sorry, i don't know kung magkano na minimum wage ngayon.

as for performing other functions, depende kung ano naka-indicate sa appointment letter niya. andun dapat ang scope ng responsibilities niya. kung hindi siya binigyan, she should demand for it, signatures and all.

ano ba ang working hours niya? since office work yun, dapat 9 hours pag kasama lunch break. beyond that, she should charge overtime pay. don't forget na may night differential pa.

[cyberredz]

Originally posted by green grin
cyberredz -

1) on the minimum wage, maybe someone else can answer that.

2) from the labor code - "ART. 85. Meal periods. - Subject to such regulations as the Secretary of Labor may prescribe, it shall be the duty of every employer to give his employees not less than sixty (60) minutes time-off for their regular meals."

it seems that as long as they are given 60 minutes (2-3pm, for instance) it is perfectly legal. there might be a later regulation regarding this that the other legal beagles might know about.

also, a free lunch doesn't entail cooking it! tell her to talk to her boss about this - is cooking time part of her work time or lunch time?

3) 30 and above IS NOT OLD!!!! how dare you...?!?

kidding lang, cyberredz. :)

in small offices, everyone pitches in to do the little things. (i'm still uneasy about this "luto" thing.)

4) here's the labor code provision on overtime - "ART. 87. Overtime work. - Work may be performed beyond eight (8) hours a day provided that the employee is paid for the overtime work, an additional compensation equivalent to his regular wage plus at least twenty-five percent (25%) thereof. Work performed beyond eight hours on a holiday or rest day shall be paid an additional compensation equivalent to the rate of the first eight hours on a holiday or rest day plus at least thirty percent (30%) thereof."

ask your friend to talk to her boss about the terms and conditions of her work in regards to job description (that cooking thing has to be clarified), overtime, etc., so that things are clear.

god bless you for your concern over your friend.

Thanks a lot green beagle and Saywhat

1. do everybody here gets paid beyond the minimum salary?

2.as for the free lunch, pinag-grocery pa daw sila during noontime at robinsons galleria. hmm, sort of ok lang, at least hindi palengke or wet market. then sila nga 2 secretary ang pinagluluto.good thing, hindi pa marunong magluto ang friend ko kaya tumutulong lang sya magprepare. today she brought with her something to eat in case abutin na **** ng 2pm ang lunch.
i'll ask her today kung talagang inaabot nga ng 2pm ang lunch or nagkataon lang ngayon yun.

3.my mistake about that 30yrs. old, the oldert i think is in mid-40s, on in 30's and the other girl is in late 20s.

4.the bad thing about work time is that they don't have logbook to monitor overtime/tardiness.

5.is it right to demand a written statement of her job description for such a small company such as my friend's?

6. there are other flaws that i have seen, my friend asked about the deductions in her salary. the other secretary replied there are deductions such as SSS and witholding tax. Although my friend was wondering how come "hindi **** nila kinuha yung SSS number/TIN number nya". i assumed maybe later since there are other things to attend to. i will have to check on it when their salary comes.

kung skali ba na nakaltasan sya ng tax, SSS and i doubt kung nairemit nga ito sa SSS/BIR, then matatawag ba na liable sila
for ..i don't know what u call that. criminal act?

[saywhat]

do everybody here gets paid beyond the minimum salary?
i get beyond minimum wage.
as for the free lunch, pinag-grocery pa daw sila during noontime at robinsons galleria. hmm, sort of ok lang, at least hindi palengke or wet market.
i thought secretary sila? trabaho na ng messenger 'yan a, or ng katulong.
the bad thing about work time is that they don't have logbook to monitor overtime/tardiness.
tsk tsk... office work yun, wala naman sila sa field. they should keep a logbook at least. anyway, marami ring small offices na may ganitong practice. kaso hindi tama, lalo na kung palaging nirerequire mag-overtime ang empleyado. agrabyado sila.
is it right to demand a written statement of her job description for such a small company such as my friend's?
it's their basic right to know what they are officially tasked to do. wala naman 'yun sa liit ng kompanya. hangga't maaari, dapat in writing (i don't know kung nasa labor code 'to). but as far as i know, any respectable company does this. u may want to PM council. i think HR manager siya. he/she knows about these things.
there are deductions such as SSS and witholding tax...
she can check that with SSS kung naireremit. ask her to call SSS.
then matatawag ba na liable sila for ..i don't know what u call that. criminal act?
i'll try to check on this.

[Fairy_nd_meadow]

On the minimum wage:

Yes, P250 is STILL the minimum wage, although those falling within the bracket of P250 to P290 per day MUST receive an EMERGENCY COST OF LIVING ALLOWANCE (ECOLA) which is P30 (P15 to be given effective Nov. 5, P15 to be given Feb 2002).

Your friend therefore should receive an ECOLA of P15 per day by now.

[Fairy_nd_meadow]

More.

I surmise that the 1 hour break is already included in the 9-6 working sched. We should work 8 hours a day, plus 1 hour as meal break, so 9-6 makes sense. Maybe your friend's bosses think your friend would have sense enough to have his/her break (and eat a decent meal) during lunchtime without getting "told". I mean, everybody eats.

And as for the "other tasks", it would be good to ask for a Job Description, but if the company does not provide one, ask for a briefing. If your friend is a probationary employee, the standards for regularization should be clarified with him/her. It would be good if everything is put into writing. A Job Description is not something difficult to do anyway. Just ask your boss to list down all your expected tasks, although there is a proper format for a JD, but in case your boss doesn't know how to come up with one, then simply ask him/her to list down your tasks.

Yes, work beyond 8 hours should be given overtime pay, for employees who are entitled to OT.... there are some who are not like managers, etc.

More later, have to work. ;)

[cyberredz]

Originally posted by Fairy_nd_meadow
More.

I surmise that the 1 hour break is already included in the 9-6 working sched. We should work 8 hours a day, plus 1 hour as meal break, so 9-6 makes sense. Maybe your friend's bosses think your friend would have sense enough to have his/her break (and eat a decent meal) during lunchtime without getting "told". I mean, everybody eats.

And as for the "other tasks", it would be good to ask for a Job Description, but if the company does not provide one, ask for a briefing. If your friend is a probationary employee, the standards for regularization should be clarified with him/her. It would be good if everything is put into writing. A Job Description is not something difficult to do anyway. Just ask your boss to list down all your expected tasks, although there is a proper format for a JD, but in case your boss doesn't know how to come up with one, then simply ask him/her to list down your tasks.

Yes, work beyond 8 hours should be given overtime pay, for employees who are entitled to OT.... there are some who are not like managers, etc.

More later, have to work. ;)


thanks a lot to saywhat and Fairy_nd Meadow
you guys seem to know a lot about work and employee-manager relations. ive been telling this all to my friend everytime we get to talk. She, too had been enlightened. Its her third job, but the past two were on contractual.

1. Their korean boss lives at the office. dun na sya natutulog ska kumakain. kaya siguro he doesn't mind kung uwian na ng empleyado. i told my friend to watch out her payslip for miscalculation(s) of work-hours.

2.about the lunch-time hours, i called her up today.since there are now 2 secretaries, during the 12-1PM period, one has to take her lunch while the other takes her position to watch over her duty. then palit sila pagkatapos nung isa.

they were given free time to have lunch but not the full 60minutes, isa pa kailangan naka-duty pa sila

Also, they were asked to stay up to 7PM tonight for a meeting. i told her that should be charged to overtime. ang sabi nya, baka wala daw, kse ala naman logbook.

they(2 secretary) were afraid to tell their job concern to their korean boss , thinking it shall be resolved later as the company progresses.

3.Since the company she is working right now is just starting, (my friend said the company started just a month ago), they havent' arranged matters like remittance of SSS or witholding tax and the like. so that explains the reason why the company didn't asked yet for my friend's SSS or TIN no.

[Fairy_nd_meadow]

You know what, your company needs to hire an HR person. Their SSS remittances should be done as soon as possible! They will get penalized if they don't do this right away!

Maybe your friend's Korean boss needs to be told on some things he doesn't yet know, the urgency of things, etc..... I am just baffled how come the managers there aren't telling him what should be done.

Well, with regards to the lunchbreak (not being able to enjoy the 1 hour break), lots of employees experience the same thing.... although the Phil. Labor Code does provide for 1 full hour.... sometimes we cannot enjoy the 1 full hour lunch break because of the volume of work.

If their Tax Identification Nos. and SSS nos. are not being asked yet, then ask your friend to ask whoever is in charge what is being done so that SSS gets remitted and their taxes as well. :)

[cyberredz]

Fairy_nd_meadow

salamat for the concern. ako naga eh, gusto ko nang bigyan ng leksyon yung koreano na yun about employee relations eh.

andami kasing flaws sa pamamalakad nila sa opisina. palagi yung koreano ang nasusunod.parang takot nga sila na umangal. umangal man sila, wala din nangyayari. yung 2 secretary lang (including my friend) ang apekatado eh. yung ibang empleyado, 3 speakers doesn't even care.

the three main concern ko lang **** is

1. Their overtime is not yet clear kung babayaran ba or hindi.
2. SSS and witholding tax ay hindi pa naayos.
3. scope of work goes beyond what is expected. like uutusan magcanvass sa megamall ng isang product. trabaho ba ito ng secretary?


minsan nga nag-iiimagine ako na ipatitira ko itong koreano na ito eh. NAKAKAASAR na.

if possible ba, who can i get help regarding the above problems?mayron ba na pwede akong pagsumbungan sa hindi mabuting pamamalakad nila?

[Fairy_nd_meadow]

If your friend is neither a supervisor nor a manager, not a sales employee or a field employee, then she is entitled to Overtime pay. This therefore need not be asked and the company he/she is working for cannot say otherwise. If your friend is a staff, he/she should expect OT pay.

Who to turn to? Hmmmm.... You know, we're supposed to be protected by the Dept. of Labor but in reality.... well, why go through all the hassle? I strongly suggest your friend sort this out within the company. ASK, ASK, ASK. Let them know that your friend is aware of her rights.... If this doesn't work, well.... tell your friend to find a better job. There are lots of companies who abide by the Code, and some even go beyond what is provided for by the Labor Code.... :p

[saywhat]

Originally posted by cyberredz
salamat for the concern. ako naga eh, gusto ko nang bigyan ng leksyon yung koreano na yun about employee relations eh.

baka bago lang 'yan sa pilipinas. baka ganun talaga ang sistema nila sa korea ~ inaalila ang sekretarya. :rolleyes: or... baka abusado lang talaga.

anyway, if ur friend (and her co-workers) wouldn't talk to her korean boss about her complaints, then paano maaayos ang sistema nila sa office? huwag siya kamo mahihiya. maaapi siya pag ganun.

got more to say pa sana. kaso got a meeting. be back later.