Thoughts from Home

Oh, forgot to blog about my youngest sister who landed a restaurant job last month. She was too excited about it that she doesn’t seem to care about how underpayed she was. Before she received her first salary, she’s so excited planning what to do with that meager amount. And when payday came, she shopped for her things and asked allowance from me the next day. Turned out, she is working with salary not enough for her shopping spree and I still have to give her allowance so she may be able to go to work. Unfair! So I’ve been bugging her to resign since she’s not getting anything from that work. Her salary would not be enough if she gets sick because she’s been working on graveyard shift. She wouldn’t resign at first because she claims she’s enjoying the experience of being in the limelight especially that her immediate superior involves her in initial employee screening. Another thing is, she claims she’ll get a raise from PhP120 to PhP150. Is that what you call a raise? Later on she realized it’s not worth the effort working in that 24-hour restaurant with a salary that could not even sustain her personal needs. When she told her employer she will resign, they won’t allow her telling her that they will have a hard time finding a replacement. Hey, aren’t they using their coconut shells? Who would want to work 8 hours a day on a graveyard shift with a salary just twice the regular rate of a househelp? If it was me, I would rather stay at home and receive nothing than by risking my health. After all, there are better things to do than rendering labor of love to that restaurant owned by a Chinese citizen.

I was actually telling her that I would call her workplace and tell the management how they have violated the labor code. Imagine paying an employee who is working 8-hours a day (not including meal breaks) on a graveyard shift receiving only PhP150 (less that $4) a day without night differential? Where on earth do you find that employer? Aren’t they aware of the minimum salary mandated by the government?