Working in the Philippines

Posts Tagged ‘employment’

Employment conditions when working for even international companies in the Philippines will usually be sub-standard to what you would expect back home. There are labor laws to protect your rights but exercising them and gaining redress is almost a pointless waste of time and money. In real terms and with a few large corporation exceptions, you won’t have much in the way of worker’s rights, so accept that.

The attitude is all too often one of ‘you are lucky I give you a job’ rather than being valued as a part of the team that helps the owner make money. The fact that everyone is replaceable and there are millions to replace you probably helps this thinking. Added to that the attitude of the well off in most Asian countries to the less fortunate is one we also had in our western societies, albeit back in the middle ages or during the industrial revolution.

Expect to work many hours. Not longer hours, they use 60 minutes as the standard there too, they just expect you to be at your desk for longer. Even if you and everyone else isn’t really achieving anything, it is the perception of how loyal you are to the company that counts. I have worked in companies where everyone has to be there on Saturday and the day is spent wishing we were with our families and doing little productive work if any. What’s the point?

The point is the culture expects people to pay lip service to the hierarchy in place. You will refer to your managers as “Sir Joseph” and “Ma’am Ling Ling”. They will also refer to each other by qualification such as “Attorney Bong” and “Engineer Gusing”. So that should give you an inclination of how the work place operates.

You might not get much of a meal break. You could be expected to arrive at 8am and not leave until 6om, except Saturdays where they will let you come later and go earlier… perhaps. Forget workers compensation if you are injured on the job. There is more chance they will fire you than pay for your medical treatment, something I have witnessed first hand at a Cebu ESL facility with one of the other American teachers.

If you are too ill to come to work, the local practise in smaller firms is to find someone to replace you from your family. Quite an acceptable practice in shops and on building sites but it doesn’t work for us in more executive positions. I had a fellow ESL teacher commit suicide because he was unable to return to work immediately after suffering a heart attack, had no money to return to the USA for treatment and saw no way out other than a bullet to the temple.

There are good firms to work for and if you come as an Expat with the fat cat salary pack, life is very, very good. You will be treated well and think things are little different to the office back home. But they are very different for the local employees and if you are ever a ‘local hire’, you will quickly see the differences. Having worked at a large firm in Cebu that had both expats and local hires as well as Filipino employees, there were three different levels of pay and conditions in force.

For more in-depth, first hand advice and information about this topic, check out my eBook, ‘Making A Living In The Philippines’, also available as a paper back from www.lulu.com.