Security Guard in the Philippines
Professional employees such as Engineers, Doctors, Nurse ,etc. both in private and government sectors are earning HUGE amount of salaries, they are given a complete mandated benefits and being paid by their excess time on their required hours of work. They are lucky to have a good status of a company they serve, they also received the full privilege and provided their health insurance whenever they got sick in the line of their job.
Opposite to this, the life of the security guards in the Philippines where the nation I belong. On about a half a million of security agency herein the Philippines, just nearly 20% of the total number of security agency has offering or giving the mandated minimum wage both in National Capital Region and to the provinces. Plus, Agencies are always deducted their employees (security guards)some amount from their salary to remit their remittances for government benefits but the agency did not remit it to the government agency belong.
The required minimum wage for NCR mandated by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is five hundred thirty seven pesos(537) for eight (8) hours but majority of the agency failed to gave the right amount for our security guards. Our security guards are rendering twelve (12) hour duty per day and they must received Nine Hundred seventy-two 972)pesos including overtime but mostly they only received in an average of 600 pesos per 12 hours duty. Government agencies which is administered the labor and employment seems to be deaf and blind to these issue or maybe I can say they are being vamp by bribery which is rampant in the Philippines.
For twelve hour duty of a Security Guard, they are just given a 30 minutes break for meal. When they are on their post, they can not sit down even a single minute especially those who are assigned on malls, sleeping is not allowed to them even a single nap. Uniforms must be clean and net, shine paraphernalias and must be render hand salute to all passing on their post. Security Guards are well trained before they are posted to their duty and all govern by laws (Republic Act 5487).
It is very lucky to a security guard to belong to a good security agency whose giving the full benefits and right salary package but only few of agency following the standard in terms of salary and mandated benefits. May all security agencies herein my country are the same in other country like United State which is all benefits and privilege are received by their security guards.
May the days come that all security agency that is not following the salary standard will be closed and padlock by the government but when did these happen?Alibi of the abusive security agency are they can not give the minimum wage its because their contract with the client below standard rate.Why? why they accept such contract not under the standard rate?
the worst of that if they accept below standard rate, they also gave below minimum rate to their security personnel which is violation of our labor code.
This is not just opinion, it is the reality herein my country and may someday these practice will be change because i’m also a former security guard.