By MARILOU M. AGUIRRE | Davao Today
DAVAO CITY – For eight months now, Marilyn Cabig, 18, has been working as a sales lady at the Gaisano Mall; first, as a watcher in the food court, and later, as sales assistant in the fancy department, where toiletries, cosmetics and trinkets are sold.
From the time that the mall opens at 10 a.m. in the morning to the time it closes at eight p.m. at night on Sundays to Thursdays; and at nine p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, employees like her are only given an hour’s break for lunch and a 30-minute break for snacks.
These are the only time they are allowed to sit down.
Straight Up. Salesladies in Davao City’s malls, like the one above at the NCCC department store in Uyanguren, can finally sit down at work. (davaotoday.com photo by Jonald Mahinay)
She said they all have to bear standing for more than eight hours a day, or, management issues a voucher, deducting fifty-pesos from their salaries.
Jonalyn dela Cruz (not her real name), 24, said both her past and present employers never allowed their employees to sit down while on duty.
A single mother, de la Cruz used to work for Victoria Plaza mall in 2003 and the NCCC mall in 2007, but unlike the Gaisano mall, where she has been working in the last two months, all she received from those establishments were warning.
Here, they’re issued a voucher for salary deduction when they violate the no-sitting policy, de la Cruz said.
