Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE

Introduction

Background of the Study

Food service workers serve customers in fine dining restaurants, fast food establishments,

cafeterias, bars, convenient stores and hotels. They often greet customers, assign seats, take orders

and provide table service during meals. Some food service workers also help with food

preparation, and set-up and clean-up duties. There are career-oriented advantages, financial

benefits and industry perks to working in food services. The main goal of businesses is to hire

competent and talented employees to earn profit as much as possible for the organization. Once

these employees have been hired and well trained, managers need to find a way to motivate, keep

their employees happy, increase productivity as well as improve the firm performance. Hence, one

of the best way to do so is by offering competitive compensation packages to their employees.

Employee compensation is the most vital element for the employee to continue their life. In this

regards, compensation that offered to the employee will determine their performance, productivity

and retaining to the company. According to Feng, Wang and Saini (2015) most of the literature on

compensation has primarily focused on executive compensation and its implication on firm

performance but paid little attention to non-executive compensation. Food establishment

employees take food and beverage orders and deliver the same order to clients and guests at dining

establishments. These individuals are able to retain large orders and information in a fast-paced

environment while maintaining superior customer service skills. They effectively communicate

with supervisors and kitchen staff to ensure that food is delivered to guests in a timely, efficient
and satisfactory manner. They continuously check on guests at their table to ensure they are happy

with their dining experience. Additionally, they take and process payments and clean tables and

work stations once diners exit the establishment. They are able to prepare a variety of alcoholic

and non-alcoholic beverages as well. A high school diploma is often required for employment in

this professional field.

Many food service workers receive tips for their service. Those who work at sit-down

restaurants, take orders and deliver food to tables generally make more from tips than those at

counter-service or serve-yourself restaurants. Food workers who offer delivery services or use

counter top jars for tips also make extra money in addition to their wages. Tips provide immediate

income so you don't have to wait for your weekly or bi-monthly paycheck to get cash in hand.

Some food service workers get discounts on food they purchase or get free food during their shift.

For example, they might get one free meal for every 8 hours they work or a 50 percent discount

on any food they buy. Some restaurant owners might give employees free drinks or free refills or

let them have leftovers at the end of business hours. Employers might allow their employees to eat

wrong orders, unclaimed delivery items or foods that were overcooked and unacceptable to serve.

Food service workers have the added benefit of frequent, direct, face-to-face interactions with

customers.

They learn important job skills such as how to provide excellent customer service, ensure

employee-customer interactions are friendly, and problem-solve customer complaints. These skills

are beneficial in almost any industry and are easily transferable should a food service worker

choose to pursue another career path. Food service workers also develop strong interpersonal skills

such as effective communication strategies, listening skills and assertiveness. Experience handling

money is an advantage for many food service workers. They learn to make change, operate
computerized cash registers, process credit card transactions, balance their cash drawers and report

financial transactions. This is another highly transferable job skill that is useful in other industries.

Some food service workers make cash deposits and report income at the end of the business day,

using ledgers or accounting software. They often keep inventory logs and notify managers when

stocks run low.

Statement of the problem

Workers’ compensation insurance is required in almost every state for businesses that

have employees. It can cover medical fees and lost wages for work-related injuries. There are

five types of employment in the Philippines, mostly determined by the nature of activities that

employees perform. The employer is required to establish the terms and conditions of the

employment contract, which is subject to limitations under the Labor Code. There are five types

of employment in the Philippines, mostly determined by the nature of activities that employees

perform. The employer is required to establish the terms and conditions of the employment

contract, which is subject to limitations under the Labor Code. Each state sets its own laws for

workers’ compensation requirements. For example, every restaurant in New York must carry

workers’ compensation insurance for its employees – even part-time workers and family

members. However, Alabama restaurants are only required to carry workers’ compensation when

they have five or more employees.

Objective of the study

 The purpose of this descriptive research is to investigate the factors that describes fast

food employee compensation. Employee compensation comprises of four factors namely

external competitiveness, compensation based on performance, incentive-based mix, and

openness and participation.

Significance of Study

The result of this study serves as benefit and information to the following people:

Upcoming Employers - This study enables them to presume, estimate and considering the

establishment itself. It can help them pick an ideal establishment that suit their competencies.

Costumer- This study will serve as a big help for the costumers. This may be an information for

the costumer and how they can contribute to the establishment itself.

Businessman - Your understanding of what customers want, combined with your employees'

know-how, can be regarded as your knowledge base. Using this knowledge in the right way can

help you run your business more efficiently, decrease business risks and exploit opportunities to

the full. This is known as the knowledge advantage.

Scope and the Limitations

 This study focuses on food vendors in the barangay of Suarez Iligan City. This study covers

the vendors and their com

Definition of Terms

To fully understand the study, the researches define terms used in the research.

Competitiveness - the quality of being as good as or better than others of a comparable nature.

Compensation - something, typically money, awarded to someone as a recompense for loss, injury,

or suffering.

Productivity - Productivity describes various measures of the efficiency of production. Often, a

productivity measure is expressed as the ratio of an aggregate output to a single input or an

aggregate input used in a production process, i.e. output per unit of input, typically over a specific

period of time.

Assertiveness - Assertiveness is a skill regularly referred to in social and communication skills

training. Being assertive means being able to stand up for your own or other people's rights in a

calm and positive way, without being either aggressive, or passively accepting 'wrong'.

Establishments - Establish is related to stable through its Latin roots and has many meanings, but

all have the feel of building on a stable foundation. Besides the meaning of setting a

policy, establish can also mean to prove one's value. You should establish yourself in a

community before you try to bring change to it.

Theoretical and Conceptual Framework

This department includes restaurants, bars, coffee shops, banquets, room service, kitchen

and bakery. This department is headed by the Food and Beverages director. While the restaurants,

bars, coffee shops, banquets and room service may be grouped specifically under the food and

beverage service department, headed by the food and beverage manager, the kitchen and bakery

fall under the food and beverage production department, headed by the executive chef. The human

resource department or the personnel department as it was called earlier is headed by the human

resource manager. Recruitment, orientation, training, employee welfare and compensation, labour

laws and safety norms for the hotel come under the purview of the human resource department.

The training department is an ancillary department of the human resource department. This is

headed by the training manager, who takes on the specific task of orientation and training of new
employees as well as existing ones. This department is also called as the controls department. This

department is headed by the financial controller, who is responsible for ratifying all the inventory

items of the operational departments. Inventory control procedures are the responsibility of this

department. The financial controller along with the general manager is responsible for finalizing

the budgets prepared by the heads of other departments. The hotel‟s accounts are also maintained

by the controls department. Accounting activities include making payments against invoices,

billing, collecting payments, generating statements, handling bank transactions, processing

employee payroll data and preparing the hotel‟s financial data.