Computer Arts and Technological College, Inc.

Balintawak St., Albay District, Legazpi City

The Effects of CoViD-19 Pandemic to the Income of Selected Private

Employees of SM City Legazpi

In partial fulfillment for the completion of the subjects; Inquiries,

Immersion, and Investigation(3i’s), and Work Immersion

AUTHORS:

Areola, Abby Gale O.

Arnaldo, Shane Laurence

Bañares, Jaira B.

Barcelon, Haidee E.

Dianela, Mark Ian Sam D.

Divina, Jhun Paul B.

Idaniol, Jeianne Mari M.

Ireso, Rex Jayrus

Mendoza, Lovejoy R.

Romero, Vincent P.

May 2021
Introduction

Rationale of the Research

The coronavirus pandemic, also known as CoViD-19, is our time's defining global

health epidemic and the greatest threat we've faced since World War II. But this

pandemic is more than just a health crisis; it's also a socio-economic disaster. This

pandemic fears everyone in every country it touches; it is conceivable to create

devastating social, economic, and political effects that will have deep and longstanding

scars. Every day, people are losing their jobs and income, with no way of knowing when

normality wills return.¹ Employers and staff have been hit hard by the CoViD-19

outbreak. Employees may be concerned about getting pay checks that they depend on

to help their families, while employers may be concerned about keeping their company

going during the economic recovery.² When an employer has to reduce the number of

regular working days to prevent serious losses, such as when there is a substantial

slump in the demand for his/her goods or services or when there is a lack of raw

materials, the employer may deduct the wages corresponding to the days taken off from

the workweek, consistent with the principle of “no work, no pay.” (Vasig & Sablan, 2020)³

The CoViD-19 pandemic has spread to 213 countries and territories, as well as

two international flights.⁴ There are 48 countries in Asia today.⁵ The five countries

reporting the most cases including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Bangladesh, Iran, and has the

highest cases of all is India.⁶ According to the MOTN or the Mood of the National Survey

states that 63 percent said that they suffered losses in their income due to coronavirus.

Only one percent of people polled said that their income had increased during the

CoViD-19 crisis in India. The Covid-19 pandemic has hurt the income of people in India.

The impact of the CoViD-19 pandemic has been felt in general. Job or work loss has

been the most dominant problem in the North and even in South India, whereas income
loss has affected the East and West. Because of the findings of the bi-annual MOTN

survey conducted by the India Today group between July 15-27,2020 with the

coordination of Knight Insight this dilemma was revealed. In the Southeast Asian region,

there is the Philippines. The Philippines is one of the countries that has been affected

the most by the COVID-19 pandemic( Uy, 2020).⁸ The figures are higher than the initial

estimates provided by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) in

March. Back then, NEDA estimated that some 116,000 to 1.8 million workers. Of the 2.3

million displaced workers cited by DOLE: Over 1.6 million workers were affected due to

the temporary closure of establishments caused by the enhanced community quarantine

and 797,729 workers were affected by “reduced incomes under alternative work

arrangements like fewer workdays, rotation, forced leave and telecommuting.”

(“Labor”,2020).⁹

Furthermore, from north to south, the Philippines is divided into three major

geographical divisions: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.¹⁰ In Luzon, we can found the

regional center and the largest city of Bicol Region, in terms of population, Legazpi City.

Legazpi, officially the City of Legazpi, is a 1st class component city and capital of

the province of Albay, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of

196,639. Legazpi is the regional center of tourism, education, health services,

commerce, and transportation in the region V. Mayon Volcano is one of the Philippines '

most popular icons and tourist destinations. Legazpi is previously recognized by the

Philippines Chamber of Commerce and Industry as the most business-friendly city in

Southern Luzon. Legazpi City reach ranked 11th among the most competitive cities in

the country, in the year 2003. In 2014, it was rated second among 3 other livable cities in

the country by the National Competitiveness Council and the Asia-Pacific Economic

Cooperation. Moreover, there are 5,055 business establishments in Legazpi City as of

2014. Most of these are located in the cities business district, Legazpi Port District.
Legazpi City is also home to several retail establishments. The Liberty Commercial

Center simply called LCC, a house-grown Albayano Company established in Tabaco

City in 1945, operates a major mall (LCC Mall Legazpi), their supermarket, and five

Expressmart (grocery stores) in this city. This city has also attracted investment from

national retail chains including Metro Gaisano, SM Savemore, Robinsons Supermarket,

Puregold, Ministop, and the largest mall in the Bicol region, SM City Legazpi.¹¹

According to the Manila Bulletin, “SM City Legazpi holds ground-breaking”. This

paves the construction of the 68th SM Mall here in the Philippines, the second here in

the Bicol Region, and the first SM Mall in the province of Albay.¹² It is located along the

Imelda C. Roces Avenue corner Terminal Road, Brgy, Boitano, Legazpi City. The three-

story mall will have a gross floor gross of 87,706 square meters and will have the SM

store and Supermarket as anchors, SM Appliance Center, Watson, ACE Hardware, and

many more. SM City Legazpi is owned and operated by SM Prime Holdings, the largest

retail and mall operator in the Philippines. SM City Legazpi opened on September 14,

2018, 2 years ago.¹³

One of the employees of this said establishment said that their work schedule

changed due to the CoViD-19 pandemic from weekly it turns into 3 days but their income

is still the same but delayed.

According to the DOLE administrator, the Labor Advisory No.17 Section 5, The

wages and wage-related benefits indicates that “Employers and employees may agree

voluntarily and in writing to temporarily adjust employees’ wage and wages-related

benefits as provided for in existing employment contracts, company policy, or Collective

Bargaining Agreement (CBA). “The adjustment in wage and wage-related benefits shall

not exceed six months or the period agreed upon the collective bargaining agreement

(CBA)if any. After exceed period, employers and employees shall review their

agreement and may renew the same”.¹⁴ this is only applicable to those companies that
have the CBA or Collective Bargaining Agreement. Furthermore, the Labor Advisory also

replace the 17-B. The employee’s income must at least to the minimum wage, lowest

permitted by law, or by a special agreement. The Department of Labor and Employment

would like to inform you that wage order no.20 is not yet effective. They would like to let

everyone know that the commission, as requested by RTWPB V (Regional Tripartite

Wages and Productive Board) shall periodically review (monthly/ quarterly) the Regions

socio-economic condition and business climate brought by the new normal and the

series of community quarantine, and because of this, the minimum wage in Bicol Region

is still 310.00 pesos.

Objectives of the Study

This study “The Effects of CoViD-19 Pandemic to the Income of Selected Private

Employees of SM City Legazpi” seeks to attain the following objectives:

1. Gather and analyze the demographic profile of the selected private employees of SM

City Legazpi in terms of:

a. Age

b. Sex

c. Position/Work

d. Salary

e. Years with the current work

2. Determine the difficulties experienced by the employees that affects their income

during the CoViD-19 pandemic.

3. To serve as a reference for the branches of government like Department of Labor and

Employment to know what steps must be conducted in future to help the affected

employees.

Literature Survey

Foreign

Income is necessary for everyday life. In the year 10 AD, The first income tax is

generally attributed to Egypt. In the early days of the Roman Republic, public taxes

consisted of modest assessments on owned wealth and property. The tax rate under

normal circumstances was 1% and sometimes would climb as high as 3% in situations

such as war. These modest taxes were levied against land, homes, and other real

estate, slaves, animals, personal items, and monetary wealth. The more a person had in

the property, the more tax they paid. Moreover, nowadays the income of residents in the

Philippines is taxed progressively up to 32%. Resident citizen is taxed on all their net

income derived from sources within and without the Philippines.

A literature that is deemed to have a relation in the present study was given by

Dulebohn, H., et al. (2009)., it's stated that the employee’s benefits the implication of

employee benefits decision is among the most relevant for remaining competitive in the

labor market from a total compensation perspective. Indirect compensation or benefits

plays a significant factor in the attraction and retention of employees particularly true for

costly benefits such as health insurance and pension plans.

The article is related to the present study as it mentioned the benefits of the

employees, which is surprising because employer-sponsored benefits are a primary

concern of executives and employees alike. Moreover, benefits provide a unique

opportunity to examine fundamental theoretical and empirical questions about

employees’ behavior and the contemporary employment relationship. These are related

to the present study as it can be seen that the foundation provides an overview.

In the article (“The impact”, 2018). It is stated that the impact of wages on

employee productivity wages are earned can fulfill necessities such as food, clothing,

and housing. The literature can be found as related to the present study as it tackles

employee productivity. Wages become an important aspect of being effective if linked to

the performance significantly, the amount of wages reflects the size of the value of their

work among the workers themselves. Employee productivity is an activity that is very

important because it can be used as a measure of success in supporting the success of

the organization. These are related to the present study as it can see the significance of

the related literature.

Local

On May 2009, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has used

guidelines on prevention and control of swine flu in workplaces as it called on employers

and workers to immediately put up plant level precautionary measures against the

dreadful disease because of recorded cases of H1N1 infection in the country. Roque

said the social partners and all the other sectors need to be vigilant against H1N1 to

prevent its spread and save lives as the country is no longer swine-flu-free. He also said

that necessary measures for the prevention and control of H1N1 should be part of plant-

level efforts aimed at preventing disruptions that would undermine workers’ productivity

and the growth of business and industry in the country. H1N1 poses a serious threat to

people’s lives and the economy as well, the DOLE Chief said as he urged employers

and workers to collaborate in setting up preventive measures against the disease. He

said the social partners may delegate a focal person who would be responsible for
monitoring and ensuring that the measures are strictly followed at the workplace, adding

the DOLE is ready to assist establishments in building the capabilities of their H1N1

focal persons.

The DOLE provide technical assistance in risk assessment and uses protective

equipment including a respirator program and workplace improvements to reduce the

likelihood of droplet infection and contamination by materials possibly infected by H1N1.

The Labor and Employment Secretary said that in case a worker in the public or private

sector gets infected with H1N1, the worker may avail of a P150, 000 medical insurance

package in addition to existing company health-care benefits and the Phil Health

coverage. 4 enjoins establishments to regularly provide information about H1N1

including its transmission, disease outcome, and treatment options to their workers. It

also asked employers to monitor the health of their workers particularly those with fever

and those who have traveled to countries affected by H1N1.

This literature can be found as related because it tackles the H1N1 or the swine

flu that is also classified as a biological disaster. It also gave a commendation to avoid

weakening the employees' productivity.

Gealogo F. (June, 2009), in his study about “The Philippines in the World of the

Influenza Pandemic 2009” he discusses the portrayal of the disease, ineffective

quarantine, bureaucratic problems, military mobilization, and other factors made by the

influenza pandemic. Stated in his study, the pandemic exhibited the same virological and

epidemiological characteristics in the Philippines as it did in the rest of the world. It is

relevant to the present study because during the American colonial period and at this

year a disease is happening again.

 In this study, the researcher find out that the global public health crisis impacts

the country. The cost of major influenza will far outweigh the price of preparedness. A

severe pandemic can result in millions of death globally, with widespread social and

economic effects. The cost of pandemic preparedness has been estimated at less than

US$1 per person per year, which is less than 1% of the cost estimates for responding to

a pandemic.

Scope and Delimitation

This study is mainly concerned with identifying the effects of CoViD-19

pandemic to the income of selected private employees of SM City Legazpi. Only private

employees inside SM City Legazpi will be the respondent of this study. Just private

employees in SM City Legazpi will answer the question through printed survey that the

researcher prepared, to be able to know what are the effects of CoViD-19 pandemic to

their income.

This research will not generalize all private employees in the said establishment.

It delimits that the study will not include other private employees outside SM Legazpi

City and the researcher will be honest to the fact in engaging in this type of research,

thus prioritizing the confidentiality of the information gathered from the respondents.

Methodology

This chapter deals with the methods used in conducting the study involves the

discussion of procedure including, sources of data, and instrumentation, as well as the

statistical treatment used to analyze and interpret the data obtained.

Research Instrument

A survey questionnaire is a primary instrument that will be used in this study in

order to gather data from different resources. The questions that will be delivered to the

respondents will be used to develop the study and help the researcher decipher if the study

is effective, thus this also aims to gather important data regarding the number of private

employees and how are their incomes affected by the CoViD-19 pandemic. Survey

questionnaires will be distributed randomly to the selected private employees in SM City

Legazpi.

Data Gathering Process

The data gathering procedure in this research happened by conducting a survey

that is printed and will be distributed at a certain location which is SM City Legazpi. The

survey method was employed in collecting quantitative data in this study. The survey

was used because it is a proven way of effectively answering research questions and it

is also an inexpensive way to achieve that goal. However, before the researchers were

able to conduct a survey, they first asked the head or the administrator of the mall if they

can, in fact, do the survey. The researchers and the head set the schedule since the

respondent won’t just run to the surveyor to do what they ask. The respondents will only

be given a short period of time to answer the survey-questionnaire in order to get

conclusive and have objective results, without disturbing other matters they needed to

do. After retrieving the questionnaires, the data tallies will be done leading to the

analysis and interpretation of results.

Statistical Tools

Frequency distribution is the basic building block of statistical analytical methods

and the first step in analyzing survey data. This will help the researcher to organize and

summarize the survey data in a tabular format. The researcher will also used graphs as

method to visually illustrate relationships of the data. The researcher will gather data

from the respondents and will be treated and interpreted using the statistics tools.

The formula was:

F
P= ×100
n

Where:

P¿Percentage

F¿Frequency

n¿total number of respondents

 APPENDICES
Computer Arts and Technological College, Inc.
Balintawak Street, Old Albay District, Legazpi City
This questionnaire is used to help the researchers to collect information in order
to complete the study about the “CoViD-19 pandemic and its effects to the income of
selected private employees of SM City Legazpi”. Please answer all the questions by
providing the appropriate information. The data will be treated with outmost
confidentially.

Name ( Optional): _________________________________________

Age:__________ Gender:_____________
No. of years in mall:_______________ Other source of income:_____________

Please put a check ( ✓ ) in the box as your answer in the following questions.

in the box as your answer in the following questions.

1. As a private employee, does CoViD-19 pandemic has its effects to your income?
( Bilang isang empleyado, Ang pandemyang CoViD-19 ba ay meroong epekto sa
iyong kita?)

Yes( Oo) No( Hindi)

2. As a private employee, does your salary decrease because of CoViD-19

pandemic?( Bilang isang pribadong empleyado, nabawasan ba ang iyong
suweldo dahil sa pandemyang CoViD-19?)

Yes(Oo) No(Hindi)

3. As a private employee, what are the problems you had faced that affect your
income during the CoViD-19 Pandemic?( Bilang isang pribadong empleyado,
ano ang mga problemang nakaharap mo na nakakaapekto sa iyong kita sa
panahon ng CoViD-19 Pandemic?)
 Late Pay Reducement of working hours

Salary Reduction Work from home

Paid Sick Leave Lockdown

Not Paid Sick Leave Less Costumers

Closing of Establishment Remote Work

Others:____________________________________

4. What possible solutions could be recommended to solve the problems?

Let the Department of Labor and Employment know our situation.

(Ipaalam sa Department of Labor and Employment ang aming sitwasyon)

Advance employers payroll ( Maagang payroll ng mga employers)

Provide private services for employees to help employees from consuming

(Magbigay ng mga pribadong serbisyo para sa mga empleyado upang
matulungan ang mga empleyado sa pagkonsumo)

Implement innovative design programs to help increase the employees

income( Magpatupad ng makabagong disenyong programa para makatulong sa
pagtaas ng kita ng empleyado)

Join trainings and support workers (Sumali sa mga pagsasanay at

suportahan ang mga manggagawa).
Others:_____________________________________________
References:

¹ https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/coronavirus.htm

²https://www.justia.com/covid-19/information-for-employees-during-covid-19/impact-of-

covid-19-on-wages-and-salaries/

³ https://val.law/covid-19-key-issues-in-philippine-labor-and-employment/

⁴ https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/?utm_campaign=homeAdvegas1

⁵https://www.worldometers.info/geography/how-many-countries-in-asia/

⁶https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/geographical-distribution-2019-ncov-cases

⁷https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.indiatoday.in/amp/mood-of-the-

nation/story/income-of-63-per-cent-indians-suffered-due-to-covid-19-pandemic-motn-

survey-1708942-2020-08-07

⁸https://www.google.com/amp/s/theaseanpost.com/article/covid-19-impacts-philippines

%3famp

⁹https://www.google.com/amp/s/news.abs-cbn.com/amp/spotlight/05/01/20/labor-day-

impact-of-covid-19-on-employment

¹⁰https://investinginwomen.asia/knowledge/impact-covid-19-employees-philippines-may-

2020/

¹¹https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legazpi,_Albay

¹²https://mb-com-ph.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/mb.com.ph/2017/03/20/sm-city-legazpi-

holds-groundbreaking/amp/?amp_js_v=a6&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQFKAGwASA

%3D#aoh=16017941840352&csi=1&referrer=https%3A%2F
%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F

%2Fmb.com.ph%2F2017%2F03%2F20%2Fsm-city-legazpi-holds-groundbreaking%2F

¹³https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SM_City_Legazpi

¹⁴http://bwc.dole.gov.ph/images/Issuances/LaborAdvisory/2020/Labor_Advisory_No_17

_20.pdf

Dulebohn et. al (2009) “Employees benefits: Literature review and emerging

issues” Vol.19, issue 2,Pages 86-103, Retrieved from https://www.google.com/url?

sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S105

3482208000831&ved=2ahUKEwij24CA2qHtAhVRVN4KHXvdA5EQFjABegQIARAB&usg

=AOvVaw1zUSUBPyPkaks_xALcdT7i

Department of Labor and Employment(2009, May). “DOLE issues guidelines for

H1N1 prevention in workplace”. Retrieved from https://www.dole.gov.ph/news/dole-

issues-guidelines-for-h1n1-prevention-in-workplaces/

Gealogo F. (2009, June). “ The Philippines in the world of the influenza pandemic

of 1918-1919”. Retrieved from

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277209421_The_Philippines_in_the_World_of

_the_Influenza_Pandemic_of_1918-1919

“The impact of wage on employees productivity: A case study in

Mogadishu”(2018). Retrieved from https://sahancenter.com/en/2018/12/18/the-impact-

of-wage-on-employee-productivity-a-case-study-in-mogadishu/