Child Labor

In my search for a baker, I came across an applicant who was 16 yrs old. 

I consulted with PESO and I was told that  it'll be illegal for me to hire a minor who's 16 yrs old and below. If the applicant was 17, I can hire him if he has a written consent from his parents and provided that he will not be given dangerous tasks or be assigned to work outside the normal workin hours. 

In my case, if a 17 year old applicant came, I still can't hire him because working with an oven and other bakery equipment is considered dangerous and I need a baker/assistant to start work at 1 or 2 am. 

LPGone

Sales since we opened have been steadily increasing but are still not at the level where it's able to pay for all overhead costs. Hence, I decided to make a few changes:

1) Open at exactly 5am with freshly baked pandesal ready by then. 

2) Extend until 6pm from the usual 430pm closing. 

3) Sell cigarettes. 

I wanted to go to the bakery early to have enough time to bake. Sans any sleep, I arrived there by 130am and proceeded to prepare for baking. At around 5am, as I was waiting for the oven to be at the right temperature, the LPG ran out. I didn't have a spare and was only able make bread by 1030am when the replacement came. 

We were able to extend closing hours but  I expect that to be felt after a few days when people are accustomed to the new closing time. 

I also went and bought cigarettes to sell. Having been a smoker for 16 years, and having quit for 3 years, I know how bad smoking is. I am completely against smoking but I am also desperate in making this bakery work. If selling cigarettes for the meantime would make me meet my financial obligations for now, then I am willing to bend. I'm willing to make sacrifices to make this endeavor work. 

To Advance or not to Advance

Just a few days from when we opened, came an inevitable but rarely talked about reality of being an employer. My employee's son was hospitalized and was prescribed medicine. She did not have money to buy said medicine and asked for a P500 advance. 

Salary advances have been so normal for Filipinos that there's a word specifically for it, bale. A lot of employees live hand to mouth and there's not enough money when emergencies arise. A salary advance would seemingly solve the immediate concern when in reality, it only postpones the larger problem. It starts a vicious cycle and the scenario when there's not enough money for all needs will manifest again when some 'emergency' happens. 

Here lies the dilemma for the employer. Should the employer give an employee an advance on their salary? 

On one side, it messes with the employer's accounting. The money can be used to buy inventory to allow it to grow in the few days from now until the wage needs to be paid. There's also the chance of an employee leaving and the employer paying for the salary an employee has not earned yet. On the other hand, an employee with financial troubles may be less productive at work and it would impact productivity negatively. 

Here are my guidelines on whether I'll give employees an advance on their salary. 

~ There has to be money not earmarked for an immediate business expense.

~ The employee should have already earned the salary being advanced. They cannot ask for an advance for future day's work. 

~ The advance should automatically be deducted in full from the next pay day.