Mall operators wow to help workers, tenants

MALL OPERATORS in the city have vowed to help their employees and tenants who have been affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

In a press statement on Friday, SM Supermalls, operator of SM City Davao and SM Lanang Premier, said it has prepared packages for employee compensation as well assistance to guards and janitors of its malls.

All employees will receive their regularly

salaries during the enhanced community quarantine period without deductions made against their vacation and sick leaves.

Rank-and-File employees up to department managers who have been frontliners in the scaled down operations are also to be provided with premium pay while security guards and janitorial staffers are going to receive P5,000 in assistance during the period, it added.

Tenants, on the other hand, will have their rentals waived during the quarantine period.

Aside from that, SM also

donated P100 million worth of protective equipment, testing kits, and supplies as they express their support to health workers who are combatting the said disease.

Other malls have also released statements on employee compensation amid the health crisis the country is facing..

The Ayala Group adopted a COVID-19 emergency response package worth P2.4 billion consisting of wages, bonuses, leave conversions, and loan deferments for the extended workforce of its partner employers so they may continue to be paid for the duration of the quarantine period.

In New City Commercial Center (NCCC), all affected employees will receive their wages as per the usual schedule and closed tenants will not be required to pay rental, said Thea Septann Padua, company public relations manager.

Other malls in the city have yet to release a statement regarding their response to the temporary closure and its actions towards their affected workers and tenants.