An Assessment on the Employee Benefits of Pump Attendants in

Gas Stations in Dumaguete City

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

In developed countries, consumers suffer high rates of petroleum products

due to high taxation burden rather than actions taken by international petroleum
industry. In the Philippines, although custom duties and tariffs are considered, tax
burden is light. Therefore, increases in petroleum product prices are largely
affected by petroleum industry decisions.
Major international petroleum firms are vertically integrated companies
involved in all the stages of oil business namely: exploration, production and
transportation of crude oil and refining and distributing the products.
Inter-affiliate pricing can effectively act as export prices and import prices
when different stages of operation of an international firm take place in different
parts of the world. In the importing world, government and citizens believe that
oil prices have been arranged, so as to transfer income from themselves to
wealthier producing countries and to international firms (Langley, 2012).
The increased sophistication of the world today has increased the need for
petroleum products. From the start of 2007 through the end of 2012, the
international oil and natural gas industry increased by more than 162,000 jobs, a
40% increase.

The increased number of employment is accounted to three

categories. Drilling which involves any employment related to the spudding and
drilling of wells, as well as reworking of wells, and accounted for more than
90,000 jobs by the end of 2012, an increase of 6,600 jobs since 2007. Extraction
includes establishments primarily engaged in operating, developing, and

producing oil and natural gas fields, including exploration and all production work
up to the point of shipment from the producing property. Employment in the
extraction category numbered more than 193,000 jobs by the end of 2012,
53,000 more jobs than in 2007. Support involves performing supporting activities
for oil and natural gas operations, including exploration, excavation, well
surveying, casing work, and well construction. Support is the largest oil and gas
industry category, and employed more than 286,000 people by the end of 2012,
up more than 102,000 jobs from 2007. Between January 2007 and December
2012, monthly crude oil production increased by 39%, and monthly natural gas
production increased by 25% (Oil and Gas Industry Employment growing much
faster than total private sector employment, 2013).
Oil is the most important source of energy in the Philippines, and provides
somewhat more than 90 % of the countrys total energy requirements. It is most
likely that as the countrys industrialization proceeds, the rate of increase of oil
importation will rise further; indeed, local petroleum industry representatives
anticipate that the rate of growth will be approximately eleven percent during the
next decade. Petroleum industry activities in the Philippines, are limited to
refining and marketing operations. Despite extensive search for crude oil, no
commercially exploitable reserves have been discovered (Langley, 2012). As of
today, there are twenty-one companies who distribute oil to the consumers such
as Shell, Petron and Caltex (Aonuevo, 2014).
Petroleum products are commonly distributed to consumers through their
respective filling stations. A filling station is a facility which sells fuel and usually
lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold today are gasoline,
diesel fuel, and electric energy. A filling station that sells only electric energy is
also known as a charging station, while a typical filling station can also be known
as a fuelling station, garage, gas bar, gasoline station, petrol bunk or petrol
pump, petrol garage, petrol station, service station, a services, or servo.

Many filling stations also combine small convenience stores, and some
also sell propane or butane and have added shops to their primary business.
Conversely, some chain stores, such as supermarkets, discount superstores,
warehouse clubs, or traditional convenience stores, have provided filling stations
on the premises (Fatigue, n.d.).
Gasoline boys, also known as forecourt attendants and pump gas
attendants, are employed in gasoline stations mainly tasked in asking and
assisting customers with their car needs. They also function to refill fuel, check
engines and tires, and other duties. They must be at least high school graduates.
Those who have had a short course diploma on auto-mechanic or any related
course are favorable (OFW Guide, n.d.). Petrol pump attendants receive their
training on the job. At first the trainees will perform relatively simple tasks such as
cleaning the station, serving petrol and cleaning windscreens. Gradually they
may progress to more advanced work, such as performing simple maintenance
tasks on vehicles, fitting parts on cars and helping to keep records (Petrol Pump
Attendant, n.d.).
Job advertisement nowadays usually indicate that a gasoline boy is offered
the daily minimum wage for the job (jobsDB Philippines, n.d.). Minimum wage
vary across different regions in the Philippines. According to the National Wages
and Productivity Commission of the Department of Labor and Employment
(2015), the daily minimum wage in Central Visayas ranges from Php 295.00 to
Php 340.00.

According to a Steve Johnson, a journalist who wrote a column on Metro

Post -a newspaper in Dumaguete City, said that ordinary laborer has no such
ambition -- gaining wealth or at least having fame. For him, no one carries
heavy loads, pumps gas or stocks supermarket shelves just for the fun of it. By
doing such work, what they only hope for is to be able to feed themselves and
help their families. And that even this is a hope that is sometimes denied them.

As what Johnson pointed out, those ordinary laborers are often paid less
than the official minimum wage particularly in Dumaguete City. And such pay can
even hardly enough support a family. He added that even so, they shrug their
shoulders, smile, get what they need by whatever means and usually find some
way to survive (Stevenson, 2015) .
Good employee morale generally means that workers are happy to come
to work each day, and are contented in the nature of their work. Whether one is a
supervisor or rank-in-file employee, good employee morale in an organization
provides several key benefits (The Benefits of Good Employee Morale at Work,
n.d.). Employee benefits play an important role in the lives of employees as well
as their families. For that reason, the benefits you offer can be a deciding factor
for an employees satisfaction in the workplace. Offer the right benefits, and the
business may just boost its growth (The Basics of Employee Benefits, 2005).

REFERENCES

Job Description of Forecourt Attendant / Gasoline Boy - OFW Guide. (n.d.).

Retrieved April 10, 2015, from http://www.ofwguide.com/profile_item118/forecourt-attendant---gasoline-boy.html
Petrol Pump Attendant. (n.d.). Retrieved April 11, 2015, from
http://www.gostudy.mobi/careers/View.aspx?oid=362
Fatigue. (n.d.). Retrieved April 11, 2015, from
http://think.direct.gov.uk/fatigue.html
Petroleum Loader/Gasoline Boy/Forecourt Crew - PNI Management
Philippines, Inc. | jobsDB Philippines. (n.d.). Retrieved April 10, 2015,
from http://ph.jobsdb.com/PH/en/ Search/JobAdSingleDetail?
jobsIdList=500003003307688
Summary of Current Regional Daily Minimum Wage Rates. (n.d.). Retrieved
April 11, 2015, from
http://www.nwpc.dole.gov.ph/pages/statistics/stat_current_regional.html

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:0CJpLtZAh30J:www.
pre.econ.upd.edu.ph/pre/index.php/pre/article/download/782/92+&cd=7&hl=en&c
t=clnk&client=safari
http://www.interaksyon.com/business/88359/big-3-oil-companies-corner-nearly70-pct-of-market

(http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/1998/09/gerson.htm)
Stevenson, J. (2015, May 4-10). Labor Day. Metro Post. Retrieved from
http://content.yudu.com/Library/A2u7do/DumagueteMetropostMa/resources/2.ht
m

The Benefits of Good Employee Morale at Work. (n.d.). Retrieved April 12, 2015,
from http://work.chron.com/benefits-good-employee-morale-work-23577.html

The Basics of Employee Benefits. (2005, September 29). Retrieved April 12,
2015, from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/80158