Computing your salary

This is how you are going to compute for your monthly salary if you are working in a call center. I oftentimes say this especially for those who are abusing their bio–break, “Di ka nagtatrabaho sa gobyerno, you are paid per hour and if you are being paid per hour, every minute counts.”

Before computing your hourly rate, take note of the following equivalence value:

1 year = 12 months

1 month = 4 weeks

1 month shift = 160 hours

Bi–weekly = 2 weeks

1 year = 26 payouts

1 shift = 8 hours

8 hours (x 5days) = 40 hours

1 bi–weekly cut off = 10 days

10 days = 80 hours

26 payouts x 10 days per cut off = 260 (constant)

Formula for computation:

Hourly rate = Basic salary x 12 months ÷ 260 ÷ 8 hours

Example:

Basic Salary = 15,000 pesos

Transportation allowance = 1,000 pesos

Meal allowance = 1,000 pesos

Total = 17,000 pesos

15,000 pesos per month x 12 months = 180,000 pesos per year

180,000 pesos per year ÷ 260 = 692.30 pesos

692.30 pesos ÷ 8 = 86.53 per hour

86.53 per hour x 80 hours = 6,922.40 pesos bi–weekly (per pay day)

6,922.40 pesos x (2) bi–weekly = 13,844.80 pesos per month

So therefore,

The actual value of a basic salary with a face value of 15,000 pesos is actually 13,844.80 per month only.

So the question now is,

How much would be the hourly rate in order for you to get the actual 15,000 pesos as basic salary?

Let’s reverse the computation:

15,000 pesos per month ÷ 160 hours per month = 93.75 pesos per hour

You need to be paid 93.75 pesos per hour to at least get a monthly salary of 15,000 pesos per month. And take note, yang 15,000 na yan eh pahirapan pa yan! That is if your shift will fall on 10pm to 6am where you will have a night differential pay where the night differential pay will buffer your taxes. On the other hand, your meal and transportation allowance will buffer your government mandated deductions such as SSS, Pag–IBIG, etc. So, kung makakumpleto ka ng at least 7,500 pesos per cut off which I doubt, swerte mo na!

When you are on your “job offer” and you see how much is the “basic salary” think of it first whether that amount is really sufficient for you to cover your transportation and meal daily otherwise don’t sign the contract. Tabulated below is the list of the “actual value” of the “basic salary” offered in most call center.  

Basic Salary	Actual Value	Difference from
Face Value		Basic Salary
14,000	12,923	–1,077
15,000	13,845	–1,155
16,000	14,769	–1,231
17,000	15,692	–1,308
18,000	16,615	–1,385
19,000	17,538	–1,462
20,000	18,461	–1,539
21,000	19,385	–1,615
22,000	20,307	–1,693
23,000	21,231	–1,769
24,000	22,153	–1,847
25,000	23,077	–1,923

ALL CALL CENTER computes the monthly salary based on a yearly projection. The thing here is you are being paid per hour. So, the “per hour figure” is more valuable than any other figure.

Basic salary is just the amount of money you will receive if you are going to work based on your schedule. It doesn’t include perks which you will get if you have Sales or perfect attendance or pass a specific metrics. If you have perks aside from your basic salary, the only question there is, if it is taxable or not? HR will always tell you that “any earned income is taxable” so if the call center is giving away “spot cash” on the production floor then you may want to take advantage of it because that is considered tax free.

It is also important that the payment is on a bi–weekly (e.g., every other Wednesday) scheme. Some “miser” call center has a payment scheme of every 15 days (e.g. every 13^th and 28^th of the month).

Before you sign a contract, ask the HR representative first what is their salary schedule. Is it bi–weekly or every 15 days? Pssst!!! Kapag every 15 days ang salary schedule nung call center, sa malamang, kuripot yan!!! If you have an alternative option, consider that option first.

The advantage of bi–weekly salary is hindi ka masho–short ng budget although budgeting is technically a skill that needs to be cultivated. Another advantage of bi–weekly salary is there will be a month where you will be paid three times.