Gaisano Capital South to let go of 800 workers

Some 800 employees of the burned Gaisano Capital South Mall will begin the year without a job.

Eric Labrada, liason officer of the Gaisano Capital Group, said that they will let go of the  contractual employees after  Dec. 30.

“Their contracts will be terminated effective Dec. 30,” Labrada told Cebu Daily News.

He said  800 employees are mostly sales assistants and promodisers assigned at the storage department   who assist in  pricing and repacking of products.
Their contracts were  renewable every five months.

About 1,500 employees worked in the mall, w hich burned down on Dec. 23, a day before their big Christmas sale.

Labrada earlier said 800 were casual employees, 500 were agency-hired workers and the remaining 200 were regular employees who would remain with the company.

Regional Director Exequiel Sarcauga of the Department of Labor and Employment in Central Visayas in a separate interview said that it’s the prerogative of the management to reduce its workforce.

“They have a valid reason because of the fire. It’s their prerogative,” he said.

“But they should make sure that all benefits are given to the employees,” Sarcauga told Cebu Daily News.

The benefits include  holiday pay, additional services fees and a Christmas bonus as required by the Labor Code.

Sarcauga said the Dole  would closely monitor the company’s compliance.

Labrada assured that Gasiano Capital South already  paid the employees their Christmas bonus and their monthly salary for December.

With the termination of the 800 employees’ contracts, more than 700 employees made up of regular and agency-hired workers are  left.

Labrada said the regular workers would be spread in different branches of Gaisano  malls while the agencies  would take care of their own contractual employees. /Candeze R. Mongaya, Reporter