Hi everyone need help. Is there any alternative of going to bf homes from alabang aside riding a motor taxi? May jeep po ba dun or uv express?
From laguna ako tas baba po ako sa alabang then alabang to bf homes for work pero amg mahal kasi ng pamasahe. Please help me for cheaper options please 😭
Hi everyone! I’m a Filipino VA with 3 years of experience working with clients from the Philippines, US, and most recently, the UK.
I want to share my experience not to shame anyone, but to warn fellow VAs and hopefully get advice from those who’ve been in a similar situation.
How it started:
I found the job on OLJ. During the interview, they were warm and professional. I applied as an HR Assistant, but since my portfolio also showed my social media and graphic design work, they offered me a dual role: VA/Recruitment Support AND Social Media Assistant, both at $5/hour, 9 hours/week. We signed a formal Independent Contractor Agreement.
First red flag - the rate promise:
During the interview, their HR told me that after my 2-week probation, my rate would increase to $6/hr.
But after those 2 weeks, when I raised it with the director, she said probation was actually 3 months per contract and a raise wasn’t guaranteed, only “for consideration.” I had no written record of the verbal offer, so I had no choice but to accept it. I told myself I’d just work hard and earn that raise.
The workload was beyond what was contracted:
Under the contract, my Social Media Assistant role covered managing and growing social media accounts, planning, scheduling, and publishing content, monitoring trends and platform updates, creating short-form videos and graphics, and analyzing performance insights and reports.
But in reality, I was doing the work of an entire social media marketing team: content calendar, metrics tracking, image creation, video production for a cosmetics brand alone with no budget, AND TikTok Shop management with zero prior experience. I told them to hire a TikTok expert and they told me to just study it myself.
I was passionate and gave my best. I submitted EOD (end-of-day) reports every single day.
The hours dispute:
When they asked me to increase from 9 to 10 hrs/week, I was honest. I told them I was already putting in 14 to 15 hrs/week just to keep up with the workload. I asked if that was okay or if I should scale back. She never replied. End of month, she refused to pay the extra hours, saying we only agreed on 10. I was hurt because I wasn’t padding hours for money. The workload demanded it. I ask if at least we could meet in the middle because I am doing a lot of workload during that time, she said no. I think and decided to not push through, so I said that I will be sending the invoice she wants but I also said that I will be terminating the contract and will be completing the 14-day written notice. She eventually agreed to pay half and asked me to stay. I gave her another chance and it was a wrong choice.
April came. I got seriously sick during Holy Week and was out for a week. I couldn’t eat anything and even drinking water was hard for me. I was out but I made sure to keep all my 3 clients updated daily. When I recovered, we had a meeting to get back on track.
Mid-April, I was working again but now strictly, 10hrs/week. Then after a week, she told me to pause because workload was low. I stopped working as instructed.
End of April, bayaran na naman, I sent my invoice covering only 4 working days, a very small amount, and she said I DID NOT WORK at all and REFUSED to pay.
Her claims was ABSURD.
I have live links to published posts. I have a complete email trail of my EOD reports for every hour worked.
You know what’s more crazy?
When I was working, she NEVER once complained about my output. But the moment payment was DUE, suddenly “nothing was posted” and she was “disappointed.” She even brought up my earlier resignation attempt as justification to withhold pay.
That is gaslighting. That is wage theft.
Fellow VAs, especially those with experience dealing with non-paying UK clients, how did you handle it?
Here is what I have on my side:
- A signed contract stating it is governed by the laws of England and Wales
- The client is a registered UK business
- Complete EOD reports and invoice records
- Live links as proof of published work
Can I file a complaint with UK? And if yes, how do I do that? Has anyone successfully recovered unpaid pay from a UK client as a Filipino contractor? I need your help…
No Filipino VA deserves to be treated this way. We work hard, we deliver, and we deserve to be paid for every hour rendered.
Please help me make sure this does not happen to anyone else. 🙏