MINIMUM wage earners in Western Visayas will already be receiving an additional pay of P13.50 to P41.50 per day starting July 12.
This, after the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) in Western Visayas has published Wage Order No. 24 Wednesday, June 27, 16 days after it was signed by the members of the Board on June 11.
Based on the guidelines, the new Wage Order should take effect 15 days after publication on a newspaper of general circulation.
Lawyer Johnson Cañete, chairman of the RTWPB-Western Visayas, said yesterday, June 27, there is no major changes made by the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC), who tackled the order before it was signed by Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre Bello III.
Only some technicalities like terminologies used were changed, thus, it is the same Wage Order as drafted and approved by the Board, Cañete said.
"We would like to inform our employers that the new Wage Order is immediately effective starting July 12," he said, stressing that "by that time, it should be reflected already in the payslip of our minimum wage earners."
Replacing the previous order which expired in March this year, Wage Order No. 24 sets the new minimum wage rates including the cost of living allowance (COLA) at P295 and P365 per day.
Unlike Wage Order No. 23, the new one provides only two wage rates depending on various classifications or categories.
Under which, workers in the non-agriculture, industrial and commercial establishments employing more than 10 employees will receive a minimum wage of P365 per day.
From the previous P323.50, the RTWPB-Western Visayas has come up with an increase of P26.50 on basic wage plus a COLA of P15.
All in all, the increase in this classification is P41.50.
Those employing 10 workers and below, the new wage rate is P295 from only P271.50. It is derived from an increase of P18.50 plus a COLA of five pesos, or a total of P23.50.
For agriculture sector, plantation workers will receive P8.50 increase and COLA of five pesos, thus, the new wage rate is P295. This is P13.50 higher than the previous rate of P281.50.
Those in non-plantations, the new wage rate is also P295 from the previous P271.50 due to a basic wage increase of P18.50 and five pesos worth of COLA, or a total of P23.50.
The granted increase is lesser than the amount petitioned by the labor group Philippine Agricultural, Commercial, and Industrial Workers Union-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (Paciwu-TUCP).
On January 22, Paciwu-TUCP filed a petition seeking for a P130 to P150 increase depending on the worker's classification.
The labor group wants a daily increase of P150 for non-agriculture, industrial, and commercial establishments employing more than 10 workers.
For those with less than 10 employees, the proposed increase was pegged at P130.
Under the petition, agricultural plantations with an area of more than 24 hectares should provide a P140 daily increase. Those with an area of less than 24 hectares, with P130 additional pay.
Cañete, also the regional director of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)-Western Visayas, said all other provisions he earlier announced will also be implemented.
Taking into consideration the temporary closure of Boracay Island in Aklan province resulting to non-operation of establishments there for six months, there shall be no wage increase and provision of COLA in all three barangays of Malay town.
As part of the moratorium, the new Wage Order will just take effect three months after the opening of the island.
So if the rehabilitation ends in October, the effectivity is sometime in January 2019.
Also, considering that business operations in the entire Aklan are also affected by the Boracay woes, the wage increase will take effect among other areas in the province in November this year.
For sugar industry enterprises under the agricultural, industrial, and commercial sector, the grant of COLA shall only take effect six months after the issuance of the Wage Order.
Cañete said the Board is calling on employers to "abide faithfully" with the order.
"We do not want our employers to violate any labor standards and this is also for the good of their employees enabling them to feel being rewarded through the new Wage Order," he added.
(Appeal, vigilance)
Within 10 days after the effectivity of the Wage Order, any party may file an appeal or motion for reconsideration.
Cañete reiterated that if the companies belong to the criteria - establishments are distressed, new business enterprises, and affected by natural or human-induced calamities - they can also file an exemption.
As part of RTWPB's move, they will conduct information dissemination in different provinces through a press conference, forum, and orientation, among others, on the new Wage Order.
Cañete said they will gather Public Employment Service Office (PESO) managers, human resource heads, guidance counselors and other stakeholders in the region.
"For the workers, we are encouraging them to be vigilant," he said, adding that if ever they are not availing the wage increase "workers may report to any DOLE offices immediately."
In cases that workers are not being paid off the right salary, the agency can intervene through conciliation and mediation.
(Economic boost)
Moreover, for the labor sector, the wage increase will contribute to boosting the local economy.
Wennie Sancho, the labor representative to the RTWPB-Western Visayas, said additional earnings will form part of the domestic spending so it pumps primes the economy.
"Giving them the opportunity to earn more enables workers to have stronger economic participation," he added.
Sancho, also the secretary general of General Alliance of Workers Associations (GAWA), lauded the swift action taken for the new Wage Order.
He said that it's a good development as it was published earlier than expected.
RTWPB-Western Visayas earlier projected that the effectivity will start most probably in August.
"In my experience, almost 20 years, it is the fastest action taken from the moment it was approved contrary to the perception of other groups that the Wage Board is just a mechanism of the government," Sancho said.