COMPANIES in Central Visayas may apply for an exemption from the payment of minimum wage when their business is in distress or adversely affected by natural calamities. The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) 7 Board is informing the companies that they only have until Nov. 1 to apply for an exemption. RTWPB 7 started accepting applications for wage order exemption last Aug. 19. Department of Labor and Employment 7 Director Johnson Cañete, chairman of the RTWPB 7, said applicants will have to submit the necessary documents as provided for under the implementating rules and regulations of the wage order. “Of course, there will be some criteria that the board will use in order to determine whether or not the applicant-establishment is qualified for exemption. Every applicant will have to go through tedious evaluation and scrutiny by the board before it will be granted an exemption,” he said. For the distressed establishments category, they can apply for a full, partial or conditional exemption. For establishments affected by calamities, their area should have been declared under a state of calamity six months before the implementation of the wage order, which was in June. “After Nov. 1, the board could reopen the application in the event of calamities happening again in Region 7, specifically for establishments adversely affected by said calamities. God forbid,” Cañete said. The RTWPB has 30 days to decide on the application for wage order exemption. (HBL)