THE Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) in Western Visayas will tackle the proposed wage increase for domestic workers or “kasambahays” in the region during its meeting in Iloilo City on January 10.
It will be the first agenda of the Wage Board for this year, labor representative Wennie Sancho said Friday, January 4.
Sancho said Wage Order No. 2 which prescribed the new minimum wage rate for domestic workers in the region, including Negros Occidental, at P3,500 per month has already lapsed on December 8, 2018.
“We are going to set the schedules for public consultations and hearings,” he said, adding that RTWPB-Western Visayas decided to review the wage of kasambays motu propio on its own, or regardless without a petition.
The previous Wage Order removed the classification of kasambahays as all are receiving the same wage rate regardless of whether they are working in cities or different classes of municipalities.
It replaced the order where domestic workers in cities and first class municipalities are prescribed to receive P2,500 per month while those in other towns are entitled to have P2,000.
This means that the salary of domestic workers in cities and first class municipalities previously increased by P1,000 per month. Those in other towns was P1,500.
Sancho earlier said the classification, whether workers are in cities or municipalities, was somehow “confusing and discriminatory,” particularly on how much will be given to them.
“Expenses of kasambahays in any locality is almost similar. The gravity of their work is also the same thus, they all deserve to receive a higher and common wage,” he added.
The existing Wage Order applies to all domestic workers, whether on a live-in or live-out arrangement, such as but not limited to general house help, “yaya,” cook, gardener, laundry person, and any person who regularly performs work in one household on an occupational basis.
It does not cover service providers, family drivers, children under a foster family arrangement, and any other person who performs work occasionally or sporadically and not on an occupational basis.
The order stated that withholding and interference in the disposal of wages of the domestic workers are declared unlawful and shall be punishable.
Fine is at least P10,000 but not more than P40,000 without prejudice to the filing of the appropriate civil or criminal action by the aggrieved party, it added.
Sancho, also the secretary-general of the General Alliance of Workers Associations (Gawa), said that under the new proposal, the increase will range from P800 to P1,000 per month.
Thus, once approved, kasambahays are entitled to receive a monthly wage of up to P4,500.
For the labor leader, there is a need to increase the wage of kasambays like workers of other sectors as their purchasing power also eroded due to surging inflation.
“They need restoration of their purchasing power,” he said, adding that the wage increase will also be a motivating factor for kasambahays to improve their productivity.