GOOD news for domestic workers or kasambahay in Central Visayas ahead of Labor Day.
They are set to receive higher wages after the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board Central Visayas (RTWPB 7) issued a wage order granting an additional P500 in monthly pay.
The Department of Labor and Employment in the region (Dole 7) said the RTWPB 7, in Wage Order ROVII-DW-04 dated April 18, 2024, motu proprio approved the increase in the monthly salary of kasambahay in the region, which means it took the official act without a formal request from another party.
Based on the order, the Central Visayas wage board has approved the raising of the monthly wage of kasambahays to P6,000 from the previous P5,500 for those in chartered cities and first class municipalities, and to P5,000 from the previous P4,500 for other municipalities.
The wage order will take effect 15 days from its publication, or on May 11, 2024.
The regional wage board said the increase considered the results of the survey conducted, the public hearings, the needs of domestic workers and their families, the employer’s capacity to pay, and the existing socio-economic conditions in the region.
It also factored in the public hearings held April 7 in Minglanilla town and Cebu City, and the wage deliberation conducted last April 18.
During these hearings, there were discussions coming from some employers to even raise the wage further, RTWPB 7 Chairwoman Lilia Estillore said.
“Employers thought that this is so that we could get the best skilled kasambahay, because skilled kasambahay are hard to find. But we are also looking at startup families who need kasambahay because both parents need to work, so we stayed at P6,000,” she said.
Estillore emphasized that these wage increases will apply to both directly hired kasambahay and those hired through agencies.
Currently, there is no active list of kasambahay in Central Visayas, posing a challenge for accurate monitoring.
Estillore said barangays are responsible for listing kasambahay under the Kasambahay Law, but not all employers comply with this requirement.
She added that barangays are tasked with ensuring the enforcement of the wage hike for kasambahay.
Estillore, who also heads the Dole 7, confirmed that the wage increase was signed into effect last week but was only awaiting confirmation from the national wage board and the order’s publication as well.
No other talks
She added that there are no other discussions on hikes in the minimum pay of other types of workers, emphasizing that petitions for a minimum wage increase in the region should be filed starting 60 days before the anniversary of the implementation of the last wage hike.
In September 2023, the RTWPB 7 announced Wage Order ROVII-24, which implemented a P33 wage increase in the private sector in Central Visayas, effective last Oct. 1.
As a result of this regulation, the minimum daily wage in Class A areas rose to P468 from P435; Class B areas, P430 from P397; and Class C areas, P420 from P387.
Class A covers the cities of Carcar, Cebu, Danao, Lapu-Lapu, Mandaue, Naga, Talisay, and the municipalities of Compostela, Consolacion, Cordova, Liloan, Minglanilla and San Fernando.
Cities not covered under Class A fall under Class B, while municipalities not in Class A or B are categorized as Class C.
For agriculture and non-agriculture establishments with fewer than 10 workers, the daily minimum wage now ranges from P415 to P458, depending on the area classification. / KJF