AN OFFICIAL from the Department of Labor and Employment-Davao Region (Dole-Davao) said the region was the last in the Philippines to implement the minimum wage adjustment.
Lawyer Randolf C. Pensoy, the regional director of Dole-Davao, bared this during the Kapehan sa Dabaw on Monday morning, March 11, 2024, at SM City Davao.
According to Pensoy, the delay was due to the final tranche of the previous adjustment in April 2023. He explained that the adjustment, though relatively new, had been effective since 2022. The implementation was done gradually in tranches to avoid sudden shocks for employers and employees.
Pensoy said that the wage adjustment would benefit not only minimum wage earners but also domestic workers. Through Wage Order No. RBXI-DW-03, effective March 6, 2024, domestic workers in chartered cities and first-class municipalities would now receive a new minimum wage of P6,000, up from P4,500.
In other municipalities, their new minimum wage would be P5,000, previously P4,500.
To ensure compliance with the new wage increase, Pensoy said, "Kinahanglan sa amoang departamento nga bisitahon ug i-regulate, ikaduha ug naay mga complaint or tawag sa amoang opisina pwede sa amoang mga labor inspectors muadtu didto arun matan-awan kung ang establisyemento diri sa DOLE particularly private sectors are in compliance with the new wage adjustment (Our department needs to visit and regulate. If there are complaints or calls in our office, our labor inspectors from DOLE will visit the area, particularly private sectors, to check compliance with the new wage adjustment)."
Recalling that the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board -Davao Region (RTWPB-Davao) approved a P38 increase for the region's minimum wage earners and domestic workers, Pensoy detailed that the first tranche, a P19 increase, became effective on March 6, 2024.
Non-agricultural sector employees would now earn P462 per day, while those in the agricultural sector would earn P457.
The second tranche, the remaining P19, is set to take effect on September 1, 2024. At that point, the new minimum wage rate will be P481 per day for non-agricultural sector workers and P476 per day for those in the agricultural sector. RGP
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