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BY RESEL JOY TIANERO
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Thursday, March 2, 2017
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ILOILO City – Beginning March 16, the daily minimum wage of private sector workers in Western Visayas and Negros Occidental will increase.
In Wage Order No. 23, the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) approved the following new daily minimum wages:
* P323.50 (from the previous P298.50) in the non-agriculture / industrial / commercial sector employing more than 10 workers – or a P25 increase
* P271.50 (from the previous P256.50) in the non-agriculture / industrial / commercial sector employing 10 workers or less – or a P15 increase
* P281.50 (from the previous P266.50) in the agriculture sector with plantation – or a P15 increase
* P271.50 (from the previous P256.50) in the agriculture sector but non-plantation – or a P15 increase.
According to Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) acting director Salome Siaton, the RTWPB approved these new minimum wages on Feb. 16 yet.
The basis of the new minimum wage rates shall be the normal working hours not exceeding eight hours of work a day.
In the case of workers paid by result, including those who are paid on piecework, “takay”, “pakyaw” or task basis, they shall be entitled to receive not less than the prescribed wage rates a day, or a portion thereof for working less than eight hours.
In case of contracts for construction projects, and for security, janitorial and similar services, the prescribed increases in the wage rates shall be borne by the principal or client of the construction / service contractors and the contract shall be deemed amended accordingly.
In the event, however, that the principal or client fails to pay the prescribed wage rates, the construction / service contractor will be jointly and severally held liable with his principal or client.
The wage board tried to balance what the workers were demanding and what the employers could afford to give, said Siaton.
In the case of private educational institutions, the share of covered workers and their employees in the increase of tuition fees for school year 2016-2017 shall be considered as compliance with the wage order.
However, payment of any shortfall in the wage increase shall be covered starting school year 2017-2018.
Private educational institutions which have not increased their tuition fees for school year 2016-2017 may defer compliance to the wage order until the beginning of school year 2017-2018.
In any case, all private educational institutions shall implement the new wage rates starting school year 2017-2018, according to the RTWPB.
The wage hike petition was filed by the Philippine Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Workers’ Union (PACIWU-TUCP) in DOLE Negros Occidental last August 2016. For three months, RTWPB held public consultations.
The last time RTWPB approved a wage increase was on May 2, 2015.
According to Siaton, Wage Order No. 23 does not cover household or domestic workers, personal service of another (drivers, gardeners, etc.) and workers in duly registered barangay micro business enterprises.
The Kasambahay Law set the minimum wage for household or domestic workers.
Those that violate the new wage order shall be subjected to a mandatory 30-day conciliation and mediation process under DOLE’s Single Entry Approach, said Siaton.
She, however, clarified that employers or managements with adverse financial conditions, new businesses and those hit by calamities may be exempted from the new wage order. But they have to comply with the requirements set by DOLE and the wage board such as financial statements, she stressed./PN
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