The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Friday assured minimum wage earners in provinces outside Metro Manila that salary increases would also apply to them as part of an ongoing review of regional wage rates.
Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma noted that five Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards (RTWPBs) have already begun the process of issuing new wage orders. These regions are Region 1 (Ilocos), Region 2 (Cagayan Valley), Region 3 (Central Luzon), Region 4-A (Calabarzon), and Region 7 (Central Visayas).
This year, the National Capital Region (NCR) was the first to declare implementing a wage hike as the NCR wage board approved the ₱50 increase in daily salary for around 1.2 million minimum wage earners in the region, with implementation effective on July 18.
Under the latest NCR wage order, the daily minimum wage will increase from ₱645 to ₱695 for non-agricultural workers. Members of the agricultural sector, retail and service establishments with 15 or fewer workers, and those in manufacturing firms with fewer than 10 regular workers will see an increase from ₱608 to ₱658 in their daily wage.
Laguesma said that along with the estimated five million minimum wage workers in the country, around eight million workers currently earning above the minimum wage may also have salary adjustments because of the wage hikes.
According to DOLE, small businesses with 10 employees or fewer that are also impacted by natural calamities or economic upheavals may file an application for exemption from implementing the wage increase.
The department reiterated that the reviews are being undertaken to balance improving the workers’ situation against the viability of businesses, especially given the cost of living going up and the recovery from the aftermath of many recent crises.
This is the order of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to conduct an immediate review of regional minimum wage rates within 60 days from the last wage order.
