1.2M private workers in Calabarzon, Central Visayas to get pay hike

Inquirer files

MANILA, Philippines — Private employees in Calabarzon and Central Visayas will get higher daily wages in the coming two weeks.

In a statement on Monday, the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) said the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards (RTWPBs) of the two regions have issued wage orders granting increases in the daily minimum wage rates of workers in private establishments.

The adjustments range from P21 to P75 per day for Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon), making the new minimum daily wage in the region between P425 and P560.

The daily rate for Central Visayas (Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental, Siquijor and the independent cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu in Cebu) will increase by P33 to P43, or equivalent to P425 to P503 pay per day.

READ: Wage hike of P35 for Metro Manila private sector workers approved – DOLE

The new wage increase in Calabarzon will take effect on Sept. 30. The wage increase in component cities and some municipalities in the region will be implemented in two tranches: on Sept. 30, and on April 1, 2025.

In Central Visayas, the new wage order will take effect on Oct. 2.

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The RTWPB in Calabarzon recategorized the grouping of areas based on the income classification of local government units, and simplified the wage structure into the agriculture and nonagriculture sectors, and retail establishments employing not more than 10 workers. The increase brings the daily minimum wages to P450-P560 in the nonagriculture sector; P425-P500 in the agriculture sector; and P425 in retail and service establishments employing not more than 10 workers upon full implementation of all tranches.

Workers in Rosario, Cavite, which is a first-class municipality, will have their wage increase in two tranches: P41 on the first, and P20 on the second tranche.

Meanwhile, the Central Visayas RTWPB has kept its area-based classifications of Classes A, B, and C; but each class now has a single wage rate for both agriculture and nonagriculture sectors.

The increase brings the daily minimum wages from P458-P468 to P501 for Class A; P425-P430 to P463 for Class B; and P415-P420 to P453 for Class C.

The wage increases, however, were lower than the P150 across-the-nation private sector pay sought by trade unions and labor groups, to address issues of poverty wages and discrimination within the current regional wage scheme.

Wage correction

According to Dole, the new rates for workers in private establishments translate to about an increase of 7 to 8 percent from the prevailing daily minimum wage rates in the two regions.

These will also result in a comparable 11-percent increase in wage-related benefits covering 13th-month pay, service incentive leave, and social security benefits such as SSS, PhilHealth, and Pag-Ibig.

The wage orders are expected to directly benefit a total of 1.2 million minimum wage earners in the two regions.

It will also indirectly help about 2.7 million full-time wage and salary workers earning above the minimum wage as a result of upward adjustments at the enterprise level arising from the correction of wage distortion.

The wage orders were issued following President Marcos’ Labor Day directive to the RTWPBs to review regional minimum wage rates before the anniversary dates of previous wage increases.

The last wage orders for workers in private establishments in Calabarzon and Central Visayas became effective on Sept. 24, 2023, and Oct. 1, 2023, respectively.

Exemption mechanism

“Both adjustments were reached through consensus and unanimously approved by the government, labor, and employer representatives in both RTWPBs, and have likewise been unanimously affirmed by the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC),” Dole said.

As in any wage order, and as provided for in the NWPC Omnibus Rules on Minimum Wage Determination, retail and service establishments regularly employing not more than 10 workers, and enterprises affected by natural calamities and/or human-induced disasters may apply to the RTWPB for exemption from the wage increase.

Barangay micro business enterprises are not covered by the minimum wage law under Republic Act No. 9178.

For exemption applications and further clarifications on the wage order, the concerned RTWPBs may also be reached through their email addresses at [email protected] and [email protected].