Wage order to affect small businesses, trader warns

THE  P20 minimum wage increase that took effect last month will hit small and medium businesses the hardest, a Cebuano business leader warned yesterday.

Samuel Chioson, Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) president, said businesses like single owner or family type businesses like Internet cafes and eateries may be forced to lay off workers in order to cut costs.

“Some businesses may choose to automate or buy some machines to cut down on workers,” Chioson said.

The P20 minimum wage increase took effect last Sept. 22, or 15 days after the wage order was published in local dailies.

Regional Director Exequiel Sarcauga of the Department of Labor and Employment in Central Visayas (DOLE-7) said the guidelines for the P20 wage increase was published last Sept. 7.

He said their office will inspect business establishments for this month to determine compliance of the wage order.

Chioson said some big industries have complied with the wage order.

He said some businesses even asked DOLE-7 for an extension period before complying with the latest wage order.

Workers were asked to file a complaint with DOLE in case their employers didn’t comply with the order.

Guidelines for the latest wage order which raises the minimum wage to P305 a day for Metro Cebu are still being reviewed by the National Wages and Productivity Commission.

Financially distressed businesses may seek exemption under the wage order.

Non-agricultural workers for class A or in Metro Cebu area will receive P305 daily while class B or areas outside Metro Cebu but within Cebu province excluding Bantayan and Camotes Islands receive P285 daily.

Workers in Bohol and Negros Oriental will receive P275 while Siquijor, Bantayan and Camotes Islands workers will receive P260 daily. /Carmel Loise Matus, Correspondent