The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) here said it is ready in case the proposed P200 national wage hike results in non-compliance complaints from both employers and employees.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved on third and final reading House Bill 11376 which seeks to increase by 200 pesos the daily minimum wage for private sector workers. The Senate had earlier approved its version, Senate Bill 2534, proposing a 100-peso daily minimum wage hike.Representatives of the two houses of Congress are to meet during the bicameral conference committee hearing to settle, reconcile or thresh out differences or disagreements on any provision of the bill.
If signed into law, it will be the first legislated nationwide wage hike since the Wage Rationalization Act in 1989.
The law also allows regional wage boards to grant additional increases, provide incentives or exemptions for small enterprises.
Randolf Pensoy, regional director of the DOLE-Region XI said that as member of the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB), his office is “ready” to listen to the narratives of management and labor.
“That’s why, when we consider questions of an adjustment, there must be a balance of the government, the management and the labor,” Pensoy told reporters Monday morning at the sidelines of a press conference at SM City Davao.
Despite the RTWPB’s wage hike of P29 throughout the region, which was approved last March 5, Pensoy emphasized that RTWPB’s power and structure are defined by law, which also means that Congress has the “authority to amend, repeal, or abolish it.”
Article 122 of Republic Act 6727 creates RTWPBs, which are mandated to determine and fix regional/provincial/industry-specific minimum wages and issue corresponding wage orders, among other similar responsibilities.
In an earlier interview, Pensoy said the determination of daily minimum wage regionally is done through the RTWPBs because “the lifestyle in Davao City is different from Metro Manila,” as the cost of living in the former is cheaper.
Thirty six years ago, in July 1989, Republic Act 6727 increased the minimum wage rates of all workers in the private sector to P89.
Since then, each region’s RTWPB wage orders were issued to add certain amounts to minimum wages, considering several factors which can be agreed upon by the labor department, the employers, and representatives of employees. (Ian Carl Espinosa/MindaNews)
