Minimum-wage workers in the Cordillera stand to benefit from a P8 wage hike ordered by the Regional Wages and Productivity Board.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said the hike, reported by Labor Department Regional Director Henry John Jalbuena, will adopt the two-tiered wage system.

"Its latest wage order is pursuant to our wage policy reform called the two-tier wage system and was also meant to restore the purchasing power of our minimum wage earners in the region," Baldoz said in a Department of Labor and Employment news release.

Wage Order No. RB-CAR-15 provides for an increase of P8 to all private sector workers and employees receiving the minimum wage in the CAR regardless of their position.

The wage order shall take effect 15 days after its publication in a newspaper of general circulation.

It also maintains the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) ranging from P22 to P37 granted under Wage Order No. 14.

Baldoz said that while the wage board has not received any petition for a wage hike, it resolved motu propio to conduct studies and consultations.

With the wage order, the daily minimum wage rate of workers in the non-agricultural sector in Baguio City, and the municipalities of La Trinidad, Tuba, Itogon and Sablan (BLIST) in Benguet shall be P280 per day.

Those in the agricultural sector shall receive P262 per day.

Outside these areas in the region including Mt. Province, Abra, Ifugao, Kalinga, and Apayao, the minimum wage for non-agricultural sector workers and agricultural workers shall be P263 and P246, respectively.

On the other hand, workers in retail and service establishments employing more than 10 workers in the BLIST areas shall receive P280 per day, while those outside the BLIST areas shall receive P263.

Those establishments in the BLIST areas employing 10 workers or less shall pay their workers P260 per day, while establishments in other areas of the region shall pay their workers P239 per day.

Baldoz noted the wage order set P280 as the floor wage in the BLIST areas and P263 as the floor wage in the other areas of the region.

This will be the first tier in the two-tier wage system, she said.

She said the floor wage was based on the region's socio-economic indicators, including poverty threshold, and average wages.

A second tier will involve a voluntary payment of productivity- and incentive-based pay based on business performance, labor productivity, work behavior, and enterprise competitiveness.

In his report to Baldoz, Jalbuena emphasized the wage order also provides for the creation of a Productivity and Incentive Committee (PIC) in enterprises that shall have equal representation from labor and management.

The PIC shall establish the criteria and mechanism in determining productivity measures including a recommendation on the range of productivity incentives.

So far, at least seven wage boards, including that in Cordillera, already issued wage orders for 2012. — LBG, GMA News