Employers must pay wage hike before TRO, DOLE says

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said Friday that employers must pay their employees according to the approved minimum wage hike that was earned before the Pasig Regional Trial Court’s issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO).

“Meron nang vested right ‘yung manggagawa nun e so hindi na dapat isauli ‘yon,” DOLE Secretary Francis Tolentino said in a “24 Oras” report by Bernadette Reyes on Friday.

(The workers already have a vested right to those earnings, so they shouldn't have to return them.)

“Lalong-lalo na ngayon, pay day ngayon, so hindi na dapat isauli kasi at the time it was prepared and at the time it was received, wala pang order ‘yung National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) na suspended,” Tolentino added.

(Especially today, since it's pay day, no money should be taken back because when the payroll was prepared and received, there was no order from the National Wages and Productivity Commission suspending it yet.)

On Thursday, the Pasig RTC issued a TRO, halting the implementation of the P85 minimum wage hike in Metro Manila that was approved by DOLE in June.

In an eight-page order, Presiding Judge Marie Joyce Manongsong granted the prayer of petitioners Readycon Trading and Construction Corp. and R-II Builders, Inc., "pending the resolution of the petition for declaratory relief."

The TRO ordered the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-National Capital Region (RTWPB-NCR) and the NWPC to stop the implementation of the wage hike until August 13.

"A TRO is issued only if the matter is of such extreme urgency that grave injustice and irreparable injury will arise unless it is issued immediately. In this case, the court finds that the elements were sufficiently established by petitioners," the order read.

Labor Code safeguard

In a Facebook post, Akbayan Representative Chel Diokno said no court injunction may block any wage orders, arguing that the Labor Code safeguards its implementation.

“Paalala: Sa Article 126 ng Labor Code, hindi maaaring pigilan ng korte ang pagpapatupad ng wage order. Dapat manaig ang batas at ang karapatan ng mga manggagawa,” Diokno said.

(A reminder: Under Article 126 of the Labor Code, no court can issue a restraining order to stop the implementation of a wage order. The law and the rights of workers must prevail.) — Lyjah Tiffany Bonzo/BAP, GMA News