Govt hikes minimum wage in NCR to P466 with P10 increase, effective 2014

Published September 6, 2013 8:14pm

The government has approved a P10.00 increase in the salary of minimum wage earners in Metro Manila, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz announced Friday. But it faces the same problem of compliance by employers.

In a statement, Baldoz said the salary adjustment has increased the basic salary of private sector workers in the National Capital Region (NCR) to P466.00. She cited Wage Order No. 18 of the Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Board of the National Capital Region (RTWPB-NCR).

The adjustment will take effect in January 2014.

“The RTWPB-NCR also decided to integrate P15 of the existing P30 Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) under RTWPB-NCR Wage Order No. 17 into the basic wage effective 1 January 2014. This will bring the new basic wage to P451 and the new minimum wage to P466," Baldoz added.

The new minimum wage applies to all minimum wage workers in the private sector in the NCR regardless of their position, designation, or status of employment, and irrespective of the method by which they are paid, according to RTWPB-NCR head Alex Avila.

However, the order does not cover household or domestic helpers; persons in the personal service of another, including family drivers; and workers of duly registered Barangay Micro Business Enterprises (BMBEs) with Certificates of Authority pursuant to RA 9178.

The NCR Board shall issue the Rules and Regulations implementing the Wage Order within 10 days from its publication, subject to approval of the Secretary of Labor as recommended by the Commission.

Compliance in NCR is at 61.7% of inspected establishments

According to labor standards enforcement figures of the DOLE as of the first quarter of this year, minimum wage compliance among unionized establishments in Metro Manila is at 95.8 percent. Some 623 unionized workplaces were surveyed.

The DOLE inspected 120 NCR workplaces during the quarter and found that 105 of them had labor standards violations and only 61.7 percent complied with the current minimum wage of P456 for non-agricultural workers and P419 for other types of workers.

Nationwide, the minimum wage compliance rate upon inspection was at 81 percent, but by region, compliance varied widely from the lowest at 37.8 percent in Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque and Palawan) to the highest at 94.5 percent in Region XII (SOCCSKSARGEN). — KBK/ELR, GMA News

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