Monthly minimum wage for kasambahays in Calabarzon to increase by P1k - DOLE

Domestic workers or “kasambahays” in Region IV-A or Calabarzon should expect higher pay this month after the region’s wage board hiked their monthly minimum wage.

In a statement on Saturday, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said Calabarzon’s Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) motu propio issued, on January 22, Wage Order No. RB-IVA-DW-04, increasing the monthly minimum wage of kasambahays by P1,000.

The DOLE said a total of 233,909 domestic workers in Region IV-A are expected to benefit from the wage hike.

With the latest wage order, the new monthly minimum wage rates for domestic workers in the region, approximately 28% (65,408) of whom are on live-in arrangements, will now range from P5,000 for other municipalities to P6,000 for cities and first-class municipalities.

The DOLE said the wage order was submitted to the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) for review and was affirmed on January 31.

It added that the wage order was published on February 3 and shall take effect after 15 days from its publication, or on February 14.

“The increase considered the results of the consultation and public hearing, as well as the needs of domestic workers and their families, the employer’s capacity to pay, and the existing socio-economic conditions in the region,” the DOLE said.

Calabarzon’s regional wage board, composed of representatives from the government, management, and labor sectors, conducted regional public consultations on January 9 in San Pedro City, Laguna; a regional public hearing on January 11 in Trece Martires City, Cavite; and wage deliberations on January 22.

“RTWPB-IVA shall undertake information campaigns to ensure compliance with the new wage order,” the DOLE said.

The last wage order for domestic workers in Calabarzon was issued on June 15, 2022, and became effective on July 16, 2022, it said. – VBL, GMA Integrated News