Minimum wage earners in Central Visayas will receive a salary increase of P33 per day, which will take effect on Oct. 1, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) announced yesterday.
A P40 minimum wage hike in the National Capital Region took effect on July 16. Workers in the Calabarzon region will also receive a P35 to P50 hike in their daily minimum wage this month, the DOLE said.
The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board in Central Visayas granted a pay increase of P33, bringing the daily minimum wages in Class A to C areas to a range of P420 to P468 for non-agriculture establishments and P415 to P458 for agriculture and non-agriculture establishments with fewer than 10 workers.
The pay increase was a result of several petitions filed by various labor groups seeking an increase in the daily minimum wage due to escalating prices of basic goods and commodities.
The new rates translate to a 7.6 percent to 8.6 percent increase from the prevailing daily minimum wage rates in the region and result in a comparable 23 percent increase in wage-related benefits covering 13th-month pay, service incentive leave (SIL), and social security benefits such as SSS, PhilHealth and Pag-IBIG.
The DOLE said the wage increase is expected to directly benefit 346,946 minimum wage earners in Region VII.
About 399,572 full-time wage and salary workers earning above the minimum wage may also indirectly benefit as a result of adjustments at the enterprise level to correct wage distortion.
The last wage order for workers in private establishments in the region was issued on May 24, 2022 and became effective on June 14, 2022.
Calabarzon’s Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board issued the wage hike order on Sept. 1. The order is to take effect on Sept. 24.
Non-agricultural workers in the region will see their pay increase to P520 per day.
On the other hand, service and retail establishments employing 10 or fewer workers and manufacturing establishments regularly employing fewer than 10 workers will see their daily pay rise to P385.
Agricultural workers in Calaca and Carmona will see an increase of P89 in their daily wage due to their localities’ reclassification as component cities.
The new rates are expected to benefit over 719,000 minimum wage earners in the region, DOLE said.
DOLE said this will result in a “comparable 23 percent increase in wage-related benefits covering 13th-month pay, service incentive leave (SlL), and social security benefits such as SSS, PhilHealth, and Pag-lBlG.”
“About 1.6 million full-time wage and salary workers earning above the minimum wage may also indirectly benefit as a result of adjustments to correct for wage distortion. With AFP