THE Bangsamoro Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (BTWPB) issued Wage Order No. BARMM-DW-01 on August 19 to peg the Minimum Monthly Wage to P 5,000 for domestic workers across the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
BARMM’s Ministry of Labor and Employment (MOLE) approved on August 19 the new wage order, following the board’s extensive consultation with labor organizations and stakeholders.
MOLE-BARMM Minister Muslimin Sema said the new wage is seen to improve the living conditions of domestic workers, by enabling them to meet basic needs.
The fresh compensation package for domestic workers in BARMM was lauded by employers as fairly better than those in other regions.
Lawyer Anwar A. Malang, the regional wage board’s employers’ representative, said the BARMM wage order is essentially a better package for local workers than the average level of minimum wage that other regions have to offfer domestic workers.
Sema said the Wage Order applies to all domestic workers in the region residing or working in the region, such as those performing household works, cooking, cleaning, laundry, babysitting, gardening, and others of the same nature.
The Wage Order will take effect 15 days after its publication in at least one (1) regional newspaper of regional circulation in BARMM.
Malang noted that “It (the new minimum wage) is a very good start for BARMM that we have a minimum wage for housekeepers which is higher than in other regions.” Exceptions are family drivers, children under foster family arrangements, and service providers.
