Metro Manila minimum wage earners have been granted a P40 salary increase by the regional wage board in a new order that will take effect on July 16.
The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-National Capital Region (RTWPB-NCR) granted the daily wage adjustment through Wage Order No. NCR-24 issued on 26 June 2023, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in a statement.
The RTWPB-NCR’s decision raises the daily minimum wage in Metro Manila from P570 to P610 for non-agriculture workers.
Employees in the agriculture sector, service and retail establishments with 15 or less workers, and manufacturing establishments regularly employing less than 10 workers will now be earning P573, up from P533.
Sergio R. Ortiz Luis, Jr., president of the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP), said in a 29 June interview on TeleRadyo that the increase granted by the tripartite wage board was balanced and objective.
“Sinasabi nga nila hindi malaki yan, malayo sa gusto ng iba, pero yan ang pinakabalanse na talagang mayroong rationale,” he said.
He said that based on the formulas used to determine the wage increase including the inflation rate last May, the increase should have been between P31 and P37, but that the RTWPB rounded it off to P40.
He added that the tripartite wage board’s decision was as “near to objectivity” as possible because all sectors were well represented in the group.
The Board, comprised of representatives from the government, management, and labor sectors, conducted a public hearing on the wage petitions of different labor groups on 21 June in Pasay City and a wage deliberation on 26 June in Manila.
DOLE said the RTWPB-NCR’s wage order was submitted on 26 June to the National Wages and Productivity Commission, and the NWPC affirmed the order on 27 June and authorized its publication on 30 June.
“The wage order is to take effect after 15 days from its publication, or on 16 July 2023,” DOLE said.
The wage order is expected to benefit 1.1 million minimum wage earners in Metro Manila.
About 1.5 million full-time salaried workers earning above the minimum wage may also indirectly benefit because of upward adjustments at the enterprise level arising from the correction of wage distortion.
The pay increase, which took into consideration the various wage determination criteria provided under Republic Act No. 6727 or the Wage Rationalization Act, was granted following several petitions filed by various labor groups in response to the escalating prices of basic commodities.
The new rates, which translate to a 7 percent increase from the prevailing daily minimum wage rates in the region, remain above the regional poverty threshold of P452 per day for a family of five.
These likewise result in a comparable 7 percent increase in wage-related benefits covering 13th month pay, service incentive leave, and social security benefits such as Social Security System, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, and Pag-IBIG.
“As in any wage order, and as provided for in the NWPC Omnibus Rules on Minimum Wage Determination, retail/service establishments regularly employing not more than ten workers, and enterprises affected by natural calamities and/or human-induced disasters may apply to the RTWPB for exemption from the wage increase. Barangay Micro Business Enterprises (BMBEs) are not covered by the minimum wage law pursuant to Republic Act No. 9178 [2002],” the order said.
For exemption applications and further clarifications on the wage order, the RTWPB may be reached at wage_ncr@yahoo.com.ph, it added.
The last wage order for workers in private establishments in the region was issued on 12 May 2022 and became effective on 14 June 2022.
