DAYS before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA), the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) announced the implementation of the first tranche of the P85 salary hike for minimum wage earners in the National Capital Region.
Under the DOLE’s Wage Order NCR-27, minimum wage earners in Metro Manila will receive an additional P60 per day for an eight-hour work.
The adjustment effectively raises the income of non-agricultural workers from P695 to P755. Workers in the agriculture sector, service and retail shops with 15 or fewer employees, and manufacturing firms with fewer than 10 employees will receive P718 daily (from P658).
SECOND TRANCHE
By January next year, the labor department assured a P25 wage increase representing the second tranche.
By adding 25 daily for a day’s work, Metro Manila non-agricultural workers receive P780, while those in the agriculture sector, service and retail shops with 15 or fewer employees, and manufacturing firms with fewer than 10 employees will be paid P743.
Previously, Labor Secretary Francis Tolentino described the adjustment as the “largest in Metro Manila to date.” The agency said that the wage increase will benefit 1.1 million workers in the region.
COMPLY, OR ELSE
In a press release farmed out to the media, Tolentino likewise warned employers to comply or face the consequences.
“In line with the implementation, the labor chief continues to remind employers to follow the wage adjustment, as non-compliance will result in penalties set by law,” reads part of the press release.
He likewise cautioned employers against wage distortion, or the adjustment of salaries above the minimum wage, through collective bargaining agreements between labor and management.
NOT-SO-FAST
A non-government organization, Foundation for Economic Freedom, earlier urged the government to suspend the implementation of the wage order “until the spirit of tripartism is upheld and a consensus among employers, labor, and government is reached.”
