BAGUIO CITY – The Cordillera office of the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB-CAR) is contemplating on coming out with a wage order in the coming months increasing the monthly minimum wage of domestic workers to conform with the prevailing situation in the region.
RTWPB-CAR Board Secretary August Aquillo said the initial process that will undertaken prior to the approval of a new wage order for domestic workers will be consultations with the stakeholders on Sunday, February 17, 2019 at the city hall multipurpose hall to be done simultaneously with the celebration of the Kasambahay Day.
“The board did not issue a wage order increasing the monthly minimum wage of domestic workers because we saw no compelling reason to do so last year aside from the fact that a good number of employers are paying their domestic workers more than the prevailing minimum wage for them,” Aquillo stressed.
Under the existing wage order for domestic workers, the monthly minimum wage for domestic workers in Baguio city and first-class municipalities is P3,000 while those living in other areas in the region are mandated to receive P2,500 monthly.
The Kasambahay Law requires employers to pay for the contributions of their domestic workers with the Social Security system (SSS), Philippine Health Insurance Corporation and Pag-ibig Fund if they are paying their workers less than P5,000 while the domestic workers are obliged to pay their counterpart when they have a monthly salary of more than P5000.
Aquillo claimed it is time for the wage board to update the prevailing monthly minimum wage of domestic workers due to numerous factors, especially the unprecedented increase in the inflation rate which warrants the need for the appropriate adjustment.
He added the board will evaluate the outcome of the initial consultation on whether or not there will be a need to call for the conduct of another round of consultation before the issuance of a new wage order that will prescribe the details of the minimum wage for domestic workers.
The RTWPB-CAR official called on all stakeholders to attend the scheduled consultation and share to the board their suggestions and recommendations to serve as a basis in deciding on whether or not to issue a wage order that will fix the monthly minimum wage for domestic workers.
According to him, domestic workers are those hired by individuals who will be working for their convenience, such as house helpers, among others.
Aquillo said that more than two years had passed since the latest wage order for domestic workers was issued, thus, it is important for the board to look into the possibility of adjusting the prevailing monthly minimum wage for domestic workers after it decided to adjust the prevailing daily minimum wage for minimum wage earners in the region that took effect last August.
By HENT
