New wage order to take effect early January 2017

TACLOBAN CITY, Dec. 21 (PNA) -– Workers in the private sector in Eastern Visayas will receive higher pay early January 2017 after the National Wages and Productivity Commission formally approved the new wage order for the region on Wednesday.

Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board Chairman Elias Cayanong said Wage Order No. 19 will be published in a newspaper Saturday or Sunday and it will take effect after 15 days or early January next year.

“It has been consistent in the past two years that the economy has been growing up, but no significant adjustment of wages. It’s high time to grant our workers the fruits of their labors,” Cayanong said.

On Nov. 16, the RTWPB approved a daily salary raise ranging from PHP10 to PHP25 for private sector workers in Eastern Visayas. Unlike in the previous year, the new adjustment depends on the size of business and not based on industry.

For those with 10 regular employees and below, the increase is PHP10 daily. For firms with 11 to 50 regular workers, employers are mandated to provide PHP15 increase. Those enterprises with 51 or more workers, the daily pay hike is PHP25.

The board unanimously approved the adjustment during its Nov. 16 meeting held after a series of hearings and consultations in different provinces of the region.

On March 30, 2015, under Wage Order No. 18, the wage body raised the take-home pay of workers by integrating part of the cost-of-living allowance (COLA) into the basic wage in all sectors except the sugar industry. (PNA)
LAP/SARWELL Q. MENIANO