P35 WAGE HIKE FOR METRO MANILA WORKERS APPROVED

THE Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) has approved a P35 hike in the daily salary of minimum wage earners in Metro Manila or the National Capital Region.

The decision was released on Monday and will take effect 15 days after the publication of the order.

In a social media post Monday, the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board – National Capital Region (RTWPB-NCR) said Wage Order No. NCR-25 was signed on June 27.

Upon its effectivity, the daily minimum pay for non-agriculture workers in the private sector would be P645 from the current P610.

The daily minimum wage for workers in agriculture (plantation and non-plantation), service/retail establishments employing 15 workers or less, and manufacturing establishments regularly employing less than 10 workers, will be raised to P608 from the current P573.

“The minimum wage rates prescribed under this Order shall be for the normal working hours which shall not exceed eight hours of work a day,” the order said.

According to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the wage increase took into account three petitions from labor groups requesting a hike in the daily minimum wage due to rising prices of basic goods and commodities.

The DOLE said the wage order is expected to benefit around 988,243 minimum wage earners in NCR.

“About 1.7 million full-time wage and salary workers earning above the minimum wage may also indirectly benefit as a result of upward adjustments at the enterprise level arising from the correction of wage distortion,” DOLE’s press release read.

The last wage hike order in NCR, which set a P40 increase, was approved on July 16, 2023.