Wage board OKs P35 minimum wage hike in NCR
MANILA, Philippines — The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) in the National Capital Region (NCR) has approved a P35 wage increase in the minimum wage for workers in the private sector.
The decision was released on Monday and will be effective 15 days after the publication of the general circulation of newspapers.
This brings the minimum wage to P645 for non-agriculture workers in the private sector.
On the other hand, P608 will be the minimum wage for those in agriculture, service or retail with 15 workers or less, and manufacturing with less than 10 regular workers once the wage hike is implemented.
In a press release of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), it said that the wage hike was determined by the various criteria under Republic Act No. 6727 or the Wage Rationalization Act. It took into account three petitions from labor groups requesting a hike in the daily minimum wage due to rising prices of essential goods and commodities.
“The wage order is expected to directly 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 board that approved the wage hike comprised representatives from the government, management and labor sectors.
It was done through two consultations for workers and employers on May 23, 2024 and June 4, 2024 and a public hearing on June 20, 2024, in Quezon City as well as a wage deliberation on June 27, 2024 in Manila, according to DOLE.
The most recent minimum wage hike in NCR took effect on July 16, 2023, with a rate hike of P40.
It had set the rate of P610 for the non-agricultural sector and P573 for the agricultural sector.
Some progressive labor groups condemned the recent wage hike saying that the increase was not enough to sustain a regular worker’s needs.
The groups also denounced the Marcos administration’s move to increase the wages through wage boards instead of urging the House of Representatives to legislate a nationwide wage increase.
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