C. Luzon wage board OKs P15 allowance for workers

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — The Regional Tripartite Wage Board (RTWB) in Central Luzon approved yesterday afternoon a P15 cost of living sllowance (COLA) for all workers in the region, which will be integrated into their basic pay within 12 months.

The COLA would also apply to private sector workers in Aurora province, which used to be covered by the wage rates in Region 4, said Josefino Torres, Regional Director of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Central Luzon.

"The substantial thing about the new wage order is that it deliberately specifies that the COLA is to be integrated into the basic pay of workers in 12 months," he said, stressing that the allowance will not be granted only to minimum wage earners but to all private sector workers "regardless of their positions or state of employment."

However, Torres explained that the new wage order does not cover domestic helpers and others employed in the personal service of others as well as establishments covered by the Barangay Micro-Enterprise Act of 2003.

Torres also said that some firms are qualified to apply for exemption from the new wage order such as retail and service establishments with less than 10 workers, distressed establishments and garment exporters with export commitments covering at least 50 percent of their production volume.

In the last wage increase in Central Luzon, the RTWB imposed varying minimum wage levels. The highest minimum wage was pegged at P228 for non-agricultural workers of firms with assets of over P30 million. Meanwhile, the lowest paid workers are those employed in cottage industries who receive only P78.50 per day.