New minimum wage compliance: DOLE warns firms

CEBU, Philippines — The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has warned companies not complying with the newly-approved minimum wage adjustment in Central Visayas that they may be sanctioned with double indemnity.

“We have not yet tried imposing this penalty of double indemnity and we do not intend to do that as much as possible. However, everyone should know that such could possibly happen to those who would really purposely circumvent the law,” said DOLE-7 Regional Director Lilia Estillore.

Estillore, who is also the chairperson of the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-7, underscoring the development approach in herding companies especially the micro-establishments towards labor laws compliance, highlighted the provision of technical and advisory visits (TAVs) as a mechanism used by the department in ensuring that voluntary compliance at the plant-level is achieved.

She said that establishments could file for an exemption under certain conditions.

As provided for under the Omnibus Rules on Minimum Wage Determination, retail/ service establishments employing not more than 10 workers and establishments adversely affected by natural calamities and/or human-induced disasters may apply for exemption from the wage increase.

Wage Order No. ROVII-24, which is set to take effect on October 1, is expected to benefit around 346,946 minimum wage earners in the region.

The newly approved P33 per day adjustment in the minimum wage rates in Central Visayas is the highest increase by far in the history of wage fixing in the region, DOLE-7 said.

Estillore said the increase is a result of a unanimous decision of all the board members.

“I thank all the members of the board, especially the representatives from the management and labor sectors, who managed to arrive at a win-win decision, which the body believed would benefit the greatest number of people in Central Visayas,” Estillore added.

New minimum wage

The wage adjustment will bring the minimum wages in non-agriculture establishments to a range of P420 to P468 and P415 to P458 in agriculture and non-agriculture establishments employing less than ten (10) workers.

Under the said wage order, for Class A localities (cities of Carcar, Cebu, Danao, Lapulapu, Mandaue, Naga, Talisay and Municipalities of Compostela, Consolacion, Cordova, Liloan, Minglanilla, San Fernando or Expanded Metro Cebu), the new minimum wage rate in non-agriculture establishments is P468, while the new minimum wage rates in agriculture and non-agriculture establishments with less than ten workers is P458.

For Class B (Other Cities Not Covered Under Class A - Bais, Bayawan, Bogo, Canlaon, Dumaguete, Guihulngan, Tagbilaran, Tanjay, Toledo), the new minimum wage rate in non-agriculture establishments is P430 and the new minimum wage rates in agriculture and non-agriculture establishments with less than ten workers is P425.

While for Class C (Other Municipalities Not Covered Under Class A and Class B), the new minimum wage rate in non-agriculture establishments is P420 and the new minimum wage rate in agriculture and non-agriculture establishments with less than ten workers is P415.

With the new increase, about 399,572 workers in the region would also be affected by wage distortion, but the RTWPB-7 is ready to render assistance in addressing the problem, said Estillore.

Wage distortion occurs when the variations in wage structures or rates among employee groups within an enterprise are significantly eliminated or substantially diminished due to mandated wage increases.

“There is a formula that is used to address the concern on wage distortion. We urge the public to get in touch with the RTWPB-7 should they need technical assistance on this,” Estillore added.

Separation pay

Meanwhile, workers in Negros Oriental and Siquijor collectively received a one-time payment of over P6 million through the Single Entry Approach (SEnA) program of DOLE-7.

After the successful conduct of SEnA conferences held at the Negros Oriental Field Office (NOFO), one worker assigned in retail sales and distribution department of a sales and marketing company claimed a total of P3.5 million as payment for his separation pay.

The one-time payment was made right after the successful settlement that was reached during the conferences conducted.

The worker, who hailed from Larena, Siquijor, lodged a request for assistance due to constructive dismissal and was eventually paid with his separation pay.

Another successful SEnA settlement came about after both parties, involving an agriculture-based firm, arrived at mutually agreed terms during the conferences conducted.

Around fifty-six workers, who resided in Sta. Catalina and Bayawan City, Negros Oriental, received their claims for underpayment of wages that amounted to more than P2.5 million.

The beneficiaries are all farm workers, who received their monetary awards in cash ranging from P11,000 to as high as P96,000 each.

Estillore explained that it is an administrative approach to provide a speedy, impartial, inexpensive, and accessible settlement procedure of all labor issues or conflicts to prevent them from ripening into full-blown disputes or actual labor cases.

She further underscored the importance of the program and how it has diminished the number of complaints that have escalated into full blown cases.

For the month of August 2023 alone, DOLE-7 facilitated the payment of more than P190 million under SEnA benefiting 3,405 workers all over Central Visayas. — (FREEMAN)