BACOLOD CITY — Employers may file an appeal before the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) on the recently approved minimum wage increase in Western Visayas, the region’s top labor official said on Wednesday.
Regional Director Johnson Cañete of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said the approval of new rates is flexible since the order provides remedies such as exemption.
Cañete, who also chairs the RTWPB-6 (West Visayas), said that if certain establishments can show proof that they have no capacity to implement the increase, the board can grant an exemption.
As of Wednesday, the new wage order has already been submitted to the National Wages and Productivity (NWPC) after it was signed by the RTWPB-6 members last June 11.
Wage Order No. 24 approved an increase of PHP13.50 to PHP41.50, which includes cost of living allowance, in the daily minimum wage of private sector workers in the region.
Wage rates in Western Visayas will now range from PHP295 to PHP365, up from the previous PHP271.50 to PHP323.50 under Wage Order No. 23.
After receiving a copy of the new wage order, the NWPC will forward the document to Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III for approval.
Wage Order No. 24 will then be published and will take effect 15 days after publication, which is possibly by August 15.
Cañete said employers may file an appeal within 10 days from publication of the Wage Order No. 24. He said board will decide whether to grant the application for exemption after studying the basis for the appeal.
Under the order’s Section 8, companies may seek exemptions from the implementation if they fall into three exceptional circumstances.
These include if establishments are distressed, if they are new business enterprises, and if affected by calamities. (Erwin Nicavera/PNA)
