Senate passes domestic-helper bill

MANILA, Philippines—Household helpers, or “kasambahay,” have something to look forward to in the new year.

The Senate has given them an early present by passing on third and final reading the Batas Kasambahay Bill, which seeks to empower household workers with better benefits and compensation by amending portions of the country’s Labor Code.

Senator Jinggoy Estrada, author of Senate Bill No. 78, said the measure was dedicated to “the poor and marginalized sector, everyday army and unsung heroes of the Philippine economy.”

“It also carries with it the sincere desire of promoting the domestic worker industry’s welfare, which has long been overlooked and neglected not only by the government but by our society as well,” Estrda said in the bill’s explanatory note.

The bill requires a written employment contract “in a language or dialect understood by both the employer and the household helper.” The contract will include an annual salary increase, and the period of employment, which is set at two years but can be renewed afterward.

The bill requires employers to pay P3,000 monthly for helpers employed in Metro Manila, from the P800 minimum. Monthly salary for those in other chartered cities and first-class municipalities will be jacked up from P650 to P2,500. The rate will improve from P550 to P2,000 in other areas.

A year after the measure takes effect, the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards around the country will review the salary schedule and determine the appropriate minimum wage in every region.

The bill sets safeguards on the salaries to be paid to helpers. Employers will be required to issue payslips and keep copies of them for three years. A provision bars employers from interfering with “the freedom of any domestic worker to dispose of his/her wages.”

“The employer shall not, in any manner, force, compel or oblige the domestic worker to purchase merchandise, commodities or other properties from the employers or from any other person, or otherwise make use of any store or services of such employer or any other person,” the bill states.

The bill includes a prohibition on “bonded labor,” saying employers should not “use the future services of the house helpers as collateral for a loan or advance made by the latter.”

Should SB 78 eventually become a law, helpers will be enjoined to become members of the Social Security System and the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.

As tribute to helpers, the bill also designates a special day for them to be determined by the President. It will be called “Araw ng mga Kasambahay.” –Christian V. Esguerra, Philippine Daily Inquirer