Ilocos wage board sets kasambahay monthly minimum at P2,500-P3,500

By: InterAksyon.com, October 25, 2016

MANILA, Philippines — Domestic workers in the Ilocos region should now be earning a minimum monthly wage of P2,500-3,500 after the latest order of the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board.

Wage Order No. RB1-DW-01, which took effect on 2 October, or 15 days after its publication, sets the monthly wage at P3,500 in cities and first class municipalities, and P2,500 elsewhere. The wage adjustment followed region-wide consultations and public hearings in July.

Republic Act No. 10361, or an Act Instituting Policies for the Protection and Welfare of Domestic Workers, or Batas Kasambahay, mandates a P2,500 monthly minimum wage for domestic workers in Metro Manila; P2,000 for those in cities and first class municipalities, and P1,500 in other municipalities.

However, it also empowers regional wage boards to review and adjust the minimum wage rates of domestic workers.

The wage order covers those who regularly do domestic work for a household on a regular basis, whether live-in or not.

Service providers, family drivers, children under foster family arrangements, and persons who perform work occasionally or sporadically, are excluded from the order.

Complaints over non-compliance can be filed with the field or regional offices of the Department of Labor and Employment, which will undertake a 30-day mandatory conciliation under the Single-Entry Approach to exhaust all efforts for settlement.