RTWPB-Central Luzon set to issue new ‘kasambahay’ wage order

By PRINCESS CLEA ARCELLAZ, Sun Star, Jul 27, 2017

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB)-Central Luzon announced on Thursday that it is set to issue a new wage order increasing the minimum wage rates for domestic workers or “kasambahays” in the region.

This, after Department of Labor and Employment Regional Director Ana Dione, who also chairs RTWPB-Central Luzon, disclosed that they have already completed their assessment of the prevailing socio-economic conditions in Central Luzon, results of the public hearing and other factors such as average wage of domestic workers and poverty threshold level in the region.

The wage hike for domestic workers in Central Luzon, according to Dione, is necessary to help them cope with rising cost of living and to set the minimum entry level for their employment. Dione noted that under existing rules of procedure, RTWPBs are required to submit to the National Wages and Productivity Commission their findings before a wage order may be issued and published.

She added that currently, the minimum wages for domestic workers in Central Luzon is pegged at P2,000 a month for those employed in chartered cities and first class municipalities and P1,500 for those working in other municipalities. These were set by Congress under Republic Act 10361 (An Act Instituting Policies for the Protection and Welfare of Domestic Workers) which took effect sometime in February 2013.