On Thursday, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) announced that the NCR Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board had approved a P40 increase in the minimum wage in the National Capital Region, which will become effective on July 16 this year.
Non-agricultural workers can expect their daily wages to increase from P570 to P610.
Meanwhile, agriculture sector workers, service and retail establishments employing 15 or fewer workers, and manufacturing establishments regularly employing less than ten workers will see their daily pay rise from P533 to P573.
DOLE said that the new rates would translate to a 7% increase from the current daily minimum wage rates in the region and are still higher than the regional poverty threshold of P452 per day for a family of five.
It is expected that around 1.1 million minimum wage earners in NCR will benefit from the wage increase.
The approval of the wage hike comes amid elevated inflation, which hit a 14-year high in January.
Although labor groups have been asking for salary hikes for several months now, the employers’ group has voiced its concerns about small businesses being affected by wage increases.
Despite this, the labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno earlier stated that they believe that “all wage increases in all the regions of the country must be significant and be able to address the workers’ pressing needs.”
Some senators were pushing earlier for a P150 across-the-board wage hike.
Source: PhilNews24 | June 30, 2023
