On Sept. 14, 2017, the NCR wage board decided to increase the minimum wage in Metro Manila by P21. The announcement caused quite a stir in social media as labor unions have been campaigning for a while, pointing out that the original minimum wage (at P491) is hardly enough to survive on, especially if one has dependents.
For a quick summary, you can visit our blog post.
The formal announcement can be found on the National Wages and Productivity Commission website.
The Basics
The table below from the National Wages and Productivity Commission shows the new minimum wage in NCR:
The sectors covered are non-agriculture, agriculture, retail or service establishments with 15 employees at most, and manufacturing establishments with less than 10 employees. All of the workers in these industries get a P21 hike in their minimum wage, resulting in P512 for the non-agriculture sector and P475 for the rest.
What is COLA?
The minimum wage consists of basic wage and COLA (P10 in this case). COLA refers to Cost of Living Allowance, which is added to basic wage in order to offset the increasing prices of everyday goods.
The COLA is incorporated into the contributions to SSS, PhilHealth, and Pag-Ibig, but it isn’t included when calculating for other benefits like night differential and overtime pay. In the recent minimum wage hike, only the basic wage increased, but not the COLA.
Special Cases
The hike doesn’t apply to strictly all workers earning minimum wage, though. The following are excluded:
- Domestic workers
- Persons in the personal service of another
- Workers of duly registered BMBEs (Barangay Micro-Business Enterprise) with Certificate of Authority
Employers who fail to follow the minimum wage will be fined and may be imprisoned. However, they may be exempted, completely or partially, if they fulfill the following circumstances:
- Distressed establishments
- Retail / service establishments regularly employing at most 10 workers
- Establishments affected by calamities
How was it decided?
Regional wage boards make their decisions based on the criteria specified in the Wage Rationalization Act.
The minimum wage should be enough to maintain decent living standards, ensuring that workers will remain healthy and productive. Factors to be considered include the needs of workers’ families and changes in the cost of living.
The wage hike will be made effective on Oct. 5, 2017.
The post A Closer Look at the 2017 Minimum Wage Hike appeared first on Sprout.
source https://sprout.ph/blog/a-closer-look-at-the-2017-minimum-wage-hike/
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