Household service workers (HSW) or kasambahays will be enjoying an added monthly pay starting January next year.

From the P3,500 monthly salary since 2017, kasambahays will be paid an added P1,500.

Based on the approved wage order, the minimum monthly salary of HSW in the National Capital Region shall be P5,000.

“We welcome the increase in the minimum wage of kasambahays in Metro Manila by P1, 500. The proposal will make the threshold wage from P3,500.00 (2017) to P5,000,” said Atty. Sonny Matula, president of the Federation of Free Workers.

According to Matula, the move is necessary as kasambahays from Metro Manila are getting paid lower than those other regions.

“The latest data of NWPC shows that Metro Manila has already been left behind. The highest paid domestic workers now are those located in cities and first-class municipalities in Region 1 or the Ilocos Region,” Matula said.

The minimum wage from the said municipalities is P4,500 per month on average.

Other cities and first-class municipalities in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR); Region 3 or Central Luzon; and Region 6 or Western Visayas have higher basic wages than NCR. Domestic workers have an average salary of P4,000 a month.

“This is a breath of fresh air for Christmas for our kasambahays,” Matula said.

“Thank you to the RTWPB of NCR for acting with dispatch, and approving the new minimum wage increase by P1,500 for kasambahays in Metro Manila before Christmas,” Matula said.