The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-Eastern Visayas Region (RTWPB-VIII) approved a P30 daily minimum wage hike across all sectors.
This brings the daily minimum wage rates to P405 to P435 in different sectors/industries upon full implementation of all tranches.
The Regional Board also approved a P500 monthly increase for kasambahays (domestic workers) across all areas in the region, bringing the sector's monthly minimum wage from P5,500 to P6,000.
Both wage orders were affirmed by the National Wages and Productivity Commission on 13 November. They will take effect on 2 December.
According to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the increases considered the needs of workers and their families, the capacity of employers/industry to pay, and the requirements of economic and social development in the region provided under the Wage Rationalization Act.
The Regional Board, comprised of representatives from the government, management, and labor sectors also conducted consultations and a public hearing in the region as part of the minimum wage determination process.
The new rates for workers in the private sector translate to a seven percent increase from the prevailing daily minimum wage rates in the region and result in a comparable 10 percent increase in wage-related benefits covering 13th-month pay, service incentive leave, and social security benefits such as Social Security System, PhilHealth, and Pag-IBIG.
The wage order is expected to directly benefit 126,095 minimum wage earners.
Meanwhile, about 175,639 full-time wage and salary workers earning above the minimum wage may also indirectly benefit because of upward adjustments at the enterprise level arising from the correction of wage distortion.
On the other hand, the wage increase for kasambahays or domestic helpers is also expected to benefit a total of 57,080 domestic workers —approximately 18 percent or 10,302 of whom are on live-in arrangements.
The last wage orders for workers in private establishments and domestic workers in the region were both issued on 6 November 2023 and became effective on 30 November 2023.