Household workers in Region III are set to receive an increase to their monthly wage rate starting Monday, April 1, after the Central Luzon's wage board approved an increase in the daily minimum wage, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has announced.
In a statement, DOLE said the wge increase is stipulated in the Central Luzon's Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) motu propio issued Wage Order No. RBIII-DW-04 on Mar. 4.
It said a total of 126,762 domestic workers in Region III are expected to benefit from the wage hike.
With the latest wage order, the new monthly minimum wage rates for domestic workers in the region, approximately 9 percent or 11,595 of whom are on live-in arrangements, will now range from P1,000 for chartered cities and first-class municipalities to P1,500 for other municipalities.
The adjustment would bring the monthly minimum wage in the region to P6,000.
The DOLE said the wage order was submitted to the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) for review and was affirmed on Mar. 12.
It added that the wage order will be published on Mar.16 and shall take effect after 15 days from its publication, or on April 2024.
"The increase considered the results of the survey conducted and public hearing held, as well as the needs of domestic workers and their families, the employer’s capacity to pay, and the existing socio-economic conditions in the region," the DOLE said.
Central Luzon’s regional wage board, composed of representatives from the government, management, and labor sectors, conducted regional public consultations on Feb. 25 in San Fernando City, Pampanga.
"RTWPB III shall undertake information campaigns to ensure compliance with the new wage order," the DOLE said.
The last wage order for domestic workers in Central Luzon was issued on May 30, 2022, and became effective on June 20, 2022, it said.