NCR Wage Board Approves P30 COLA increase
Labor
Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz announced yesterday a new minimum wage
increase of 30.00 Cost-Of-Living Allowance (COLA) in the NCR. In addition, the
P22 COLA granted last year shall be integrated into the basic pay.
She said
that the P30 COLA will be given in two (2) tranches - P20.00 upon effectivity
of Wage Order No. NCR-17 and P10.00 effective 01 November 2012.
The new wage
hike brings up the minimum wage in the NCR to P446 a day for the
non-agriculture sector and P409 a day for the other sectors, namely:
agriculture, private hospitals with bed capacity of 100 or less, retail/service
establishments employing 10 workers or less and manufacturing establishments
regularly employing less than 10 workers.
Effective 01 November 2012, the remaining P10
COLA shall be added to the minimum wage raising it further to P456 and P419,
respectively.
Coverage
The P30 COLA
applies to all minimum earners in the private sector in the NCR, regardless of
their position, designation or status of employment and irrespective of the
method of payment of wages. Excluded from the increase are household or
domestic helpers, persons in the personal service of another, including family
drivers and workers of duly registered Barangay Micro Business Enterprises
(BMBEs). However, registered BMBEs
should pay their workers not lower than the poverty threshold of P259.36 for a
family of five (5) as of 2011, subject to the condition that should there be a
change in the poverty threshold as determined by the National Statistics
Office, the same shall be applicable.
This is a new provision intended to protect workers in BMBEs from being
paid unduly low wages.
Exemption
The
following establishments may apply for exemption from payment of the COLA: distressed establishments, retail/service
establishments employing not more than 10 workers, establishments whose total
assets are not more than P3 million and establishments adversely affected by
natural calamities.
Wage Distortion
In case wage
distortion arise in the salary structure within an establishment after
implementation of the new COLA increase, affected workers who are receiving
above the minimum wage may be entitled to a COLA adjustment. The management and the workers union shall
negotiate to correct the distortion. A new
provision requires that the correction should be done within 30 days from the
effectivity of the wage order.
Productivity Bonus under the Two-Tiered
Wage System
The new
minimum wage increase ushers in the two-tiered wage system in the NCR, with the
prescribed P30 COLA being the 1st tier.
Workers may be entitled to productivity bonus and incentives based on agreement
between workers and management. Within
60 days from issuance by the NWPC of guidelines on the implementation of the
two tiered wage system, the Board shall issue an advisory on the 2nd tier of the
performance based pay which shall serve as guidelines for establishments on the
range of productivity bonus.
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