Workers install cables along the sidewalk in Magsaysay Avenue in Davao City on Thursday (21 September 2023) as part of the underground cabling project for power and telecommunication lines. On March 6, 2024, minimum wage earners in the region start to receive the first tranche of P19 daily wage hike. The second tranche, also P19, will take effect on September 1, 2024. MindaNews photo
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 11 March) – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) – Davao Region vowed Monday to strictly monitor the enforcement of the daily wage increase in the area, warning non-compliant employers they could be meted hefty penalties with possible imprisonment.
DOLE-Davao director Atty. Randolf C. Pensoy told the Kapehan sa Dabaw that the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) – Davao Region issued Wage Order No. RB XI-22 last February, approving a daily wage adjustment of P38 for minimum wage earners in the region to be implemented in two tranches.
The first tranche of P19 took effect last March 6, while the remaining P19 on September 1, 2024.
Upon effectivity of the first tranche, the daily wage rate for non-agricultural workers would be adjusted to P462 from P443 and for agriculture, P457 from P438.
Starting September 1, the new rates would be P481 for non-agriculture and P476 for those in the agriculture sector.
“We are mandated to monitor and implement as well as to keep track of those establishments in pursuance of DOLE’s visitorial and regulatory powers,” he said.
He said that labor inspectors conduct regular monitoring of the establishments and act on complaints from workers on violations of labor standards, including the non-enforcement of the new wage increase.
Pensoy said that a “thorough evaluation” of the socioeconomic conditions of the region and consultations with representatives of private companies and labor groups were conducted before the RTWBP-Davao approved the daily wage increase.
He said the wage increase was “necessary and timely” considering that there have been “significant changes in the consumer price index, poverty threshold, and other socio-economic indicators” since the issuance of the last wage order in 2022.
Pensoy said that Republic Act No. 8188 increases the “penalty and imposes double indemnity for violation of prescribed increases or adjustments in the wage rates.”
Under the law, non-compliant employers will be punished with a fine ranging from P25,000 to P100,000 or imprisonment of two to four years or both at the discretion of the court and, in addition, the employers will be ordered to pay an amount equivalent to double the unpaid benefits due to the employees.
He said the “payment of indemnity will not absolve the employer from the criminal liability.”
Pensoy said the adjusted minimum wage rate “would be enough to keep a family of five,” with at least one family member employed, above the monthly poverty threshold of P12,500 in the region. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
