DOLE-8 Chief Assures Full Compliance on New Wage Order Implementation

With the new wage order to be issued for wage earners in Eastern Visayas which will take effect in July or August this year, the chief of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Region 8 has assured full compliance in the course of its implementation.

Regional Director Yahya Centi, who is also the chairman of the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) in the region, assured wage earners in the region for the full compliance of employers.

Centi made the assurance in his message during the conduct of the public consultation on the minimum wage issue on June 17 at the Fragoch Tourist Inn in this town, which was attended by the members of the RTWPB-8: Regional Director Celerina Bato of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Regional Director Maylene Rosales of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), RTWPB-8 Board Secretary IV Reynaldo Soliveres, RTWPB-8 Labor Representatives Efren Gabriola and lawyer Miguel Tizon and DOLE-Biliran Field Office Head Fe Norma Valuis.

Centi said that DOLE-8 is one of the regional offices with high compliance rate in terms of the implementation of wage order in the country at 97.6 percent despite the small numbers of labor employment officers (LEOs) monitoring the implementation of the wage order.

“We only have 14 LEOs who will be monitoring some 1,450 employers in the region,” said Centi, referring to the implementation the new wage order to be issued.

The said public consultation on the minimum wage issue in the presence of some invited employers in Naval is the third public consultation conducted in the region before the new wage order will be issued by the board.

Directors Bato of DTI and Rosales of NEDA made their respective presentation to vouch the issuance of a new wage order in Eastern Visayas.

However, the new wage rates have yet to be determined by the members of the RTWPB-8 after considering all the inputs gathered during the conduct of the public consultations in major cities and capital towns in the region.

Meanwhile, Wage Order No. R VIII-20 was issued by the RTWPB 8 on June 25, 2018 which prescribed daily basic minimum wage rates in Eastern Visayas of P305 for workers in the the non-agricultural sector; P275 for workers in the cottage/handicraft industries; P275 for the retail/ service industries; and P275 for the agricultural sector. (LDL/RSV/PIA-8, Biliran)