Minimum wage earners in Central Luzon will be starting the year with a pay hike after the Wage Order (WO) No. RBIII-22 took effect last Wednesday raising the daily minimum wage rates in Region III by P20.
The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-Region 3 (RTWPB-Region 3) approved the said WO after conducting the necessary public hearings and stakeholder consultations from Aug. to Sept. 2019.
With the effectivity of the new wage order, the minimum wage rate for nonagriculture workers in the provinces of Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, and Zambales is now P420 and P413, depending on the number of workers of the said establishments.
For agriculture workers in the same areas, the new daily minimum wage rate is now P390 and P374, while for those in the retail sector, it is P409 and P395.
In the province of Aurora, the following new minimum wage rates will apply: non agriculture sector workers will get P369; agriculture workers sector will be entitled to P354 or P342; retail sector will get P304.
WO RBIII-22 will apply to all workers receiving minimum wage in the private sector in the Region 3 regardless of their position, designation, or status of employment and irrespective of the method by which they are paid.
It will not cover household service workers; persons employed in the personal service of another; and workers of Barangay Micro Business Enterprises with Certificates of Authority.